A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Seems like every time I leave my house I come home with another guitar LOL. Picked this up at a garage sale - 2001 Squier Affinity strat. Paid $15. Looks like it's been barely played but also looks like it's been hanging on a basement wall it's whole life. Very filthy with a slight bit of corrosion on some of the screws and hardware. Also some wall hanger residue on the neck sides. All the electronics appear to work. I removed the heavily corroded strings (might have been original) and am now working on cleaning off all the grime. Not sure what I'm going to do with this yet. I kind of like the dark blue body. I actually just ordered a gibson scale conversion strat neck from a builder on ebay. I also have a set of Buddha strat pickups looking for a home. Was originally thinking of putting these in my MIM strat but maybe they could go in here. We'll see, for now I'm going to get it playable and then see where it takes me.

Gave it a good cleaning and waxing, polished the frets, a little rolling of the fret board edge, deoxit the pots, and a quick and dirty set up and it's playing. The nut is only 40mm wide which is a little getting used to. The neck is pretty thin too. The body's on the Affinity line are thinner than standard but I don't mind that - makes the guitar lighter. It's missing the whammy bar and none of the one's I have here will fit - all too small. Cheap electronics and hardware as would be expected - but all functional.

I guess I'll play on it a few days until the new neck gets here and see what comes to mind.

Some of these you can put on a wider nut. That being said, i did have a squier with a 40mm and thought it was going to be too small, it was actually very playable doing chord changes.

Interesting idea. This nut is really cheap plastic so a new nut with wider strings spacing would be a good idea. Although like you I seem to be adjusting to it better than I thought.

Great grab! $15 is an amazing price for that guitar.

I have a half dozen older Squier Affinity Strats, made between 98 and 2005, and I have a real soft spot for them. The earliest examples have smaller headstocks, full sized bodies, 22 frets, and are made in Taiwan with a CIY serial number. By the time your 2001 was made they had morphed into the larger 70s style headstock, thinner body, 21 frets, and were made in Indonesia by Cort.

My 2005 Affinity Strat looks identical to your 2001, except mine is Arctic White. I LOVE that guitar.

https://aguitarforum.net/viewtopic.php? ... ity#p45546

I'm curious, do the pickups on your's look like this?

toomanycats wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 6:34 am Great grab! $15 is an amazing price for that guitar.

I have a half dozen older Squier Affinity Strats, made between 98 and 2005, and I have a real soft spot for them. The earliest examples have smaller headstocks, full sized bodies, 22 frets, and are made in Taiwan with a CIY serial number. By the time your 2001 was made they had morphed into the larger 70s style headstock, thinner body, 21 frets, and were made in Indonesia by Cort.

My 2005 Affinity Strat looks identical to your 2001, except mine is Arctic White. I LOVE that guitar.

https://aguitarforum.net/viewtopic.php? ... ity#p45546

I'm curious, do the pickups on your's look like this?


2294589C-3237-436A-80F2-45FA04C0E602.jpeg

Toomanycats or Toomanystrats ?

HNOGD! That looks sweet and even thought I don't need another guitar, let alone another Strat - I'd buy that for $50 let alone $15!

Like I inferred, I own a 2006 American Standard and a 2016 Squire Affinity and the latter is my favorite. Both have identical AMI Billy B pickups and the Squire now has new Fender vintage-style tuners and a Guitar Fetish upgrade tremolo bridge with brass spring block. What really sets the Affinity apart is the soft V neck, which the 2006 Fender has a very thin C neck (shredder necks were still a thing in 2006).

toomanycats wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 6:34 am Great grab! $15 is an amazing price for that guitar.

I have a half dozen older Squier Affinity Strats, made between 98 and 2005, and I have a real soft spot for them. The earliest examples have smaller headstocks, full sized bodies, 22 frets, and are made in Taiwan with a CIY serial number. By the time your 2001 was made they had morphed into the larger 70s style headstock, thinner body, 21 frets, and were made in Indonesia by Cort.

My 2005 Affinity Strat looks identical to your 2001, except mine is Arctic White. I LOVE that guitar.

https://aguitarforum.net/viewtopic.php? ... ity#p45546

I'm curious, do the pickups on your's look like this?


2294589C-3237-436A-80F2-45FA04C0E602.jpeg

Nice! Were these all pawn shop finds? LOL. Those CIY made guitars are usually pretty sweet.

Yes the pickups do look like that - with two bar magnets. They measure: neck - 3.4, middle - 3.8, bridge - 3.4.

andrewsrea wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 2:56 pm HNOGD! That looks sweet and even thought I don't need another guitar, let alone another Strat - I'd buy that for $50 let alone $15!

Like I inferred, I own a 2006 American Standard and a 2016 Squire Affinity and the latter is my favorite. Both have identical AMI Billy B pickups and the Squire now has new Fender vintage-style tuners and a Guitar Fetish upgrade tremolo bridge with brass spring block. What really sets the Affinity apart is the soft V neck, which the 2006 Fender has a very thin C neck (shredder necks were still a thing in 2006).

