Affinity Series Tele nut replacement adventure

Alnico Sunburst · June 22nd, 2008, 01:28 PM

I got one of these in February and have progressed through all kinds of phases with it as I had been wanting to get back into Telecasters again for awhile, but my limited budget dictated that I would have to work my way up from the least expensive one up to the one I want eventually. In the meantime, I have been quite pleasantly surprised with the Squier.

Even with the lack of refinements that are found on the Fenders this one has certainly been fun for it does what you expect a tele to do. I never understood before how some players could get a wah sound with the tone control, or how lowering the volume control a certain amount can give more characteristically twangy sounds.

It's been building for a while now, and I've been flirting with it, tuning my regular string gauges down two steps to C and playing like that, all loose and floppy, but a couple of weeks ago I decided to switch to C tuning permanently. After all, I thought, if I need to go back, I'll just play the Strat, or use a capo. So I thought I'd put heavier strings on the Tele.

The soft white plastic nut was not cut to accept strings any bigger than what it came with. I didn't realize that, and the thicker strings cut though that nut like mozzarella cheese.

The music store repaired it under warranty (thank you!), and let me take home a loaner Mexican Telecaster. Playing it for 3 days, it was interesting and different. Reposado. Warm, golden, and very smooth.

With regret I took the loaner back (it was nice! Sunburst, beautiful maple-y irridescent finish.) when my axe was ready. The new nut looks awesome. It's black now which suits it so much better since the guitar is black as well. I thought I'd try it out with an amp they had for sale - an Orange Rocker 50 half stack.

Wow. I started to play on the high gain channel and the most awesome desert/stoner rock tone resulted from the .012 - .052 strings. I played a bit of QOTSA type stuff and had a ferocious grin on my face. This is it!

Some gray haired dude at the counter said "Don't stop, man!"

So I played Into The Void.

Oh man, oh man I got to get me an Orange Amp.

But in summary, this is what I learned (or rather This Is The Wheel I Reinvented

) Replace that cheesy nut if you get an Affinity Tele, heavy gauge strings are the way to go with C tuning, and four 6V6's makes for an awesome fifty watt amp!

Cheers.

June 22nd, 2008, 01:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
Alnico Sunburst NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Victoria, BC, Canada Age: 34 Posts: 7	Affinity Series Tele nut replacement adventure I got one of these in February and have progressed through all kinds of phases with it as I had been wanting to get back into Telecasters again for awhile, but my limited budget dictated that I would have to work my way up from the least expensive one up to the one I want eventually. In the meantime, I have been quite pleasantly surprised with the Squier. Even with the lack of refinements that are found on the Fenders this one has certainly been fun for it does what you expect a tele to do. I never understood before how some players could get a wah sound with the tone control, or how lowering the volume control a certain amount can give more characteristically twangy sounds. It's been building for a while now, and I've been flirting with it, tuning my regular string gauges down two steps to C and playing like that, all loose and floppy, but a couple of weeks ago I decided to switch to C tuning permanently. After all, I thought, if I need to go back, I'll just play the Strat, or use a capo. So I thought I'd put heavier strings on the Tele. The soft white plastic nut was not cut to accept strings any bigger than what it came with. I didn't realize that, and the thicker strings cut though that nut like mozzarella cheese. The music store repaired it under warranty (thank you!), and let me take home a loaner Mexican Telecaster. Playing it for 3 days, it was interesting and different. Reposado. Warm, golden, and very smooth. With regret I took the loaner back (it was nice! Sunburst, beautiful maple-y irridescent finish.) when my axe was ready. The new nut looks awesome. It's black now which suits it so much better since the guitar is black as well. I thought I'd try it out with an amp they had for sale - an Orange Rocker 50 half stack. Wow. I started to play on the high gain channel and the most awesome desert/stoner rock tone resulted from the .012 - .052 strings. I played a bit of QOTSA type stuff and had a ferocious grin on my face. This is it! Some gray haired dude at the counter said "Don't stop, man!" So I played Into The Void. Oh man, oh man I got to get me an Orange Amp. But in summary, this is what I learned (or rather This Is The Wheel I Reinvented ) Replace that cheesy nut if you get an Affinity Tele, heavy gauge strings are the way to go with C tuning, and four 6V6's makes for an awesome fifty watt amp! Cheers.