Fender Squier Affinity Series Strat

Mine was made in 1998 and I bought it as a sacrificial lamb to wiring experiments and the like.

The single coils measure, from B M N, about 4.75K, 4.80K, 4.70K ohms (a little weird ...)

The pickups are sort of okay, but a little thin and generally lacking in character compared to a truly crappy brand that has also served as wiring slaves (an Academy brand strat-style guitar, from XS-Cargo). Also, I was not really as successful in eliminating 60 Hz hum on the Squier by shielding as I was with the Academy.

Why the sound is better with the other is just the materials used ... differently wound pickups with different wire and different magnets on the bottom of the pickup.

You can't really get much in the way of good punch or nice quack. It's just sort of vague and uninspiring in it's tone.

Anyway, it's okay ... but that's about all I'll give it.

Very good, no sharp frets, fairly durable and attractive.

It seems reliable and durable.

Notwithstanding that it is tonally chalenged, I would use it in a live situation without worry of it failing and without worry of it being damaged (double meaning intended - it's durable enough to not be damaged, and I also wouldn't be concerned if it was damaged).

Note that this was not bought with the intention of being a legitimate, or my MAIN, guitar. It was bought for experiments, with low expectations.

Bearing that in mind, it has exceeded my expectations as far as fit and finish goes, and has not met my expectations as far as tone goes.

I think it's a fine guitar for a beginner, but it looks the tone to be a legitimate source of strat tone if you want something cheap for use only when you need it.

I aquired this guitar from a friend when i was only 14, and i really like it. 21-fret, which is no big deal since most of my playing is lower on the neck, 5-way selector, pretty much the most standard strat you can think of. year is a 97 or 98. Pretty sure it was made in japan, but my serial number and manufacturer location have long ago been covered up by stickers.

I have a fairly diverse style, i play pretty much anything, mainly alternative/rock or jazz. It's generally loud, except sometimes really quiet with only the back pickup turned on, but thats fine with me because it gives me a change in volume without muting or pedals. I play it through a Fender Champion 300, usually without pedals, and so far i've been able to get any sound i want or need out of it. It's bright, but at the same time i can make it bellow out lots of bass. I usually have some reverb on it and lots of gain, but it sounds great at any setting i put it on. It's got the classic Fender sound through pretty much any amp.

I don't know how it came from the factory, because i got it from a friend. But i love the way it's set up - really low on both ends, I'm able to move very quickly up and down the fretboard. Granted, i do have a little buzzing, but only with low notes on E or A. When i got it from my friend, it had a few knicks in the body, and on the headstock, but that was due to being under a bed without a case for a few years. I've since covered the body completely in stickers, so if there were any blemishes, i can't remember. It's a navy blue color, white pickguard. I need to get a new bridge soon, but i broke the original nut and put a new one on. It has a beautiful rosewood fretboard that's still in perfect condition, and i haven't had to touch the truss once.

I've played it live a couple times, and i love it. It's incredibly lightweight, even compared to other strats, and it can take a beating! (I once tripped over a cord and fell, and the headstock and tuning knobs went right through drywall in my basement, no damage to the guitar), I've played it outside in the rain and had a brother spill soda on the body and i've had no electrical problems at all. problems, and it's also been dropped several times before i got straplocks on it. the only repairs i've made were replacing the nut (because i was an idiot 14-year old and tried to string it backwards) and I got the input jack and wires replaced with Fender ones (as opposed to Squier) after i dropped it one to many times.

Love it! I call it Blue, and it's my go-to guitar for pretty much anything because it doesnt HAVE to sound like anything. All i have to do is make a couple tweaks to it and i can make it sound like a completely different insrument. I'm planning on adding a Squier Telecaster to my collection, because i've been so impressed with this Strat. It sounds like a Fender, not a Squier, and it's a lot cheaper. Plus i know i can upgrade it at any time. I also have a Fender acoustic, an Aims acoustic, and as far as electric i use this one, a Fender Strat, an Epiphone Les Paul special, and a Gibson SG (not mine, my friend lets me use it though). I like the strats best, and i prefer the Squier for live shows because i don't want to ruin the Fender, and the Squier is a lot lighter.

