I have the exact same black Squire Affinity Strat. I’m not sure what year, but it’s made in Indonesia. It belonged to my Son’s friend. He gave it to me, along with the small Peavey 158 Transtube practice amp. Both were filthy, left in his garage covered with dust and mold. After a good cleaning, I did a full set up on it. I then remembered a Dimarzio Super Distortion humbucker that my friend sold to me back, in the early 80’s. I removed the stock single coil pup in the bridge position and installed/modded the Dimarzio pup. I’m glad I did. It sounds great. I usually play it often, since my other higher end guitars are in my closet for now. 🎸👍

I feel that guitar teachers, at first lessons, should start with basic setup instructions, or even organize setup classes, preventing beginning students getting frustrated and quit because of badly setup instruments ..

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

Agreed, or teachers should inspect and offer to help make adjustments and teach/explain what they are doing and why.

@DLeRoux

4 ай бұрын

This is actually great advice. That being said, most old cats don't even know about gear (for the most part). I have come across more people that have 0 idea on what they are playing, to those that can give me a breakdown. That being said, it is great advice!

Cool! I love my Squire, it was my first electric guitar. Even though my MIJ Fender gets most of my playtime these days, I still have it and use it often, It plays very well.

That Pedal Show! 😉

Budget and the beast

At 16 minutes that rosewood fretboard looks so good ! Nice and dark ! I wish squier would go back to rosewood as i can't stand most Indian laurel fretboards, they feel like sand paper compared to rosewood!

I hear ya brother, i wish i knew that shit when i was younger too.

Cat scratch fever!

Was the nut okay on this Squier? I find it very frustrating that manufacturers seem to give so little attention to fashioning and placing the nut in such a way that the first position notes and chords won't play sharp. Every other aspect of a guitar can be perfect, but a "too high" nut can spoil it all. Enjoyed your video very much!

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

Luckily yes. I’ve had good luck with nuts on squiers. (Other than them being plastic). Where I run into the most nut trouble is the super cheap “off brand” Amazon stuff… glarry, ktaxon, BCP. I always need to either get my nut files out, or just replace with a better nut on those.

Best thing you can do - is go back to the kid, and give him the guitar back and let him know what being a guitarist truly is.

This is the paradox. Beginner priced guitar but unfinished. Requiring setup work a beginner wouldn't want to do nor pay to get done.

@Stahodad

4 ай бұрын

A great time to learn how to do some or most of the setup by themselves.

@androtekman6131

4 ай бұрын

@@StahodadLeveling and crowning Is something even I am hesitant to attempt. This is way beyond a beginner's ambition. and not everyone can work with tools. Not to mention expensive tools needed.

👏🏻 great job. I do the same thing to all the cheap guitars I get, with one exception, and that is that I us copper shielding tape to line all of the cavities and the back of the pickguard. Otherwise it’s exactly what I do too. 🎉

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

if you noticed, the reason i didnt, is because it was already shielded with conductive paint... i mentioned that in the video, and that the electronics had a ground stud going to it. also, unless you are playing a big gig, very loud, downtown near radio stations.. it really doesnt do much... the whole point of shielding is to stop RF.. RADIO FREQUENCIES from interfereing. trying to stop your electronics from becoming a radio antenna, or create any frequency disturbance. where the radio would become audible through your rig when youre not playing. it can still happen in towns that are pushing thier signal really hard even when shielded unless you create a fully surrounded and conductively connected cavity and lid. WHICH if all of the above applied... you most likely are not playing a budget guitar needing this much setup work lol

@jeremiahmeraz9298

4 ай бұрын

@@RhoadesGuitars I notice that copper shield is way more effective than the paint on “half assed” shielding. I play my guitars at my desk where my computer and all of my amps and pedals are within 3 feet of my guitar. But that is just my experience on roughly 25 guitars I’ve done vs. however many you have done. For me, it makes a huge difference with noice reduction.

