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Just picked up a 2021 Squier Affinity Lake Placid Blue Jazzmaster. It's a whole lot of guitar for not a lot of money. Shockingly good. And the quality of work on this instrument is really quite incredible. I mean... Just look at it.




NECK AND INNARDS



Notes
- No sheilding
- Cloth wiring on P90 style pickups (they use bar magnets and adjustable pole pieces)
- Nice two post bridge and split shaft tuners
- Nice fretwork
- Great first instrument, or second backup gig guitar if you're not a hardcore Jazzmaster tremolo user

Congrats! Looks phenomenal for the price. I like the new Affinty glossy headcaps. Nice Lake Placid Blue, too. Squier's had problems getting that right, lately.
I am sorry to see there's no swimming pool route like it's very moddable predecessor.

Oh wow, I had never seen those before. Last I checked, Affinity JMs were strat hardtails with humbuckers. Proper JM-shaped pickups (even if they're Mascis-like P90s) and a strat vibrato basically makes that a super cheap imported Performer Jazzmaster.

That Laurel fretboard looks amazing. I'd rather see Laurel than PF on MIM Fenders, to be honest. It has less red tones and is darker, so it suits blue and green finishes like this one much better than the redder and lighter PF boards.

I've also had a couple of Laurel fretboard instruments and it's a great-feeling wood, too. Not inferior to Indian Rosewood in any way, for that purpose.

To be honest, the finish and neck woods on that Affinity look nicer than half the MIM Fenders that have passed through my hands. What a deal.

I purchased the same one this week. At first I was debating mods. But I'm going to hold off for now, it really is a lot of guitar for the price. Super impressed.

Thanks for the post!! really beautiful guitar!

What is the bridge 2 pivot spacing?

Thanks!!

looks great! any idea what the body thickness is? in the past, the Affinity series were about 1-1/2"-1/5/8 thick, vs 1-3/4" for more expensive models.

javierfarias wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 22, 2021 11:45 am

Thanks for the post!! really beautiful guitar!

What is the bridge 2 pivot spacing?

Thanks!!

I'm not sure if I understand the question: you mean, might it fit a standard Strat 2-post bridge? I suspect so.

A.

softcopymusic wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 23, 2021 4:07 am

I'm not sure if I understand the question: you mean, might it fit a standard Strat 2-post bridge? I suspect so.

A.

That's right! that's what I want to know.
For example the Squier Standards use 63mm (2.48") pivot spacing, and the Fender Strats use 56mm (2.2").

Thanks!

Hi Folks,

So, to my eyeballs the bridge posts are 56mm:





And the thickness is about 1 3/8 inches.



I was wondering about the bridge as well, and started looking at replacements, and frankly, it's likely unnecessary. You could replace the saddles with Graphtech ones, but they're very nicely machined.

A.

softcopymusic wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 26, 2021 4:05 pm

Hi Folks,

So, to my eyeballs the bridge posts are 56mm:

And the thickness is about 1 3/8 inches.

I was wondering about the bridge as well, and started looking at replacements, and frankly, it's likely unnecessary. You could replace the saddles with Graphtech ones, but they're very nicely machined.

A.

Thank you very much for taking the time for measuring!

softcopymusic wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 26, 2021 4:05 pm

Hi Folks,

So, to my eyeballs the bridge posts are 56mm:





And the thickness is about 1 3/8 inches.



I was wondering about the bridge as well, and started looking at replacements, and frankly, it's likely unnecessary. You could replace the saddles with Graphtech ones, but they're very nicely machined.

A.

the body thickness or lack thereof rules it out for me. That was to be expected, I suppose. Wilkinson makes a thin depth tremolo that would be an upgrade from stock- the block is still a zinc alloy, but it's more massive than stock. I have a couple in my parts bin that I'd let go for cheap, if you're interested. They've not been installed.

I only just noticed the tuning heads are slotted.
That's so cool.
I'm so close to buying the burgundy one.

Something worth mentioning that I never noticed on this guitar before: I was picking up a lot of static electricity just from playing the Jazzmaster. I never noticed this until I recorded it. I've not had this problem with any other instrument that I own, and the difference is that they all have shielding in multiple locations.

I do own a Gretsch Electromatic that may suffer from this problem as none of the cavities appear to be shielded on that instrument either.

More interior shots:





No shielding. None.

A.

I’ve got one in BMM and it’s surprisingly great! Not really a fan of the pickups though