Time to upgrade my Squier affinity again.... Pickguards?

Left_Hand_Strat

Left_Hand_Strat

New member
Hey guys I'm Baaaaaccckk!!

(the older hands might remember me from years back)

So, as you've guessed by the username, I'm a lefty. I have my original Squier affinity strat which was my first electric guitar from 2007. I upgraded it in 2012 in a collosal manner which I now regret doing. I fitted some old Ibanez pickups which were gifted to me by FunkFingers as well as some bent "fender" saddles on the bridge. I wired in all new CTS pots, proper 5 way switch, and added Phase, parallel and Bridge pickup switch. As you can imagine I could hear near to no difference so got fed up and just hung it on the wall.....


Now I'm getting back into playing proper, I want to refurbish the strat into something a little more decent. Sure, i own a Fender plus top and a Jaguar now, but I will still always have my original electric.

The real problem I am having is pickguards. I have fitted an 11 hole pickguard to the body, I drilled the extra holes and retained the originals, just in case I ever went back to an 8 hole.

Now, for the life of me, I cannot remember what design pickguard it is or who made it so I need to double check again. I have found listings for matching Tortoiseshell pickguard and backplate, but they say they will not fit Squiers and only fit Mexican and American strats. I just need to check if I can get away with it, maybe with some minimal alterations to suit? Either that or I need somewhere in the UK where I can order a replacement pickguard, in tortoiseshell, to the right dimensions.

Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
welcome back! not sure where to get a lefty tort squire guard... i almost always get my pick guards from warmoth but not sure if they do squires and might be pricey in the uk
 
The only difference I have found between squire and Fender American or Mexican
is the placement of screw holes and maybe if they fit under the fretboard or up to the fretboard
Either way it is an easy adjustment

As far as in Europe
I don't know
 
ehdwuld said:
The only difference I have found between squire and Fender American or Mexican
is the placement of screw holes and maybe if they fit under the fretboard or up to the fretboard
Either way it is an easy adjustment

As far as in Europe
I don't know
Click to expand...

Hopefully you can find one that fits.

I know how frustrating it can be.

I have a early 1990s Korean made Squire; the holes on that were different than what was on other models/regions as well (I replaced my faded white pick guard with a 1970's looking white pearl flake one :headbang:). About 75% of the holes lined up and I just had to drill a few more (the unused existing holes were luckily covered by the pick guard). If you have to modify, hopefully it's not too much
 
The 'fit' is all down to the mounting screws. The shape of the pickguard for an Affinity is identical to a MIA Fender. (Unless it's one of those rare 22-fret Affinities with no fretboard overhang, which have a different neck pocket; those really are quite rare, though.) So, given you've already drilled it for different screws before and apparently now have both 8-hole and 11-hole available, finding a pickguard that fits should be no problem. Literally any pickguard should be a usable match, just depends how many screws you want to use.

If you want to be totally certain everything fits as-is then I can recommend WDMusic, SimS, Jack's Instrument Services and The Pickguard Shop as EU/UK-friendly dealers who will be able to supply virtually any pickguard you want, at most requiring you to send them a tracing of your current guard so they can verify the outline.

Same with back covers. There's nothing special about the Affinity's cover dimensions and at worst you might have to drill a new screw hole or two, and the old ones will be covered by the cover anyway. Again, simply sending an accurate(!) tracing to any of the aforementioned companies will enable them to create a guaranteed perfectly-fitting cover in whatever material you want.
 
jeremy said:
welcome back! not sure where to get a lefty tort squire guard... i almost always get my pick guards from warmoth but not sure if they do squires and might be pricey in the uk
Click to expand...

Yeah I had toyed with Warmoth, but the problem is that the cost of postage, and then the Import duty in the UK, outstrips the benefits of buying USA. Which is a shame, given there's more choises over there. Had the same issue with finding a Brass Block.
 
ehdwuld said:
The only difference I have found between squire and Fender American or Mexican
is the placement of screw holes and maybe if they fit under the fretboard or up to the fretboard
Either way it is an easy adjustment

As far as in Europe
I don't know
Click to expand...

Hey dude, nice to see you are still around!

If that's the case then I should be ready to go. I redrilled several holes for the pickguard it currently wears. If it wasn't the case that I had vandalised my current set up with toggle switches, I'd have reused it.
 
Ace Flibble said:
If you want to be totally certain everything fits as-is then I can recommend WDMusic, SimS, Jack's Instrument Services and The Pickguard Shop as EU/UK-friendly dealers who will be able to supply virtually any pickguard you want, at most requiring you to send them a tracing of your current guard so they can verify the outline.

Same with back covers. There's nothing special about the Affinity's cover dimensions and at worst you might have to drill a new screw hole or two, and the old ones will be covered by the cover anyway. Again, simply sending an accurate(!) tracing to any of the aforementioned companies will enable them to create a guaranteed perfectly-fitting cover in whatever material you want.
Click to expand...

That is extremely useful! thank you very much. I shall have a look into them and be in touch! Yeah the back cover I have is still the original white one. TBH this sounds like the best option, even if it costs a touch more, cause at least it will match what i currently have so that eliminates some problems.

Also RE: fretboard overhang, It's a 21 fret, with no overhang. so in a way, that's easier.
 
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