Love for the stock Affinity pickups

Euthymia · 12-22-2009, 05:56 PM

The stock pickups on Affinity Strats sound great to me. At least on the Indonesian ones I've worked on from the early 00's.

They seem to be slightly "cooler" versions of the pickups Cort sells as "Mighty-Mite."

One of my favorite Strat pickup configurations is stock Affinities in the neck and middle, with a stock Mighty-Mite or Mexican Strat (same pickup to my eyes and ears) at the bridge.

peskypesky · 12-22-2009, 08:10 PM

i agree. the stock pups on my Affinity sound damn good for ceramics.

Squier?!? · 12-22-2009, 10:12 PM

I happen to think the stock ceramics in my
Purple 2000 Affinity sound pretty good too.

Euthymia · 12-23-2009, 04:46 AM

My neighbor bought an American Deluxe HSS Stratocaster a couple of years ago and brought it over 'cause he just couldn't get it to sound like the "Strat" sounds he had in his head.

He liked it in the bridge humbucker mode, but the neck, middle and neck/middle positions sounded dead.

We tried my Strats, mostly Squiers or off-brands, and they all got way closer to sounding like the jangly Strat we love.

This guitar came with the SCN pickups.

We pulled that thing apart to check the pots, switches, yada yada. No luck anywhere. Tried different volume pot values, going to the standard control configuration (instead of the multi push-pull thing it comes with). Nope.

I gave him a pair of Affinity pickups, he put them in the Deluxe, and sure as heck, they sounded great. He was totally happy with them, and remains so.

Not sure what they're getting at with those SCN pickups, but my experience with them was pretty negative. They sounded lifeless in comparison to the cheapest ceramic pickups Fender was selling.

Malikon · 12-23-2009, 09:07 PM

yeah I was surprised how much twang/snap/bite the Affinity pickups have. They're a little thinner sounding then what I prefer, but the actual tone is really nice. For clean bendy stuff it's a really pretty tone.

dugrock · 01-05-2010, 06:21 PM

My 2007 COB Bullet Strat stock pups sound real good. There is a bit more hum but I like how they sound in contrast to my 2008 SX SST with '83 Electra Pheonix S-H-S pups. I have a set of GFS pups to drop in but I like the stock ones for now.

***JUST PLAY***

FILTHYJOE · 01-05-2010, 06:44 PM

I have a 2000 Standard Squier Strat. Those Indonesian P/ups are great and I would never think of changing them.

YeahDoIt · 01-15-2010, 11:54 AM

I love the sound of my HSS Squier Affinity. What amazes me is that when I play along with songs on the radio my guitar just blends in. I suspect these top 40 hits are recorded using high grade professional instruments.

ratdog472 · 07-30-2010, 03:49 AM

I will toss in here that the set of 98 Affinity pickups I have sound better than the set of 99 standards I have by a long shot. The Standards are FLAT sounding compared to these Affinity pickups. The 99 might have to get new pups.

telepath · 07-30-2010, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ratdog472

I will toss in here that the set of 98 Affinity pickups I have sound better than the set of 99 standards I have by a long shot. The Standards are FLAT sounding compared to these Affinity pickups. The 99 might have to get new pups.

Theres two Squier Strats in the house here - my '04 Standard Strat (its a China/Yako, not Indonesia/Cort) and my partners son's Squier - a China/Yako '03 Affinity.

The Affinity sounds really great! - pups are truly crisp, and well .. very stratty!
Great on cleans.

My Chinese '04 Standard (Antique burst) is just a magic guitar - it sounds and plays incredible, somehow stays in tune whatever I do to it. The Alnico's are genuinely beautiful on this one.
I feel I got incredibly lucky there. I didnt even pay much for it - I feel like i stole something

But the Affinity holds its own, and is actually a bit louder too!
Often the way with ceramics

While on the subject though -
I had an Indonesian Standard Strat previously (an '02 ?), and that particular one just happened to be a huge disapointment - it was uterly lifeless, and had all sorts of niggles.
Shame - it looked great! - off white with a deep reddish tort 'guard.
I know many folks have great Indonesian Standards, I probably just got unlucky and I became fed up of chasing my tail with it.

A while back I also briefly had a (mint cond) Sunburst Affinity that looked exactly like the (beat up!) one here now, but that mint one sounded, and played pretty appalling! (tried all the tweaks!) and was simply absolutely nowhere near as good as the one sitting here now in the corner is. Not in any way.