Squier affinty made in china, I will start of by saying the maple neck on mine is amazing nice fretwork beautiful piece of maple nice profile. The body is nice also its not super light but not super heavy lets say solid feeling to it. The single coil pickups are ok little microphonic i plan to up grade to duncan pickups. Tuners work fine keeps the guitar in tune well enough. Just so you know affinty bodys are Smaller than standard squier stratocaster by a good 2 inchs and the depth of the body is 1 inch less than the standard squier, How do i know this? I own a standard squier stratocaster also and was bored so i measured them for the hell of it. its still a nice stratocaster but if you want one like a made in mexico model id go with the standard and not the affinty. But I like them both.

If you like single coil pickup guitars its really good through the right amp. im upgrading the pickups.

needed a set up no big deal.

set up and good set of Duncans in this guitar and its ready to gig for sure. Id put locking tuners if it was going to be played at shows.

Long LOng LONG Time ive been playing. i own a bunch of guitars and then a bunch more guitars I Love Them! This is a Fine Guitar to play with im not into brand names on my electrics like i am with my Acoustic guitars because thats where workmanship and the type of wood really matters...no amps to plug them into and cover little things about with distortion overdrive and such.. id say decent strat for the money.

Thi is a follow up to my precious post. I have two Affinity strats. Strats are renowned for their versatility and these deliver.
I have "corrected" two missing pieces to the sound potential (of all off the shelf strats). First, I installed a mini switch just above the five way switch to allow the bridge and neck pickups to work in unison. Now you can have the sweet telecaster in-between sound. Very good sound. Second, I changed the pickup/pot wiring (one) to allow using the tone pot for the bridge pickup. Much more versatility.
You can search how to do these changes on any strat. Several sites explain and show these easy mods.

Strats have most everything you might ask of a guitar. The sounds are available if your experience is up to it.
Squier strats are much maligned for absolutely no good reason. First, they are usually not set up well and beginners usually buy them and have no idea that this is the key to making these (and any guitar) sing boldly. Second, they usually come with poor, too small strings that are pathetic sounding. Third, a novice just can't expect to make a guitar sound good. We all climb the ladder of gear brands and think that they are better if they cost more, when it's usually our skills that are better.
There should be a law that a beginner must buy only a high-end guitar and learn to play for a few years and then he/she has permission to buy an inexpensive guitar. Then you'll know the difference is very small or nonexistent once you set up and play the cheapo. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Here's the most important part (after learning to play well). First, replace the strings with high quality ones. Preferably a set that starts out with .010" or .011" thick first strings.
Second, Adjust the tremelo "claw" behind the rear body plate. You'll have to check on-line or buy Dan Earlwine's guitar repair book. This adjustment is critical to bold, clear sound and accurate intonation. No guitar I've seen comes preadjusted at all! Third, Adjust the neck truss rod and string action height per the same sources.Fourth, adjust the pickup heights per the same sources. Not too close to the strings, and slant the pups further away under the bigger strings.
NO guitar even at 2000.00 is set up correctly or at all. These are critical if you want a great guitar regardless of pedigree.

People say, well aren't the Squiers thinner in body thickness than a standard Fender? Yes, by a whopping tenth of an inch! That's hard to see. Actually, I've measured the vibration magnitude and duration of my squiers and my MIJ strat. The Squiers are more resonant and have more sustain. One of a couple of factors is there is less body wood to dampen the vibration!
Fender only made the corporate decision to narrow the bodies of the Squiers so people would differentiate the two products. You know they need things to keep the notion that you get more if you pay ten times as much.
The hardware differences between the high and low models is real, but unless you just wear out the squier hardware over several years, the difference in playability and sound is minimal and hard to hear if the player is very experienced.

Since 1957? Just about everything.

Very good buy if you read, understand and do what's written above. I f you don't, you may never know what potential these guitars have.

