Squier Affinity arrived in the mail

[John Stephen]

Congrats! Enjoy it.

 

[Zepfan]

Sorry Zepfan, I don't get the reference: "missing on the M72" ?
But a Johnson strat for free? Holy Cow!

@Tone Quest: Thanks, and there is some value there, for sure!

It was missing the pickguard, nut and the bridge wasn't correct. I tried to talk them down on the price and they said that they couldn't go down on the price and I started looking at other stuff. Then they offered me a Johnson Strat free if I bought the M72. Well....I guess so!

 

[Zepfan]

My Squier after the mods.

 

[msalama]

And there we are!

But.. but... you just destroyed the MOJO!

Am joking, of course. Nice work mate, congrats!

 

[JeffroJones]

@msalama:
The whole experience has been an eye-opener, to tell the truth, discovering things I could pretty easily do myself - intonation, the arc of the saddles, etc. - that made a HUGE difference to the playability. Just changed my perspective completely!

 

[JeffroJones]

Finally, the new pickguard has arrived and Pawn Shop Affinity is all dressed up and ready to go to the ball

:::

 

[Gardo]

Finally, the new pickguard has arrived and Pawn Shop Affinity is all dressed up and ready to go to the ball

View attachment 1001342

:::

Like that pickgaurd, here’s mine

 

[Leonardocoate]

Nice job. You have entered the rabbit hole. Have fun

 

[Gardo]

Finally, the new pickguard has arrived and Pawn Shop Affinity is all dressed up and ready to go to the ball

View attachment 1001342

:::

I like the feel of the neck. The nut is a little narrow but once I go up a few frets it’s fine. Mine was a learning tool too. I’ve done more than a few mods. Some I liked , some I changed back . Like you’ve been told ,it may be a rabbit hole but it’s worth it to gain skills

 

[Telecastoff1]

Nice Tele....Congrats!

 

[msalama]

Nice!

 

[Ronzo]

Congratulations. HNGD!

 

[JeffroJones]

Like that pickguard, here’s mine
View attachment 1004468

Very nice, I'm happy with the brown tort! Yes, the neck is surprisingly good IMHO, I kind of thought I would have to adjust to a cheap feeling neck, but its not like that at all. It feels solid, the frets are unobtrusive, no string buzz or "sitar-ing" after its setup adjustments, just really enjoyable to play. The width at the nut is similar to my acoustic, so I'm not noticing much difference, I must be kinda used to squinching the fingers in there for the open chords

::

 

[Wound_Up]

Nice find!

The headstock is not "unvarnished". It and the neck were originally finished with SATIN poly. Somewhere along the line, part of the neck was oversprayed or finished with a different material that is shinier - perhaps as part of a refret. You would need to test it to determine what the overspray is. If you want less gloss and to blend in with the headstock satin, you can use 3M light gray scratch pads (0 steel wool equivalent).

More likely, it's glossy because its been played. My Goldtop came with a satin neck and back. The neck now has a shiny gloss appearance starting just under the headstock after being played for 18 months. It stopped being satin a long time ago. I highly suspect that is likely what's happened to that one.

 

[Boreas]

If I hadn't seen the OP'S pix of the back of the headstock, I would agree. To me, it looks more like overspray up onto the headstock than wear. Tough to tell from pix.

 

[JeffroJones]

Boreas has a point, I was in favor of the gloss by wear idea, but the gloss is in places the fingers don't touch. But thanks for your thoughts, Wound_Up The thing that nags in my mind is: the guitar was in a pawn shop, dirty, corroded, cheap and uncared for. It was built in 2017... can't have got that much wear... Where does a possible fret/spray job enter this picture? Could the respray have happened on the production line, for some reason?

I really don't know, but the stray dog has a home now

:::