Squier吉他 | Affinity 和 Standard Telecaster 历史

本文中的信息由来自 Squier-Talk.com 的 nicod98 提供

互联网上有很多关于 Squier Stratocaster 的文档；但是，Telecaster 的文档记录不足。本文中的信息有望为这个时代的 Affinity 和 Standard Telecaster 模型提供更多信息。这篇文章有很多漏洞，因为很多事情没有（或几乎没有）记录在案。

一开始 (1996-2001)

“Standard Telecaster”可以追溯到 1990 年，有不同的部件号。“Telecaster”于 1984 年开始使用。为了本文的目的，我们将重点关注从 1996 年开始的 Squier Telecaster。

在此期间，“标准”Squier Telecaster 的一个版本在墨西哥生产（013-2302）。它有一个顶部负载桥和可怕的六角调谐器。它或多或少是 Fender MIM 标准电视广播的更便宜的硬件版本。还有 1996/1997 年左右的韩国电视广播员（VN6/VN7 系列）与墨西哥 Squiers 重叠。

 

在 1996 年年中价目表中，引入了 ProTone Telecasters。这个系列被许多人认为是最好的 Squier 吉他之一。它可用作 Fat Tele 和 '69 Thinline。

不幸的是，ProTone Telecasters 与 Fender 品牌的吉他直接竞争，这损害了销售。为了保护品牌免受内部竞争，决定 Squier 吉他必须变得更便宜和质量更低。ProTone 于 1997 年停产。

当 ProTone 系列停产时，现代 Squier 历史的第一步开始了。1997 年推出了第一款 Affinity Teles。两年后，一个新的 Squier 标准模型紧随其后。它们分别在中国和印度尼西亚生产。

亲和的早期

1996/1997 年，Fender 首次从中国订购了 Squier 吉他。以前的所有型号都是在日本、韩国、墨西哥制造的，还有一种罕见的美国型号。

与墨西哥或韩国模型相比，这个时代的中国亲和力被认为是优质的。这些 Affinity 电视广播机具有以下规格：

• 21 品
• 厚红木 9.5 英寸半径指板
• 42毫米螺母
• 全粗弦穿体
• 现代 6 座鞍座桥
• 六角调谐器
• 便宜的陶瓷拾音器
• 塑料矩形千斤顶板（一段时间后变得很脆）
• 裸木桁架杆孔
• 单个“蝴蝶”字符串树
• 背板上的序列号，以“YN”开头

Fender 在此型号上使用“Tele”缩写保护“Telecaster”名称。今天仍在使用最便宜的型号（Bullet 和 Affinity）。直到 2000 年左右，“TELE”名称都是非粗体（粗体）字体。

尽管没有列出任何价目表或文件，但似乎至少有一批是非常漂亮的淡蓝色。在 Affinity 的早期，价目表一遍又一遍地显示相同的颜色，但这种颜色从未出现在列表中。

（上图中的 Tele 已修改为 Nashville 配置。点击放大）

这个时代的亲和力确实存在一些问题；不同角度的琴桥拾音器，远离完美的插芯钻孔位置（通常很近，但有时真的很糟糕）。但对于中国来说，在世界范围内大规模生产吉他还处于早期阶段，总而言之，质量还是不错的。直到 2006 年左右，奇怪的角度似乎或多或少保持不变。

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1998 年，型号基本保持不变，序列号更改为琴头背面。

一年后（1999 年），我们看到 Affinity 推出了更薄的车身和顶部负载桥，并于 1998 年开始生产。

可以找到带有“CY”序列前缀的 1998 和 1999 Affinity。它们似乎是其他 Yako 制造的 Affinity 电视的延续。这些似乎更薄，顶部负载体如上面的描述。但也有带有“CD”系列前缀的 1998 和 1999 型号，带有带有 6 个桶桥（而不是块鞍）的顶部负载主体（用于 CD99）。CD98 似乎是全厚度的串通。目前尚不清楚这些是否是 Yako 生产的。事实上，人们对这种“CD”亲和力知之甚少。