Have no idea when this thing was made. Serial number cy03056687.Made in China( crafted in China lol).2volume, 2tone, 5-way selector. Two single coils.not sure of wood but a really nice fast neck with a rosewood fretboard(21 frets).usual tune through body bridge.

I ve been playing since I was 12 yo and I'm now 18.Got a Jansen 20wattnz through a modded boss ds-1 and an Alron50watt(terrible lol) Mostly play alot of blues, funk,punk,classic rock,classical,pub band songs( NZ rock, from New Zealand brought guitar on holiday), prog rock,50s rock(Chuck Berry ect),not into metal but play it anyway for hand practice. This guitar was my first electric back in 2005 and I didnt really know alot about them. For the price this guitar has got a really nice clean sound and its very bright. If you play this guitar with distortion the single pickups can be a little weak and harsh(played it through Marshalls and still had same problem). The second option on the pick up selector can get quite a nice solo tone think David Gilmore but this guitar as others have pointed out is very noisey on pick up options 1,3 and 5. The thing I like about this guitar though is that its very versitile compared with some les pauls and sgs which can have **** clean

When I got it, this guitars intonation was pretty rubbish but not the fault of the makers, was secondhand. The action on this guitar is really sweet. Real real low and not a bit of fret buzz. Does have terouble with Hendrix like bends at the high end but not noticible loud with distortion. Tunners are pretty bad, like you do a giant bend on the high frets and use your whammy bar to get that shreadder sqeal out of it and the g string will go out of tune every time. I dnt have a problem tuning a guitar in about ten seconds but it does get annoying. As i said buzzy pick up selector.

I would gig this guitar to thrash it but would be weary of feedback from the single pickups playing at live volumes. This guitar has been absolutly thrashed for about 4 years and its still going good, all except one problem. When I first got the guitar their was a tiny crack on the body between the place that the neck goes on on both sides of the guitar. When I was playing a tottaly rockin performance of Voodoo Chile for a school performance the guitar dropped(no strap locks stupid me lol) and the cracks got bigger. Its been a year and a half since then and its still good. Im just going to play it intill it falls to bits lol. Wouldnt gig without a back up. Finish looks like a dogs breakfast now but dont really care.

Havnt needed it

For the price these are defiantly worth it. People complain that these cant do metal and all that rubbish but who cares. If you want to do metal get an Ibanez or something. If you want a good value guitar buy one of these

2008 Affinity strat. Standard strat features, 21 fret.

Nice tobacco-burst finish, refigerator-white pickguard and pickups.

All cheap Squier features. But it doesn't matter, as the guitar was bought as the base for a project. Only the neck and body will survive the cull.

The body is strat-shaped, but I think is a 1/4 inch thinner than a Fender.

The best thing about the guitar is the neck. Satin-finished, good profile, and made of beautifully figured and flamed maple, it looks and feels absolutely wonderful.

Gets a good rating not because of the quality of the components, but because it is a strat, and any guitar with volume, 2 tone, vibrato, 5 pickup options and so on simply MUST get a good rating.

The sound is not so great. It sounds stratty, I suppose, but it is a thin, weak strat sound. Thinner and weaker than even a 50's strat. Lots of hum on options 1, 3, and 5, eliminated on settings 2 and 4. The pickups are going to be swapped out, probably for mid-quality GFS pickups.

The pickups are weak, and the pots and cap are also awful. The pots only seem to have 3 settings: 0, 3, and 10. Pots, cap, input jack, and pickup selector switch will all be swapped out also.

I use the guitar through a cheap Marshall MG-10, but the amp is not to blame, as other guitars I have sound just fine.

At this stage, the sound doesn't matter. But if I had bought the guitar without intending to modify, I would be VERY disappointed.

The store I bought the guitar at had only one left, and it was the display model, and had already been set up, so I saved some money there.

It's well set up, the frets feel good, and the strings are still bright.

One major problem is that it goes out of tune EXTREMELY quickly and very badly when using the vibrato. This is probably a problem with the tuners more than anything, but they will be swapped out too!

