I posted about the latest axe here, a 2006 Indonesian Squier Affinity Strat I bought for the princely sum of £50.
The challenge is to put some rather nice upgrades into this but ideally keep this under the price of a new Affinity Strat – which according to Andertons right now is £179.99.

That gives us £129.99 to play with.
Because these are thinner bodied strats, we’re going to leave the bridge alone for now – and concentrate on other areas.
First area, the electrics (all parts via Amazon, Pickup via Axemail):
22 Guage Cloth Covered Wire (2ft) | £5.14 |
Graph Tech Tusq XL PT-5042 | £10.99 |
CTS 250k Log Pot (Volume) | £6.29 |
CTS 250k Linear Pot (Tone) (x2) | £12.58 |
TaleeMail Strap Locks | £6.99 |
25mm Copper Shielding Tape x4m | £6.21 |
Sprauge 0.22uF Capacitor | £2.71 |
IronGear Texas Loco Neck Pickup | £27.20 |
Total | £78.11 |
Add this up and our Affinity has cost us £128.11, which gives us room for Tuners later on, but what are getting for our money ?
- Replacement Cap, Pots and Wiring equivalent to American Pro level
- A new NUT, always one of the fun parts of cheaper guitars
- Shielded Cavities to reduce hum
- A Spanking new overwound pickup for the Neck, which if you read any reviews the IronGear feedback is always really good.
More to follow when I start putting this together 🙂
No responses yet