How Much Does A Squier Telecaster Weigh? [REAL Answer]

I’ve owned a Squier Bullet Telecaster [Alpine White] for close to a year now, and it’s an ok guitar. I like the looks of it and it sounds great, however, I was one of the unlucky ones who didn’t get one of the better models.

Apparently, one aspect of the guitar manufacturing process that makes guitars more expensive is quality control. As a result, some guitars in this line-up are better than others, additionally, they’ve (allegedly) been slimmed down intentionally to save cash.

Typically, a Squier Bullet Telecaster weighs in at 6.6 pounds, while an Affinity Telecaster comes in slightly heavier at 7.5 pounds. The added weight of the Affinity model is due to extra alder or ash wood in the neck and body. The Bullet Telecaster, on the other hand, uses basswood.

I know for a fact that the Squier Bullet Telecaster weighs just 6.6 pounds because I own one and I’ve weighed it. For the Affinity Telecaster, I had to use another source for a guide, but I imagine it’s not far off. If you’re wondering what separates these guitars that lead to their differences in weight, we’ll talk about that in the next section.

The Squier Telecaster – Bullet vs Affinity

As I just explained, Squier has a few different models of their guitars, including the Bullet and Affinity series, which are slightly different. These guitars are Fender’s attempt to target part of the beginner, low-cost, market, which they’ve done very successfully.

According to common knowledge, the Bullet series is an even cheaper introduction to their line-up of instruments, whereas the Affinity series is just a step above.

As I said earlier, guitarists typically believe that one of the big differences between cheaper and more expensive guitars is the level of quality control. This doesn’t mean there aren’t some differences between the hardware, pickups, or wood types.

But in most cases, it appears that the cheaper guitars just have a whole lot less time taken into ensuring a really high-quality instrument leaves the factory.

My experience seems to prove this because I actually like my Squier Bullet Telecaster, but the fretwork on it isn’t great. It is a super lightweight guitar, but probably at the cost of its sound, sustain, and (possibly) the fretwork.

As I explain to you in the section down below, the Affinity Series is actually just a tad heavier than the Bullet Series. This is because the Bullet Series has been slimmed down on purpose and made lighter.

This isn’t due to a difference in wood types, electronics, hardware, or anything like that. It’s just that the Bullet has less product or material to its neck and body. However, alder and ash can be a bit denser than basswood which the cheaper models are made out of.

It sounds great, looks cool, it’s light like a feather, but I will be replacing the neck on it at some point due to the aforementioned poor fretwork and also adding new single-coil pickups.

Having grown up on humbuckers, both passive and active, I’ve just recently discovered how much I like the single-coil sound. But I digress. Let me show you how I weighed this guitar to come up with my conclusion.

Weighing The Squier Telecaster – Bullet

So for this experiment, I essentially did the same thing as I did in my article on the weight of the Epiphone Les Paul Custom. The first thing I did was step on my bathroom scale with my phone in hand and without my guitar.

And you can see that I came in at 177.8 pounds. I’m a pretty heavy dude for 5’9” [or 180cm for my non-American friends].

I stepped on and off the scale a few times at different intervals to ensure I came to the same weight every single time. And then I grabbed my guitar and stepped on the scale again.

Just like I did for weighing myself without the guitar, I also did for weighing myself with the guitar. I stepped on and off the scale until I reached the same weight over and over again, ensuring that I get the correct weight, at least within the capability of my scale.

I weighed 177.8 pounds without the guitar, and 184.4 pounds after, so if you subtract 177.8 from 184.4, you get 6.6 pounds. With certainty, the Squier Bullet Telecaster weighs 6.6 pounds.

One of the really nice things about this guitar is how light it is. If you checked out my Epiphone Les Paul Custom article, you’ll remember that my 2003 Epiphone Les Paul Custom weighs 10.2 pounds!

While I love the guitar to death and it plays and sounds great, I’ll never take it somewhere on the road with me. It’s a studio guitar and a studio guitar only. It’s just far too heavy to take anywhere else.

So if you’re looking for a nice guitar to travel with or take on stage, the Squier series may be for you, particularly the Bullets.

Weighing The Squier Telecaster – Affinity

According to Rock Guitar Universe, the Squier Affinity Telecaster weighs 7.5lbs. This makes sense when you think about it because if you read anything about the guitars or hold them in your hand, you’ll notice that the Affinity feels slightly beefier.

So what separates the Affinity and Bullet and why is the former heavier than the latter? Is it the wood, the electronics, or the build quality? As I explained earlier, it really has nothing to do with these things with the exception of maybe the last factor.

Why Does the Squier Affinity Telecaster Weigh More Than The Bullet?

According to Guitar World, both the Squier Affinity and Bullet series, whether a Telecaster or Stratocaster, have pretty much the same wood types which include poplar bodies, maple necks, and Indian Laurel fingerboards.

Additionally, both guitar models have bolt-on construction which gives the guitars that “snap” sound. The difference between the Bullet and Affinity Telecasters is that the Bullet’s body and neck have been slimmed down a bit and made lighter.

There is literally less material on the Bullet guitars to weigh you down relative to the Affinity guitars. While I can only speculate what Squier’s intentions are with this, I imagine it’s because they want to make the guitars lighter and less cumbersome for beginners.

Many of these beginners are probably children as well, so a 10.2-pound guitar like my Epiphone Les Paul Custom is probably a bit much for them. That’s it for you then. The Squier Bullet Telecaster is 6.6 pounds and its Affinity counterpart is 7.5 pounds.

Other Articles You May Be Interested In

• How to Adjust the Action on a Squier Telecaster [ANSWERED]
• How to Set Up a Squier Telecaster (Step-By-Step)
• How to Set up An Epiphone Les Paul [An Illustrated Guide]
• How To Set Up A PRS Guitar (Step-By-Step)
• How to Adjust the Action on a PRS Guitar (With Pictures)