Like most Squiers, despite the quality of the individual components, the guitar is solidly, and well built in China.

It would stand up to gigging in terms of sturdiness, but not in terms of sound. It's just not good enough. I would not use it without a backup because of the tuning problems.

I would not trust the hardware to last long-term. Well, I would, but I would not want to have to listen to it long-term.

The finish is pretty good, but it is going to be sanded back and sprayed Graffiti Yellow. I'm building my dream guitar out of this thing :-)

I have no idea. I've never needed it.

Ok, I've been playing 9 years, but have only started to take it seriously and get good in the past 8 months. I own 3 other Squiers: an 07 Jagmaster, an 01 Affinity Tele (which is MUCH better than the strat), and a 51.

If I wanted a better guitar, I would have spend $50 more and bought a Squier Standard strat. But I bought the cheaper version knowing it was going to be torn apart anyway.

If it was lost or stolen, I would probably abandon this project for a while. Or maybe just buy a secondhand Bullet.

Loves and hates. I love the neck, it is absolutely wonderful. I was originally going to swap it away with the rest of the parts, but now it is going to stay. What I don't like is the sound of the guitar. Weak, and devoid of personality.

As I have stated elsewhere, everyhting is going to go. It is going to be painted Graffiti Yellow, and I want to swap on a pearloid pickguard. The project could take a while, but in the end I will have a high-end guitar that still has 'Squier' written on the headstock.

Made in China!! S/N CY21012107.. A lefty Strat, standard ,except the Affinity model bodies are thinner than the Fenders but made fm solid quality woods.Mine is a sunburst so I can see the grain of the wood, 2 pieces. Bridge is the vintage style saddles. I am NOT a LEFTY!! But I had to get this guitar...

I use it with a '63 Vibroverb RI, Marshall 1987K RI, Roland JC-120 and Orange TT!!! Let me tell you..The 30 min.s I tried it at the shop, comparing to various Strats, this one had me begging to buy it!!! It was so cheap, a lefty, but had the sound of a REAL STRAT!!!like the ones we hear on classics...couldn't beleive it,so I bought it on the spot..I had to change the nut (just reversed it) and the strap button on the horn, thats all.Oh, reversed the bridge adjustment, too.Not only it sounds way much authentic to old Fender Strats, I became addicted to playing a reverse Strat!!I dunno about the low E strng being longer shit, it is the fact that it is REVERSE!! You can not rest yr palm on the bridge like before, so it makes you play it differently, which makes it so sexy!!Ole' Hendrix could have used lefty Strats but he didn't!!Th way it looks and plays is the secret I guess, I am addicted!!

Well, I did adjusted the truss rod to my liking, it is just perfect now!! I almost can not go back to regular Strats anymore..Altho I painted it white, it was a sunburst, but to me WHITE is the color of the Strat..So I readjusted the action to my liking, perfect!!

I will be re-painting it-what with my Duplicolor spray cans, very amateurish, otherwise, built like a tank, no worries there, I am using it live!!

No opinion..

Been 40 yrs playing..I have a 62 original Stratocaster and two American Standards.Hell of a good ones..But this little puppy is something else!!I thought about getting a propere lefty Strat, but in the end I think nothing will beat this one..BUT!! Try a bunch, because they are cheap, they are not made consistently I think, as I said, there were three Squires at the shop and this one was the special one!!I was very lucky I guess, indeed..

My Squier Affinity Strat was made in 2001 at the "Yako" plant in Taiwan (China) accourding to the serial No. The usual 21 frets compound radius "C" shape rosewood fretboard with medium frets on a maple neck with a late 60 style Fender Headstock. A 3 piece Alder body (acourdin to the Fender Fronline Catalogue) and since it has a Tobacco Burst finish, I'm pretty certain the body is Alder and not Aghatis. The typical 5 way switch, S/S/S config. and the vol and 2 tone controls as found on most strat's. Modren "cast" saddles as oposed to the vintage style stamped saddles with an open trem block and 3 springs. So, nothing out of the ordenairy here.