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在我们继续 Affinity 故事之前，让我们先介绍一下 Squier Standard Telecaster。

标准

1999 年是现代“标准”历史开始的一年。尽管不确定，但这些似乎是 Fenders 在印度尼西亚购买的第一把吉他。这也是“标准”名称被放在主轴箱上的第一年。“TELECASTER”名称以细字体显示。

1999 年的价格表中提到了“顶载”琴桥，而实际上，它是双载琴桥：顶载和穿线都可以，并且安装了琴弦套圈。

1999 年新的标准电视广播机具有以下特点：

• 21品枫木指板
• 6 Barrel String-Through Bridge（但也能够顶载穿弦）
• 密封调谐器
• 黑色/金色贴花，与更便宜的 Affinity 形成对比。
• 琴头上的“标准”名称（首次）
• 陶瓷拾音器
• 金属矩形插孔板（不是 Affinity 上的塑料）
• 由于它们是由 Cor-tek 在印度尼西亚制造的，因此它们具有 IC 前缀。

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2000 年，该标准开始了另一次转型。在这一年中，Squier Standard Telecaster 共有三个不同版本。

在贴花的“TELECASTER”部分可以找到一个不同之处。1999 年和最早的 2000 年版本的标准电视广播具有“TELECASTER”一词的“细”字体。2000 年（以及此后的所有年份）的第二个和第三个版本都有“厚”字体。

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另一个区别是桥本身。1999 年和 2000 年的两个版本（版本 1 和 3）有一个 6 桶桥。2000 年的第二个版本和 2001 年以后的版本都有座垫。

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2001 年，转型完成，这导致了 Squier 标准，这真的可以称为“标准”电视广播员。

• The metal jack plate was swapped for a cup.
• The pickups got replaced with alnico-versions (the best sounding pickups in any single coil Squier tele IMHO.
• The 6 barrel-saddles were replaced with block saddles.
• From this point on the Standard had a 22-fret rosewood fretboard (instead of a 21-fret maple fretboard)
• This version remained pretty much the same until the rosewood fretboard was replaced with an Indian Laurel version around 2018.

So in essence we have these versions of the Squier Standard Telecaster:

Because of the limited time the 1999/2000 Indonesian Standard was produced, the following colors are rather rare:

• 519 British Racing Green
• 577 Frost Red
• 591 Galactic Purple

The “regular” colors are far more common:

• 506 Black
• 507 Vintage Blonde
• 532 Brown Sunburst (Fairly common even though it was only produced for this short period on the Standard Telecaster.)

In 2001 new colors were release, a few colors were only available for a few years, and are more or less rare:

• 500 3-Color Sunburst
• 546 Sherwood Green Metallic
• 593 Purple Metallic

When these colors were discontinued a very seventies looking color was introduced: 592 Walnut Satin (2004-2006).

The other colors remained for much longer:
· 507 Vintage Blonde
· 509 Candy Apple Red
· 537 Antique Burst (tortoise pickguard) (introduced in 2004)
· 565 Black Metallic

It's somewhat surprising how short a time that the maple fretboard Standard was made in Indonesia. The first were produced in 1999, and during the year 2000, the model was completely changed. This seems a bit odd. So was the Indonesian Standard tele not selling enough units? Was that the reason for the maple vs rosewood fretboard swap between the Standard & Affinity?

Back to the Affinity

Somewhere in 2000 the Affinity got a maple fretboard (without skunk stripe). The hexagonal tuners remain in place, and all seem to have a serial number prefix of "CY".

(Click to enlarge)

The Affinity got another makeover in 2001. The hex tuners were replaced with seal tuners. By comparing to the Affinity Strat from 2001, there is proof that sometime during this year the switch was made. In the pictures below both hexagonal and sealed tuners were found in on Affinity Strats with a 2001 serial number. Only an image of with sealed tuners could be found in 2001 for the Affinity Tele.