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

@@jeremiahmeraz9298 you may be interested in this video. this is a guy who makes pickups and understands EMI and RF. he even dismantled some myths I believed. kzread.info29dwh6pAtMY?si=EnCxPpfM56o5KXjG

@jeremiahmeraz9298

4 ай бұрын

@@RhoadesGuitars I’ll watch it. But I am only speaking from my experience and I can guarantee it makes a difference between sloppily painted on shielding paint in the cavity that guitars come with, and a full copper shielding tape job on the cavity and pickguard.

@jeremiahmeraz9298

4 ай бұрын

@@RhoadesGuitars so I watched the video, and I feel like he is saying too many “basically” “marginally” “you can, if you want to get a little bit more” responses to all the important information. A lot of it is opinion based loosely on electrical facts. But one thing I did notice is that he fully shielded the pickguard, like I do, and he said it must be connected to ground. So based on the information I have so far, I can guess that you haven’t done enough guitars to be able to tell that there is a dramatic difference in noise, you have not done many full cavity tape jobs, or you haven’t done them correctly. I am not there so I can’t say which one it is. All I know is that there is noise and when you fully copper tape shield and properly ground a guitar, there is less noise. Whether you believe it’s pointless or not necessary is besides the point. It does reduce noise better than the paint.

Awesome

The white end comes off the bar.

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

thank you! i knew that but it completely slipped my mind. haha

Volume levels and that buzzing needs to be sorted.

i get the feeling that the kid's guitar journey was cut short out of frustration with the instrument. when i was 8 i tried learning guitar but the guitar was absolutely terrible. was frustrated and stopped. by age 16 I picked up guitar again with a decent instrument and didn't look back

Not a bad video... However, you want to make sure when you are speaking to the camera, you are in frame. Also, you need a better mic for your overdubs. The sound quality is poor and there is a lot of variance in the volume during the talkovers. Excellent content and hope that you keep it up!

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

Haha that’s because it’s all been done on my phone. I definitely need better A/V equipment. Eventually!

@PatonMacD

4 ай бұрын

After seeing your other vids… I see you are on the right path. Good luck!

Squier guitars are a gr8 value. Some specialty models are better than MiM fenders. Sadly my Squier Affinity fmt is better quality than my MiM Fender as the Squier is half the price.

@jeremiahmeraz9298

4 ай бұрын

I agree. The sad part is that it’s only going to be worth $60-80 on the market because it’s a squier affinity.

@dragan4658

4 ай бұрын

@@jeremiahmeraz9298 your numbers on the resale value are off lol. Both guitars lose the same percentage in resale situations however the fender name on the headstock is sentimental and thatvin itself is worth a lot imo.

@jeremiahmeraz9298

4 ай бұрын

@@dragan4658 maybe wher you are from, but squier Affinity don’t sell for more than that here on Los Angeles unless they are brand new.

Man, your audio is up and down like yo-yo. Good video otherwise, but that's rather annoying. By the way... that guy on the couch? Has he been waiting long, for you to set up his guitar? 😱🤣😁

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

Haha 💀. Yeah I know it been commented on. As I try new cameras and microphones I’m trying to dial in my rig. It was easier just on my phone. But the phone doesn’t have the memory to keep up with all my projects I’m simultaneously working on. I appreciate the view and I am working on getting to a good setup. Currently I’m using a zoom q8 camera, and I’m not too happy with the video quality or the audio. Also learning to edit on a Mac is frustrating, but working on improving everything for the benefit of my viewers.

It must be the first. Get an Ibanez js100 then u will grow up

@Livelaughlimpbizkit

5 ай бұрын

That's a completely different guitar in a completely difference price point. That would negate the whole point of this video.

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

lol are you a overseas troll bot? Bad English. Unnecessary negative comment. missing the context and purpose of the video. I never thought I’d witness a guitar “bully”… it’s a weird combination…

60 cycle hum. All the way through your video. Extremely annoying...😢

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

Any suggestions? It was all done on my phone. I have a new zoom q8 camera that just arrived perhaps that will fix it?

Hardly beast. It was a budget guitar that got cleaned.

@RhoadesGuitars

4 ай бұрын

Playability. setup, fret work.