I guess that different factories, different years, and a bit of luck can all play their part.

But , back to the point - yes, absolutely - Affinity Ceramic pups can be quite something! and if you have a good one, it would actually be a shame, and quite possibly a bit pointless to change the pups out.

BillStickers · 07-30-2010, 01:45 PM

Sounds like Ceramics being Ceramics

I'd only be bugged by not having radical differences between switching positions... but that's because I'm a guy who prefers fewer Guitars when playing... thusly my UniStrat invention... if you've seen my Strat '51 then that was the Prequel... I say Prequel because I thought of the concept of the UniStrat back when it was a Jimmy Page Les Paul wiring setup in a Strat, then the Strat '51 got born and I felt like I was more adept with wiring. So now I have the UniStrat which should give me suitable emulation for every Guitar I've GASsed for barring accurate purist replication. It should be fun and borderline gimmicky but I got a good feeling about it...

Here's something cool and PUP related:
http://axetec.co.uk/axetec%20guitar%...ickups_035.htm
£49.95 for a set of 3 giving you practical Vintage Spec. Tone... they're basically Classic Strat sound for 50 Quid with AlNiCos and Fibre Bobbins...

swankay

Stratatouille · 07-30-2010, 03:23 PM

My 20th anniversary Affinty is completely stock (except for strings) and it is the best sounding guitar I've ever had. Even has better tone than the custom shop Carvin I used to have that cost 1000's. I wanted to mod this guitar but why mess with a good thing???

peskypesky · 07-30-2010, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stratatouille

I wanted to mod this guitar but why mess with a good thing???

shhhhhhh... i think you can get banned around here for saying crazy things like that.

wickedtools · 07-31-2010, 01:00 AM

I also like the ceramics in my Squiers, I do change out the pots and switches when they start to get noisy and upgrade them. I've been guilty of upgrading and trying different alinco pickups and going back to the stock on some

ratdog472 · 07-31-2010, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by telepath

Theres two Squier Strats in the house here - my '04 Standard Strat (its a China/Yako, not Indonesia/Cort) and my partners son's Squier - a China/Yako '03 Affinity.

The Affinity sounds really great! - pups are truly crisp, and well .. very stratty!
Great on cleans.

But the Affinity holds its own, and is actually a bit louder too!
Often the way with ceramics

While on the subject though -
I had an Indonesian Standard Strat previously (an '02 ?), and that particular one just happened to be a huge disapointment - it was uterly lifeless, and had all sorts of niggles.
Shame - it looked great! - off white with a deep reddish tort 'guard.
I know many folks have great Indonesian Standards, I probably just got unlucky and I became fed up of chasing my tail with it.
snippityhooha
I guess that different factories, different years, and a bit of luck can all play their part.

The funny thing is that they are both Chinese/Yako factoried (is that a word?) guitars. The green one in my album is the Standard with the flat pickups and the red one in there is the Affinity with staggered pole pieces. I do believe I might try to get a set of GFS Boston Blues or maybe Lil Killers if I want to go with a little more fire to it.

2323jake · 07-31-2010, 04:32 AM

I have a squier affinity made in indonesia. According to the serial num, it was made in 2007. Can someone tell me what pickups are on it?

Euthymia · 10-19-2010, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2323jake

I have a squier affinity made in indonesia. According to the serial num, it was made in 2007. Can someone tell me what pickups are on it?

The only way I know is to pull the pickguard and look.

If you take a photo, someone on here can probably ID them.

Mike S. · 10-23-2010, 02:20 PM

+1 on the Indonesian Affinity ceramic pups. I'm surprised at how much I like these despite the fact that we aren't supposed to according to some armchair critiques.

