Fender Squier Affinity Telecaster Deluxe Review | A $300 Tele You NEED to Get

For only $300 the Squier by Fender Affinity Telecaster Deluxe is a big value for the money. I was pleasantly surprised at how great this guitar is.
---
👉Mentioned in this video:
🧰Music Nomad Octopus Tech Tool (Best $22 you will spend!): amzn.to/3KFPnOs
🛢Music Nomad F-One Oil: amzn.to/2YxHLal
🎸Make Your Squier Play Great Tips Video: • 3 Tips To Make Your Fe...
✅Check out the Squier Inventory at Music Villa (My fav Store!): musicvilla.com...
📦This guitar on Amazon: amzn.to/3IyekcH
-------------------
From Beginner to Intermediate, Guitar Pass has the lessons you need, and for only $10 a month, you can't beat it! Check it out at www.GuitarPass.com
-----
Intermediate and advanced players... unlock the guitar with Brett Papa: www.brettpapa....
-----
Other cool stuff
TOOLS TO MAKE YOUR GUITAR PLAY BETTER:
Music Nomad F-One Oil: amzn.to/2YxHLal
StewMac Fret Guards: amzn.to/2YwYdrt
Other Fret Guards: amzn.to/34Bk30D
StewMac Fret Eraser: amzn.to/34xg3hO
Dunlop Fret Polish Paper: amzn.to/3lslaWC
0000 Steel Wool: amzn.to/3jaoLGP
Guitar Players Repair Guide Book: amzn.to/2DJOG7r
Dunlop 6500 Kit: amzn.to/2DLnLIl
Instrument Work Mat: amzn.to/2DPkoAi
Ernie Ball Musicians Tool Kit: amzn.to/2DMggAS
Bass and Guitar File Set: amzn.to/2DPkwzM
------------
High-Fidelity Ear Plugs:
Option 1- amzn.to/2GmsGg4
Option 2 - amzn.to/2DIOZzm
-------
Headphones
KRK KNS 8400: amzn.to/2DLXKcc
Sennheiser HD280 Pro: amzn.to/2DPkhVo
-----
Amp Key Holder: amzn.to/2DMflAD
-----
Time Stamps:
00:01 Intro
00:49 A Look "Under the Hood"
03:18 Clean Tones
04:00 Neck Pickup Thoughts
05:11 Overdrive Tones
07:13 Final Thoughts
*Above links are affiliate links. I appreciate you using these links to make your purchase. You pay the same and we get a small commission to help keep the lights on.

[@gouvernor]

Owned the guitar and was really impressed with the neck and playability out of the box. I bought mine as a mod project though, so I put some work in on the frets, modded the headstock for Fender tuners, put a Gotoh bridge on it, CTS pots, fender witch hat knobs, and changed out the pickguard to mint green. I thought the pickups were nice enough to try for a bit. Was really impressed with it, but sold it for almost nothing to a young kid getting into performing. Was happy to see it go to eager hands though despite knowing I would miss it.

[@ChickenFriedSteakIsLife]

How can I tell what size pickups to use for this model?

[@davidcarlson8571]

I was thinking about picking this up for an intro to modding for myself. I'm glad you said the neck played well, that's my main concern.

[@Louber1115]

Did yours neck dive like crazy? The weenie body is annoying otherwise its ace.

[@BrentRushton]

@@ChickenFriedSteakIsLife they are humbuckers lol

[@vinnieirvine1365]

Lower the pickups by 2mm, raise the pole pieces 360 degrees and those pickups will sound bright and spanky. Swap the magnets for alnico 2 to thin out the bass a bit and they’ll sound even better.

[@Louber1115]

The pole piece trick is classic

[@karayuschij]

The sound of the neck pickup is the sound of a humbucker pickup, and that's exactly why the Telecaster Deluxe exists. If you don't want this sound, you should buy a Tele with single-coil pickups...

[@ManuelMunoz-tj1rr]

I bought it today can’t wait to receive it. This will be my first guitar btw 😅

[@georgechronas]

What do you think about the pickups? I think I need one too! I have a neck that I think will be absolutely stunning with this guitar. Could you measure the body's pocket size where the neck joins in and let me know?

[@unabonger777]

@@georgechronas I have one, the stock pickups are no good, everything else is great. I bought a pair of Tonerider Birminghams for it, but not installed yet. Plan to wire it with 50s Les Paul schematic.