Is that the bridge with the "shorty" block - meant for thinner bodies? How do you like it?

Congrats on the NGD! Interesting, a Strat neck with a Gibson scale. Not sure I would want to put out the expense but it would be cool to try one.

I'm finding myself liking shorter scale guitars - 24.75 and 24 feel so much more comfortable. I have an SX Gypsy Rose strat that is 24.75 and it's great. Warmoth and Musikraft make conversion necks but got a better price from a builder that sells online and ebay. Thought it would be fun to give it a shot. Someday I'd like to try one of the Fender Japan Junior strats - 24" scale length - oh yeah!

Tiga wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 4:16 pm

toomanycats wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 6:34 am Great grab! $15 is an amazing price for that guitar.

I have a half dozen older Squier Affinity Strats, made between 98 and 2005, and I have a real soft spot for them. The earliest examples have smaller headstocks, full sized bodies, 22 frets, and are made in Taiwan with a CIY serial number. By the time your 2001 was made they had morphed into the larger 70s style headstock, thinner body, 21 frets, and were made in Indonesia by Cort.

My 2005 Affinity Strat looks identical to your 2001, except mine is Arctic White. I LOVE that guitar.

https://aguitarforum.net/viewtopic.php? ... ity#p45546

I'm curious, do the pickups on your's look like this?


2294589C-3237-436A-80F2-45FA04C0E602.jpeg

Nice! Were these all pawn shop finds? LOL. Those CIY made guitars are usually pretty sweet.

Yes the pickups do look like that - with two bar magnets. They measure: neck - 3.4, middle - 3.8, bridge - 3.4.

Yes, all my Squier Strats are pawn shop finds (with sole exception of a Classic Vibe 50s a student paid me with with for continuing guitar lessons).

On the thread I linked we discuss the particularly low resistance reading of those dual ceramic bar magnet single coils. I find them very Stratty sounding, especially in position 2 and 4. The similarly constructed pickups in the MIM Fender Standard Strat have always struck me as more P90ish in tone.

Tiga wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 4:19 pm
Is that the bridge with the "shorty" block - meant for thinner bodies? How do you like it?

Yes. I am pretty sure it was this one: https://www.guitarfetish.com/Solid-Bras ... 24704.html

It is way better than the stock bridge for sustain, string-to-string evenness and overall tone. I deck my tremolo so it can only be pressed down. If you are going to 'float' the trem, you'll need to use a Dremel to remove some wood around the brass block on the neck side of the block cavity. The brass block is much wider than the stock Squier.

Congratulations on that sweet deal!

toomanycats wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2024 6:42 am


Yes, all my Squier Strats are pawn shop finds (with sole exception of a Classic Vibe 50s a student paid me with with for continuing guitar lessons).

On the thread I linked we discuss the particularly low resistance reading of those dual ceramic bar magnet single coils. I find them very Stratty sounding, especially in position 2 and 4. The similarly constructed pickups in the MIM Fender Standard Strat have always struck me as more P90ish in tone.

I think these sound pretty good -albeit a little bright/trebly. In the thread you referenced it's mentioned about installing a metal plate on the bottom of the pickup to tame down the treble and boost the low end. Here's the product mentioned: https://www.mojotone.com/Mojotone-Strat-baseplate

Have you (or anyone) tried this? What was your experience?

I remembered that the Sonic Mustang that I've been working on have similar looking pickups - sound even better. They are measuring in at 5.5 at the neck and 5.8 at the bridge.

Tiga wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2024 11:16 pm

toomanycats wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2024 6:42 am


Yes, all my Squier Strats are pawn shop finds (with sole exception of a Classic Vibe 50s a student paid me with with for continuing guitar lessons).

On the thread I linked we discuss the particularly low resistance reading of those dual ceramic bar magnet single coils. I find them very Stratty sounding, especially in position 2 and 4. The similarly constructed pickups in the MIM Fender Standard Strat have always struck me as more P90ish in tone.

I think these sound pretty good -albeit a little bright/trebly. In the thread you referenced it's mentioned about installing a metal plate on the bottom of the pickup to tame down the treble and boost the low end. Here's the product mentioned: https://www.mojotone.com/Mojotone-Strat-baseplate

Have you (or anyone) tried this? What was your experience?

I remembered that the Sonic Mustang that I've been working on have similar looking pickups - sound even better. They are measuring in at 5.5 at the neck and 5.8 at the bridge.

I've never installed a metal plate under a Strat single coil pickup. It makes sense, as a Tele bridge pup with a copper baseplate does have an especially pleasing tone.

I find ceramic magnet single coil pups inherently bright, especially if they have low resistance. I keep the tone knobs rolled back to attenuate the highs and connecting the bridge pickup to the tone knob is mandatory.

toomanycats wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 6:08 am

I find ceramic magnet single coil pups inherently bright, especially if they have low resistance. I keep the tone knobs rolled back to attenuate the highs and connecting the bridge pickup to the tone knob is mandatory.

That is sound advice. (not meant to be a pun )