let me just say that im a beginner and this is my first electric guitar.
i liked what the tele offered so i got a squier affinity deluxe tele. the original plan was to get a non deluxe tele but i saw it was there, took a look around and thought that it just had better quality parts so i decided on the deluxe over the original. went to a guitar store and got it, heard the store worker mention something about humbuckers but didnt think much of it. im now home with my tele and just realised that i mightve just fucked up.
so the question is, i have a tele with humbuckers and a strat bridge(idk if that makes a difference), so do i still have the tele sound or have i fucked it up?
i know the question sounds stupid because, why dont i just take a listen myself, but im a beginner and my ears are pretty shit. and im planning to keep using this guitar until it becomes unsave-able(im cheap like that)
tl;dr i have a tele with humbuckers and a strat bridge, i cant hear the difference myself so do i still have the tele sound?
Do you like the way the guitar sounds? That’s the only thing that really matters. If you’re only a beginner, you’re not playing out, you don’t need a specific sound anyway.
The bottom line is if you don’t like how it sounds or feels then return it.
Now if you want advice:
You talk about the “tele sound” a lot. Could you be more specific about what that means to you? Telecasters can basically do any genre, they’re very versatile. I think you’ll be fine if you keep it.
You’re also a beginner. If you’re not playing in a band I don’t think it’ll matter too much which guitar you have. Think of it as learning what you like and don’t like.
If you’re a beginner, you’re (in my experience) hundreds of hours of playing away from the point where you start worrying about tone. At this point literally any guitar, as long as you are comfortable with the feel of it, will do. Just enjoy playing and enjoy getting better.
You didn’t fuck up.
One more time: You didn’t fuck up.
You’re learning. Your style and sound will evolve. You’ll end up with way more guitars than you think, and you’ll always have the opportunity to grow ,change, and adapt as your gear and taste expands.
Play it, experiment with what it can do and learn to love the imperfections. They give you “your sound”.
I’ve played guitar for 35 years and never really cared about anything like that, so I’d say you’re fine. Your sound is going to be influenced by many more important factors than the style of pickup… the amp, equalization, weight and tension of strings, effects, room acoustics, your playing. Plus the precise sound is something you’d really only need to worry about after you play competently and are recording or playing concerts.
Anyway when I look up this model, that’s just how it’s set up:
Squier Humbucking Telecaster Pickups
Voiced in-house at Fender, these Squier humbucking pickups produce fat, rich tone for a wide variety of styles.
I don’t think you need to be concerned that Fender doesn’t know how to make one of their signature styles of guitar properly or something. Most likely they chose these pickups to make the model versatile.
In summary, I hope you enjoy your new guitar and musical ventures, and I don’t think you have anything to fret about.
