I've had some time to play this guitar after an initial pickup swap and proper set-up. I really do like it, and have shortened the "to-do list" on mods.

I posted in a couple of other threads about using my new saw rasp, and asking Ozzbike about using FW Golden Teak. These both have been in relation to this project.

I decided to just dress and profile the heel right back to where it meets the body and forgo the re-shaping of the pocket. The slightly thinner Affinity body and new heel shape actually make for good comfortable access to the upper frets more than expected.
My original also scheme involved comfort contours and a full refinish, but given how light the Poplar body is I'd be concerned about neck-dive if I removed that much material. Also, in the end I like the colour and couldn't be arsed doing a refinish when I still have a scratch body build in the back of my mind.

The other day I stripped and sanded back the neck (bye-bye Squier logo), re-shaped the heel and stained with a couple of coats of FWGT. Following my discussion with Ozzbike, I was going to hit it with some Tru Oil today (pre-poly) but my bottle had skinned over, so I shot it with a few coats of shellac.

The shellac has a lighter amber colour than Tru Oil, but spraying it gave me a pretty good build so got a decent amber hew on top of the golden teak. Unfortunately the weather is not cooperating this weekend (looks to be a very wet Easter Sunday & Monday) so too humid for finishing. Hopefully get back to it midweek.

I've also decided to keep the stock top-load bridge, although I did switch the saddles to solid stainless steel block ones I already had. I do like the feel of the top-loader (my first & only). This, despite buying a brand new string-through bridge and set of ferrules! (Oh well - save them for the next one!)

I'll post some pics when it's done. There will be very little cosmetic changes, but it will play and feel a whole better. I guess that's the important part!