I recently bought a refurbished Squire Affinity Tele with a one year warranty, I have some questions about the pickups. I’ve also followed the following guide to setup (https://travelingguitarist.com/how-to-set-up-a-squier-telecaster-step-by-step/). The pickup towards the tuning pegs seems to be noticeably more quiet than the middle selection or the far pickup. Is this normal behavior?
Additionally, what are some beginner recommendations or tips? I have a crush mini amp and it works great for my needs so far. Should I look into getting some pedals?
I am a complete beginner and using Rocksmith a bit, but mostly using the Guitar for Dummies complete book. Starting with basic chord progression and strumming techniques and then start with blues music as I’ve heard it’s a good place to start.
Any advice is appreciated, thank you.
Nice pickup on the Tele! The neck pickup being quieter is totally normal on Telecasters - it's a single coil thing and that position just naturally has a warmer, lower output sound compared to the bridge. If it seems way quieter though, you could try raising it a bit closer to the strings.
For pedals I'd honestly hold off for now and just focus on getting comfortable with the amp's clean and overdrive tones. A tuner pedal is the one exception - grab a clip-on or a cheap pedal tuner, it makes life so much easier.
Blues is a great place to start btw. Learn the basic 12-bar blues pattern and a pentatonic scale and you'll be jamming in no time. Rocksmith is solid for keeping things fun too. Have fun with it!