Advice on Affinity Strat upgrades

[slotrod65]

Hi Gang,

This is just the forum for my question!

My nephew received an Affinity Strat last Christmas. He has been taking lessons, and is at the point where he is noticing some of the flaws of his instrument. Notably, he is having issue with tuning.

A new instrument is not in the picture, so I am teaching him how to fix the flaws, which will help him work on his own guitars in the future.

He doesn't use the tremelo, so we will be locking it down with three more strings. Next will be a set of tuners, and a new Graph Tech nut.

Eventually, will will tackle the electronics, but that is for later.

My question is: Does anyone have any other suggestions for improving this guitar?

Phred

[BillStickers]

i myself did the exact same thing!
i'd been teaching myself for a while and started noticing flaws in my own guitar [however it was a lot cheaper than a squier ] and i did/have been doing similar things. tuners and a new nut is a base you've already covered. adding more springs and tightening the bridge screws slightly to lock it down, you've clearly got that done. you can teach about intonation at the 12th fret... urm... dunno what to say, i'm afraid i may sound patronizing... urm... the new squiers have 10mm holes i believe so you won't have problems with a variety of tuners to pick. [this is turning into a mental checklist.]

i modded my synchronized bridge into a floating trem with screws, if you use beveled screw heads you can make the bridge more stable but still be able to use the trem perfectly well; if he changes his mind at all.

my advice seems kind of unhelpful...

eek
thinking... thinking
-intonation
-tuners
-nut
-bridge
he could learn about temperatures that the guitar is comfortable with [?] winding the strings in the capstans so they don't slip [?] stretching the strings to help them settle into a natural state [?]

restringing correctly is a common mishap. if you turn the tuners so the holes in the capstans face the bridge/are in line with the nut slots, run the top of the string through the top so the tip pops out the hole to face the nut. stick your finger on the side of the capstan and pull the string so it pressed up against your finger; that'll give the right amount of slack to wind with. grab the end of the string and bend it round the opposite side of your finger then tuck it under the string. give it a tug without losing the finger width space and bend the string back over it's self. give the tuner a couple of winds and you should see that the string has basically been tucked under itself as well as being slightly counterwound on the tuner.

i shouldn't use my own guitar as a comparison as the only things left on it [when the neck is finished] that are stock parts are the bridge, the jack plate and the body. squiers are well-built and shouldn't need such a radical makeover. i hope i haven't repeated things you already know. thanks for reading my ridiculous rant. have a good evening!

[slotrod65]

Thank Bill,

That is the basic checklist I was thinking of. I wanted to be sure that I did not leave anything out. Thanks for the reminder about temp and humidity. These are good subjects to go over with him.

Phred

[BillStickers]

I'm very happy I could help! hooray I'm a teen who's I'm helping instead of hindering!

[Bullitt]

A simple thing to do to is to level dress an polish the frets,and then get or learn to do a good set up and then upgrade as money allows.Guirtarfetish has a lot of parts for Asian guitars at good prices,I had a Tele that became almost unplayable,did the frets and a good set up and it transformed it to not able to put it down.

[BillStickers]

axetec.co.uk are phenomenal as well