These sound better to me than more than a few "upgrade" pups I've installed.

i_SEBAPR · 11-14-2010, 02:42 PM

Well yeah they sound good and warm but they are relly on the noisy side and a lil thin sounding but overall better than most squier bullets and affinitys atleast they were on my Affinity Made in Indonesia from 2000. But now i upgraded all the electronics and got some DAllen pups (CS Austin Blues) yeah they are fenomenal.

guitar guy · 12-01-2010, 09:03 PM

Every cheap Strat I've owned, squier and non-squier alike, I've enjoyed the cheap ceramic Pickups. I tried modding a Peavey Raptor Plus with three dimarzio Single coil Sized Humbuckers and hated it. I'm trying again, as soon as I get a chance to finish my Bullet's neck, with a set of Jimi Reverse Stagger Pups from GFS. If I like those then I plan on taking the old Squier ones and putting them in a future build I have planned.

teej · 06-26-2011, 06:53 AM

i know i just bought an indonesian affinity strat . and can;t believe how good it is , i was expecting to have to change the pick ups . but now i;m scratching my head thinkin " hold on they sound brilliant as somebody said very stratty , in the 2 and 4 positions . but a nice bridge crunch .. i didn;t expect that .. the neck pick up alone could be a bit creamier perhaps , but it;s more than reasonable .. what;s going on ? what happened to you only get what you pay for n all that? i recall years ago when cheap guitars pick ups just had no character attall , but is it possible that bog standard cheap pick ups just thrown out from a far east factory can sound as good as scatter carefully hand wound expensive boutique jobs with every attention payed to detail . i;m bloody mystified .. not complaining mind this strat is a pearler ..

bchaffin72 · 09-01-2011, 03:00 AM

Personally, I find the stock pick-ups great. I am changing pots and a few other minor things on mine, but really not planning to replace the pick-ups. Just a few simple mods to get the most out of what's already there.

p90special · 09-01-2011, 11:54 AM

Does anyone have pictures of these good ones from the Affinities that are ceramic or can describe them to me.

fenderfreak · 09-01-2011, 12:27 PM

Sure, what year and factory is yours?

Generally, Indo ones look like this: (same as the MIM Std pickups, oddly my Squier Std has them)

And the ones from my Affinity had one big magnet at the base, and not staggered. I've seen Affinities with both.

p90special · 09-01-2011, 01:00 PM

Thanks for posting the pics! Awesome those like like the ones I have, they are 2004 Indonesian

houseguitarshop · 09-01-2011, 01:57 PM

okay, I will chime in here

I also like Squier Stock Pickups. Squier gets the sound right on there guitars out of the box. even the bulllets and affinity,

Squier has so many models you have to ask yourself what sound are you looking for in terms of sound???

I have a pro tone with alnico pickups. These are very nice for those clean tones but I do not like them very much for overdrive sounds, then thin out to much for my taste. but for the clean tones, the pro tone pickups are probably the best in my opinion.

I also have a bunch of other squiers with stock ceramic pickups, I like the ceramics better overall, they are more versatile for switching between clean or overdrive tones. I defiantly like some ceramics more then others but the stock squier ceramics do achive a great sound almost always.

I have owned mess of stock squiers, among my favorites, and all completely different sounding...the stock wanyes world pickups (very vintage sound) .....MIJ SQ 4-bolt ceramics (these just sing they are my favorite of all)...... I really dig the SQUIER II pups, (very full and rich)....... SQUIER stagemaster china 2002ish pickups, (these just thrash hard and thicker and more full sounding, great for overdrive)

I have about 20 different models of squiers now, ranging from 1984-2009 and each guitar has its own sound qualities, some are suited better for somethings

sometimes I am playing and one guitar and it just isnt doing it for me sonicly, so I grab another with slightly different sound

nymtber · 09-16-2011, 02:20 AM

I have a newish (last year or so I would guess) Affinity Telecaster, and the stock pickups surprized me. I will eventually switch out for noiseless GFS pickups, but the stock are not bad. Especially the Neck, its pretty warm and sounds sooo smooth. Bridge is a bit thin and weak, so I might only change that, not sure yet (I have some learnin' to do first...)

I also had a Squier Stagemaster HH back in 2001 and it had decent humbuckers on it for its price range. I switched out the bridge for a hotter pup, but the stock was not BAD at all.

Fender seems to try and keep their quality on the squier line up there. I hope they always do, because my bank account won't allow a USA fender!

p90special · 09-16-2011, 08:58 AM

I took the time to measure the original pickups which where very quiet and noise free.
Bridge 4.00K
Middle 3.62K
Neck 3.51k

rompo420 · 09-16-2011, 12:38 PM

I had an '08 that was the same way. I don't miss that neck but I do so miss the tone!!!

p90special · 09-16-2011, 01:07 PM

I am getting some neodyninium magnets and put in these as the low winding should be a great match for neo magnets