[@GazWJ205]

I got one of these and its amazing value. It's my current favourite (over a CV tele, gibson LP studio with p90s and a Gretsch 5120). The tones are great, I don't get the muddy thing at all. The pickup height was way out when it came, but after a setup it's got great clarity in both positions. I tend to keep it in the middle position and use the volume pots to mix in bite and thickness as I need it. No intention of modding it, unless I run into some nice control knobs as they are bit cheap feeling and I touch them a lot. It's a brilliant instrument, blows me away what £200 buys these days.

[@mikekaylor1226]

I bought the gray version, and it is a fantastic guitar! The neck feels great and fast, the bridge pickup as you say has a nice Gibsonish bite to it. I agree the neck is a little muddy, I'm going to put a Seymore Duncan Humbucker in it. This guitar could pass for a Mexican Tele, easily.

[@alexmason6191]

I can't even find words to describe how cool this guitar looks. I extremely like that pickguard's shape

[@TheSloppyGuitarist]

Horizontal Left/Right switching orientation matches the horizontal orientation of the pickups, which makes perfect sense. Up/Down vertical orientation on Gibsons makes no sense. Fender got it right. (I have the black version of this guitar 😎)

[@onurji4311]

Hello folks, Im trying my best now writing it down in english. Im absolute new to the elctric guitar. Ive never learned any instrument , now at the age of 28 lonely and alone , went trough some depressions recently my GF left me. I needed a new hobby and right infront of my door there is a guitar store. I´ve already went there and spoke to them. Looked at some guitars. This guitar right here was a eyecatcher imo. Is this guitar too much for a newbie, or the right one? i would highly appreciate any answers from the members of the guitar world. - Soon to become guitarist lol :D

[@brothaclam]

Perfect for starters, did you bought it?

[@onurji4311]

@Phil yes I bought one short after this comment 😀 a Fender strat in all black, and I'm really happy with it. Like I said, I never played an instrument, so it's really really difficult to learn. Is it possible learning songs trough Tabs? Because this is way easier for me to sound at least a bit legit lol

[@prettyboy_online]

@@onurji4311 if you haven’t already, start with the “cowboy chords”

[@HappyHermitt]

If you bought a Fender Dtrst, that is not for beginners, price wise. You must be rich

[@onurji4311]

@doodfromellay5325 No bro, it was a bit more than 300€ tbh

[@TeamBlack00]

I have one of these. I swapped the pickups to EMG 81s and matching electronics. I play metal on it. It's solid.

[@tyecook9630]

Picked one up about a month ago in charcoal frost and im loving it. The neck plays just awesome and the pickups are fine for me as someone who just bangs around at home so they'll stay for now at least. I did just order a black pickgaurd for it though after seeing a different video where someone made that change and it looked killer with it. Being in Canada i did pay a bit more but have no regrets whatsoever, it's a great guitar.

[@undrpaidtekmnky143]

The pickup selector is not installed incorrectly. I just purchased the Active Jazzmaster and the pickup selector switch is the same way. You can rotate it if it really bothers you, but I've found I'm used to it now.

[@travislawson7059]

Just got this guitar in a black color with the maple fret board for a Father’s Day gift so far I absolutely love it your video has been very helpful thank you so much

[@japanders]

I’m so close to getting that same one. Still like it? I can’t decide about changing pickups in my Mexican Strat or getting one of these

[@johnnell4611]

Nice review, ordered the Silver-burst/black pickgaurd. A Sweetwater exclusive 👍

[@PajamaPantsClan]

I'm very tempted to buy this and replace the pickups with some Railhammers. I'd love a Reverend, but they're a bit out of my current price range.

[@phillipholt6005]

Please don't tear up that beautiful guitar LOL! I miss Rosewood Fretboards so much. It reminds me of my Bullet Mustang a little bit because of the double Humbukers the Hardtail Bridge and the Belly Cut Body. Incidentally I lowered the Humbukers to get a Bluesier Tone.

[@YJMusic72]

I liked your review and that is a really nice guitar! I've been looking at this model in black, with the black pick guard. That just looks so cool. Will be a dust and fingerprint magnet, of course. Anyway, might just pick one of those up, soon!

[@bsideguitar]

Thanks for chiming in, really appreciate it! The black on black is super cool!

[@HappyHermitt]

I just ordered the charcoal one. I had the VM Tele Deluxe 2 a few years ago but lost it on a flood. It had the WRHB neck and the standard Tele ashtray bridge pickup. It was a sweet guitar and I swore to get another some day. I can't wait for mine to come in.

