Parts cost more than guitar, but worth it.

[Zipper]

I have been studying this forum for a long time and enjoy it very much. Well, as the title says I have a Squier Affinity Tele purchased a couple of years ago that I have gone slightly crazy with.

The narrow string spacing on the neck was solved with a 1 5/8 Earvana retrofit nut. This gave a little wider feel to the strings and improved intonation. The strings are Thomastik-infeld Jazz Swing flat wounds .047-.011. These strings are smooth to play and counter the sharper ceramic properties of the Lil 59 pickups.

The bridge is from Guitarfetish, barely covered the original route but the small gap is hardly noticeable. The bridge is slightly smaller than the original which explains the screws visable behind the bridge. I put two of the originals back in to fill the holes and placed a large strap button behind the low E string as a reference point and comfort area for my right hand to anchor on while hybrid picking.

The pickguard is from Coloriffic and the screw holes lined up well, no drilling involved. The neck pickup hole needed to be enlarged to fit the pickup. This was accomplished with a dremel sander, round stick and some sandpaper.

The tuners came from a Saga Tele kit, which found to be of better quality than the original Affinity tuners.

The bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan ST59-1 lil "59", The neck pickup is a Seymour Duncan SK59-1n "lil 59" for Strat. Both pickups use ceramic magnets and have four wire leads.

Pots are Alpha 500K, Switch is a megaswitch P model, capacitor between pots is .022. The 5-way switch is wired to give the following choices:
1 Bridge Humbucker
2 Inner coils in parallel
3 Outer coils in series
4 Outer coils in parallel
5 Neck humbucker

Tele "twang" is not lost, the "lil 59 in the bridge gives plenty of power. The other choices offer many interesting sounds depending on where you apply the pick to the strings.

Intonation on this and all my guitars is done via my computer and the Strobosoft software program. A very valuable tool and on my computer so I can browse TDPRI at the same time.

I also have a heavily modified MIM 1998 Strat that I have installed Twin Pearly Gates pickups on and a Schecter C1-EA that I have installed Carvin humbuckers in. I play all of these through a Fender Twin.

Thank you forum posters for a lot of information to finish my cheap/expensive guitar. Been playing for 48 years and enjoy modifying now as much as playing.
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[aunchaki]

Nice work!!

[Wally]

Welcome to the TDPRI.
IS it worth it? The prime consideration is the neck. IF the neck has a good line to it and you like the profile and radius, then I say yes to the question.
RE: pickups and wiring....I am a versatility nut. With those pickups and a 4-way switch, one can achieve 12 different sounds out of those two pups. The lil '59 in parallel yields a believable single coil type sound which would give you two things you don't have....a single coil Teletype sound at the bridge and at the neck. You could cut a coil if you wanted a true single coil effect. There are other combinations with this arrangement that you don't have...both pups in series...big and powerful. There are some gut-bucket sounds there, too....very thin for some of those sounds that we don't hear much but are useful.
Good work...