(Click to enlarge)

As stated earlier the Affinity telecaster had an odd angle for the bridge pickup. This was certainly still the case in 2003, 2004, 2005 respectively as seen in the image below. Around 2006/2007 the odd angle ”problem” was rectified.

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An oddball Affinity tele, or a happy coincidence?

A 2000 Affinity was located in a pawn shop. No big deal, you might say, but this one is a mix of features, similarities and contradictions:

• It is made in Indonesia. At this point in time, the Affinity tele is made in China, and the “first” (obviously not!) Indonesian Affinity telecaster is from 2012 (pack Affinity).
• Just like the 2000 Affinity strat with rosewood fretboard (which was also made in Indonesia), this Affinity telecaster has 21 frets, a rosewood fretboard, and hexagonal tuners. It also has the typical distance between the 12th fret markers for the Indonesian production at that time.
• Contrary to other 2000 Affinity telecaster this guitar has a dual load (top-load and string-through) bridge, and flush string ferrules. In fact it is the exact same bridge as on the Standard, with 6 barrels and a regular angle for the bridge pickup (unlike the regular Affinity at that time)
• This guitar has two butterfly string trees (just like the Standard, but unlike the Affinity)
• The neck has a skunk stripe (again like the maple fretboard Standard, but unlike the Affinity of the time and unlike the rosewood fretboard Standard)
• This Affinity has (just like the standard) a jack cup.
• The nut size is 41.9mm, this should be wider than the nut size of a 2000 Chinese Affinity, but I have no reference material to compare this with.
• This guitar has the typical thinner body of the Affinity. (unlike the Standard)
• The color is “baltic blue”, and there are pictures of other 2000 Affinity teles of the same color in the top-load version, so the Affinity was made in this color both in China AND in Indonesia. Other pictures have shown a black tele made in Indonesia in 2000 as well. So this is not an isolated case.
• This telecaster is very similar to the 2012-2017 pack Affinity.

(Click to enlarge)

Same Guitar Two Countries?

Here are few hypotheses about why Fender made the Affinity tele in Indonesia as well as in China (These are all personal opinion):

• It would be very unlikely that this would have been done to make things cheaper. If anything, this one was actually more expensive to produce (due to better hardware, more hardware, and more expensive labor costs). So I’m assuming this was done to “solve” something.
• At some point in 2000, the decision was made to make alterations to the standard. This resulted in the standard we know from 2001 on wards. In 2000 the production line was changed gradually from one model to another. We’ve seen the change from 21 to 22 frets in one step, and then from a maple to a rosewood fretboard in another step. The only thing that was changed back and forth was the bridge.
• Many of these Squier bridges being sold brand new even 15 years later. I’m assuming that either Fender had a contract for a specific number of bridges, or that the stock was so large that they decided to – temporarily – make a whole batch of Affinity teles with that bridge, so the new bridges could be used for the Squier Standard Tele.
• Another possibility might be that there might have been problems during the production in China and that production moved to Indonesia temporarily.
• Since 2001 was the year were changes in Affinity telecaster production were introduced, There might have been a temporary change of production to Indonesia to allow for adjusting everything in the Chinese Factory. (maple neck, sealed tuners). This would also account for the fact that BOTH the Indonesian and the Chinese versions from 2001 are rather rare.

Conclusion

We have a very rich backstory for the Japanese Squiers, the move to Korea (including the “plywood”backstory, production in Mexico, temporary production in the USA). While the Affinity is quite possibly one of the highest selling Fender series guitars worldwide there isn't much information published about their history. The hope is this article has helped to fill in some of these gaps.

The early years of the history of the “modern” Standard and Affinity teles is more complicated than one would think. In this article, many small differences and oddities have been uncovered. No doubt this will cause many more questions to be asked.

If anyone would like to add additional information, you can add comments below or to the original thread on Squier-Talk.

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