[@carpathus]

Nice review! Squier Telecasters have become very interesting lately. Bought a Squier Contemporary Tele RH last year that is very different from other Squiers but in a good way. Love the color on that Affinity Deluxe but it might take a little while to get used to the appearance of that huge white pickguard .

[@bsideguitar]

Thanks for the kind words. What is the best part of the contemporary? I may need to get one on the channel :)

[@yargnad]

The MIC Fenders were the bomb entry level tier until they went away. MIM are more midrange now, not so much entry level anymore. The Classic Vibes and Paranormal series are, basically, now what the old Modern Player series used to be. Great guitars. The new Affinity line is an upgrade and very close to those Classic vibes even, just usually lesser grade electronics like smaller pots and ceramic pickups, but they still sound good for the most part. I'm waiting on one of these, same color, to get here tomorrow. The price was $280 from Amazon, so they've come back down a bit since. I used to have a custom shop 68 Strat in burgundy mist, and I miss that guitar so much. When I saw this thing, I just had to have it for the color alone.

[@compucorder64]

Thinking of getting one of these. And putting a humbucker packaged P90, like the Tonerider one, in the neck position. Bridge pickup sounds really nice on your demo, the middle blend sounds pretty beefy too, I guess because the slightly bass heavy neck pickup re-inforces it - so I guess that's the tradeoff. Neck on it's own is a bit flubby, but it combines well in the mid.

[@ItsaCatsLife]

Selector switch is 100% correct orientation as it follows the same horizontal orientation as the pickups and the 'selection' options.... Makes perfect sense right? Selector switches that are up/down just don't make sense when you think about it. Also remember, the standard tele's 3 way selector is also horizontal.

[@ricmel8008]

I love them also. But now I see the new Squier 40th anniversary, they look really good

[@scottreynolds426]

I have one, love it! Pickups are a little muddy. I got mine for $279. Playablity is great!

[@joeblankenship377]

I think I wanna hold out for the Classic Vibe. I like that big Strat head. It fits really well with the pickguard and body shapes.

[@junny3000]

Is it out yet ?

[@Louber1115]

I traded for one of these at random and its pretty great. Tuning stability seems a wee bit off and the neck dive is bad but that’s fixed with a decent strap. The neck is amazing for the price range. The stock pickups aren’t awesome.

[@blwnova4155]

Bought the Classic Vibe version recently for under $330. Love it!

[@adammcbride4128]

I want to like this, because it would match my squier affinity jazz bass in burgundy mist (which I love), but these pickups sound a lot muddier to me in this video (and others) than the more traditional single coil pickups on the other affinity telecasters, which have that lovely balance between a jazzy clean neck pickup and a growly but clear bridge pickup. Of course, it could be the amps people are using when demonstrating. I find fender amps quite muddy as well, the fender mustang amp I bought has been a little disappointing, wish I'd gone for a katana or a yamaha thr. That said, my Vintage SG sounds great through my fender rumble amp, especially with an octave pedal (White Stripes style). One thing this does have going for it is the poplar body. So light, makes my mahogany SG feel so heavy when I switch back to it from my bass lol

[@googlegilbertlevinmars322]

Rose pink sparkle guitars are very hot and unique. The look alone is a seller. Competes with Ibanez AX aesthetically.

[@googlegilbertlevinmars322]

@@PlanCthruZ this model features ceramic humbucker. Very modern deluxe version.

[@AndyDion]

Cool guitar, nice demo Definitely neck pu is a bit muddy

[@jamesmcmillan7845]

I bought two, great mod platforms

[@eertje01]

I have one and I LOVE it! Got it for €235 at gear4music. The neck is great. I have a fender strat neck that has the same dimensions. The only thing is the fret edges arent rolled, but yeah you can't expect that for this price of course. I was planning on swapping the pickups for p90's, because the routing of the body makes that possible. but the stock pickups sound so damn good I need to keep them in. I am going to expirement with changing the magnets out for alnico 4's. All in all the best guitar under 250 I ever bought. Hands down!

[@jeromeluby787]

I have this exact guitar and love it....sounds great and feels great. No muddy sound in the neck pickup and ez to switch strings. However, taking the tone knobs off for underlying plastic, the stems on both pots came out....any ez way of getting them back in or just replace the pots?..cool video and I'm a subscriber.....