Ah, here is where imo the Sqiuer differs from the other copies. The pick up's have ceramic magets as oposed to Alnico on the real thing, but Sqiuer somehow managed to make these sound pretty good. The have a somewhat higher output then their Alnico counterparts but they seam to be in the same tonal regions, as oposed on those found on most other strat copies, which was a pleasent surprise.
Although, the controls seam to lack here, as they offer very little tweakability. I'm thinking of replacing the pots in the future. The "2" (neck and middle) and "4" (middle and bridge) pu congig are noteably quieter on my example. Bridge on it's own lacks a bit, which is rather typical on a S/S/S strat imo.
Overall I'm pretty pleased with the stock pu's. They only lack a bit of bass, but just dial in a bit more bass on your amp and you're fine. I usally play with lots of Fender tube reverb and a bit of OD, these pups seams to handle this very good. I even can make the Behringer "Hell Wah" sound nice with this Strat, something my other (way more expensive guitars can't seam to handle well).
So in all a very Stratty sound out of the box.

I can't comment on the factory set up as I bought the guitar used and did my own set up. However, the match of the bodywood is better then on my Sunburst Fender Jazzmaster!
No (unusual) flaws on the guitar in this pricerange.

I originally bought the guitar because I needed a neck for another project. The Squier Affinity Strat fitted the bill perfectly as it was cheap and Made By/For Fender, so parts are interchangeable. I now have a one piece "54-57" Al Parts "licensed by Fender" maple neck on it (which fetted like glove btw) and this neck made the guitar even better.I also "blocked" the trem the way Eric Clapton has on his sig Strat's, so I have the sound of a trem, but not the usual detuning usually associated with a cheaper trem. It now looks, plays and sounds like a "54 RI Stratocaster at a fraction of the price. No doubt this guitar will whitstand live playing and abuse. I usual don't gig without backup, but I'm pretty sure I wont need it.

No idea, never dealth with them. It's a used guitar, so I guess no more warranty

This guitar is a true surprise as I originally bought it to canabalize it. But once the All Parts neck was mounted there was no way I was gonna let this guitar go. It gets more playtime then my real Fenders nowadays and it's hard to put down. It looks good and sounds great for it's price!
Should I wanna hold it against a real Fender Stratocaster, then it will need a pick up change, but I like the stock pu's a lot, so they'll stay. It suits my "Strat" needs more then I could ever dreamed of!
Been playing guitar for about two decades now and own a lot of gear. This Squier Affinity Strat is the best bang for buck, hands down.
I guess if it ever gets stolen, the thief will be dissapointed as he probably thought he stole the real thing...and his turnout would be very small, not even enough to score his shot! So, you decide what's it worth. let your hands and ears decide intead of all these snobs.
Just my humble opinion, ofcourse!

A 2007 Fender Squier Strat, I believe its a Special Edition as I got it in the Fender Squier Special pack with a Fender Frontman 15G, for ??180.

Maplewood neck, very smooth felt, factory set up suprisingly good, usual factory 3 pickups, nice 21 medium jumbo frets, and as part of the pack, got two straps, bag and cable, although the cable got quickly replaced.

The Strat does everything. You can do metal with it, you can do country with it. In this respect its great; but you do get the feeling the Strat is not a master of all trades. My musical style being usual indie and altrock, Radiohead, Bloc Party, with some heavy stuff chucked in like Metallica means that this guitar will do all of them but not perfectly.

Firstly, don't let people get down the Squier Strat. Sure, its common as muck but the pickups are nice and do the job nicely. The bridge pickup, what I like to call the telecaster pickup since thats the sound I like to get out of it, seems to only have two settings: bassy and super twangy. Great that you can pull off some proper telecaster esque stuff but the lack of control does annoy. The middle pickup does little other than weaken the strength of the bridge or the neck pickup, the neck giving that bluesy strat sound or straight up bassy stuff for when you're doing heavy.