[@stephenfriedrich1140]

Just bought one $279 on AMS a lot of bang for very little buck so you can upgrade it easily

[@amandawilson9555]

Love the sound of the guitar... it's currently $389.00 on Amazon so it's a bit too high for me.

[@mattrides18]

The Classic Vibe 70s is about $150 more but is a Single/Humbucker. Do you think it’s worth $150 more or is the Affinity deluxe the best bang for your buck?

[@robertbennett6418]

Would have liked to know what the intonation was out of the box and if it needed any trust rod adjustments.

[@bsideguitar]

Pretty good out of the box. Did not have to adjust the truss rod, but I would guess that is a 50/50 chance

[@robertbennett6418]

Thanks ... Have this Tele on order. Have had good success with Squire in the past. Have an older Jagmaster that's as good as anything I've ever picked up. Will never part with it. I don't play professionaly, not materialistic and don't care to impress anyone else so I don't have to spend a lot of extra money on equipment. Squire is more than adequate for my needs.

[@Mark761966]

That $300 guitar is £219 all day over here 😃

[@anyeloreyes6123]

I would like to know how much the complete package weighs, please

[@mr1bienvenu1]

Could you please tell me if I need a F spacing pickup or Standard spacing pickup when replacing the stock pickups?

[@kingstumble]

Why the pickguard screw between the pickups? Seems superfluous to me.

[@gonzalogarcia9481]

Would you consider it too light? I like light guitars like strat or teles but this one might be too light

[@soul2squeezy439]

im getting the black color with maple fretboard. looks cool tbh. xD

[@mikekoenig6467]

I'm gonna learn i swear....I'm obsessed that I'm getting this exact guitar. Paired with orange micro terror and a 1x12 ppc speaker. I've spent 1000 bucks. I'm learning!!!

[@mikekoenig6467]

I've been watching these videos forc4 days now lol

[@Alpha_WK]

Is it really a telecaster if it has humbuckers? I’m curious what people think

[@44scoots]

Those are not the standard Squier tuning keys from years past.

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

I heard the Affinity is full thickness now? 44mm? It’s a pity the carve is there. A Tele with a body carve sucks. The FSR player twin bucker have the same damn carve too.

[@bsideguitar]

Just measured it for ya, this one is 40mm so a bit shy of the USA version.

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

@@bsideguitar I saw a video that’s a year old and he said Affinities are now full thickness!!!! Thank you! I like them 44 or more!!!

[@bsideguitar]

With all the supply chain stuff maybe someone got one that was 44??? Even just looking at it next to my American Pro there is an obvious difference. Glad this helped.

[@Yuki-rj5qr]

@@KRAZEEIZATION a year ago these were not out yet

[@arenimsong3227]

How does it compare to Ibaneze Essentials?

[@blwnova4155]

Did you try and fix the switch direction? Wonder if it depends on the body routing

[@blwnova4155]

The switch CAN be rotated easily - there’s plenty room inside

[@gRosh08]

Cool!

[@therandomguy1707]

I just bought that guitar...but when I plugged into amplifier there is noise whenever I am not touching strings...can anyone help me out to solve this?

[@CritterEnjoyer]

Could be faulty ground wire from the guitar if it’s only when you’re not touching the strings.

[@garychristie9526]

Hi Random Guy, Mine is the same noise when not touching strings, did you fix yours?

[@wiseowl2335]

still only 21 frets ...why cant they do the 22nd?

[@bsideguitar]

Gotta cut costs somewhere 😂

[@rst4641]

that's a deal breaker for me too. Shouldn't cost that much more.

[@ferfos8829]

Weight?

[@Longish_icicle77]

Nah all of them have a weird switch

[@bobfurman2739]

If you take the single coils away, its no longer a Telecaster! Humbucker do not have that signature sound!

[@unabonger777]

calm down

[@JakeWilcox-yh8xl]

​@@unabonger777 lol

[@marblesoda._.]

too much talk, this video could’ve been 4 minutes shorter

[@RichWithWisdom]

First thing I heard was the almost distorted sound of the neck p/U which equals No Thanks got enough junk already & this is just another example that Fender isn't the Fender they built their reputaion on any more, just Chinese garbage so forget the name Fender now days there's a lot of copy guitars that are cheap and much better. Just sold a fender amp last week for the same reason, just cheap Chinese junk.......

[@anthonyclegg1511]

I've just got 1, exactly the same as yours, made in china, excellent guitar, very pleased, £179, from G,A,K.