Theres hum on the bridge pickup but any old noise reducer (like on my Zoom multieffect G2.1u) will quickly eliminate that, but chuck on the distortion and its gonna annoy you. However, the pickups do take a lot of gumph and I like that; the Fender Frontman 15G is a by-the-by amp but its nice almost electronica fuzzy distortion really suits the Strat. If you've heard the song New Born by Muse, you'll know what I'm talking about.

This is a perfect sound for guitarists finding their sound. I got this as my first guitar and decided telecaster was the way to go, but I still come back to this because it just feels and sounds so great.

Really really surprised about the action. I had my guy on hold told him that I was getting this and it would need setting up but it didn't, saving me ??50 at least. It was properly luck of the draw.

Looks very nice, and the neck in particular feels silky smooth even after all this playing and I haven't even had to mess with sanding it down or whatever.

Nothings rusted yet, but the pickup selector sound does grate a little and the input for the cable will occasionally need a bit of tightening but nothing end of the world.

The wood is great, very comfortable. I like my guitars to have the retro beaten up type look and this strat didn't do a very good job at that, so that can only be a compliment. I had to get some stickers, leave them for a week, then take off the stickers and the remaining marks made it look nice and old; but if you want it to look factory fresh, it won't be difficult.

Generally, everything is in order, if you've held a strat before you'll know that its just right and there is no change here.

Very very reliable. My Legend Tele, my first-choice guitar, isn't very reliable but this is just right. As a backup guitar its always ready and as a first guitar it would do very happily. I don't play gigs or anything but I've had no trouble with it. Seems like it would last for a long time.

I wouldn't NEED to have a backup by any means and I think this guitar will last for a long time.

N/A

My setup is newbieish but it does very nicely. Zoom G2.1u with backup reverb machine running through to a Fender Frontman 15G. I bought this online - you should never do this, but it was my first guitar, I'm allowed that mistake. But, I never looked back since.

Every newbie has a Squier Strat it seems, its true, but there is a reason why. Its reliable, its easy to handle and it can handle anything.

As a first guitar for people discovering their sound, its perfect. As a guitar for someone who likes the Strat sound but isn't willing to pay over the odds for the Fender badge, go for this. The Affinity as well as my Affinity Special holds up against the normal Squier Strat and I argue against the MIM Fender Strat too.

Its by no means perfect, but for a cheap, reliable guitar that can do anything you want it to, you cannot go wrong. It is never a mistake buying a strat, and especially not this one.

But, look before you jump. Its not going to make the perfect metal sound or the perfect tele sound; so pick carefully.

I have two. One Arctic white, the other is black. All the Strat appointments with three single coils. Just what a Strat should be. I wish someone could tell me why all strats have no tone control for the bridge pickup.

I use all five pickup combinations for various recordings. I have many two pickup guitars and always feel short changed with the lack of selection. Make those other guitars seem like "Johnny one notes".

I play all kinds of genres. Strats are versatile and admirably fill the need. I like single coils since they don't strangle the broad harmonics of a guitar. The stock single coils are just fine. It's the player that makes the music. On a bad day I can sound like ****. On a good day, I'm a happy camper.

Both strats are easily playable. The fret work is perfect. Smooth action. Of course all guitars come with poor set-up. One must set the thing up as you wish and re-setup as your play changes. Fit and finish are excellent.

The two guitars have a different neck shape. The white one is a standard "C" Fender shape. The black one has a much thinner "C" neck like a Rickenbacher. These were purchased several years apart and I choose them for their differing neck shapes. I prefer a small neck for lead work and a standard shape for chorded rhythms.

I am in the entertainment business and work with long-term giging musicians. I am not a giging musician personally. Many play Squier Affinity strats and teles on stage night after night throughout the years.

Playing guitar since 1957. Own lots of gear. I have and have had guitars ranging from 99.00 to 2300.00. Believe it or not, I play these Squiers much more than two American strats and one MIJ strat plus a bunch of current and vintage brand and off brand guitars.