Fender Squier Affinity Series Strat

A basic strat. 21 frets, Fender standard tremelo, 3 single coils,1 vol 2 tone. all the cheap squier woods. Blue finish. Standard stuff.

Every body needs a strat in thier sound. Somewhere... I use a Bandit 112 and a Boss ME-30 with it. It gets an 8 because for a good strat sound...you want Fender, not Squier.

Finish is really easily chipable. Fine with every thing else.

I hate floating bridges. Pop a string...your outta tune.( Badley too) This is my back up guitar, so I doesn't take a beating like my main guitar. Squier is basically a beginer learning guitar. Not made for live gigs.

Only one year warranty. fender's is lifetime. See the differece?

Get a stop tailpeice guitar ( Gibson/Epiphone Fes Paul or Fender Telecaster.) If you NEED some kind of tremelo system: For dive-bombers get a double locking floyd Rose equipped guitar. For light 60's trem's go for a bigsby or, if you can afford it...a rickenbacker vibro arm (on Ricks only) Fender standard tremelos are too touchy for light stuff and untune too easily for dives.

This is a '99 Chinese Affinity Strat. I LOOKS NICE!!!!. most people go straight for the guitars that are black w/ black pickgaurds. Mine is a really nice red w/ a white pickgaurd. 21 frets, 2 tone, 1 volume, 5 way pickup selector. Pickups are S/S/S which most people say suck but they're not too bad. I think its passive. Solid maple neck, and i think body's poplar. Most poeple will say the reason that squiers are so cheap is because they're made out plywood. This cant be true for two resons-1) the way it's carved and shaped, and 2) It sounds too good to be plywood. The bridge is standard Squier tremolo, but the retard at Manny's that i got it off of didnt give me a trem bar. Standard tuners, medium jumbo frets, nothing special here.

WOW!!! It suits my style perfectly( pearl jam, soundgarden, nirvana...). I use w/ a Fender frontman 15G. No effects, but my first impression was to buy a BOSS Turbo Dist. pedal, but this thing has gain on which is the exact same thing( makes some feedback, which is really annoying). Some noise, but I play grunge so noise isnt a problem. The sound varies with the pickup switching and its 5 way, so you know the variety. The 3rd string has a really annoying weird twang on it, and I think its cheap pickups.

The guitar was set up great at the factory. Pickups are set up fine and so was the bookmatching( if it was bookmatched, I cant tell). As i sed before, the finish is great. The nut is very low quality(I would guess it costs 1-2$), and the pickup selector clicks like crazy, but thats okay.

I dont play live that often, but when i do and im using this, Idont need a backup. Hardware's gonna last and the thing is heavy and sturdy as a tank. Finish is great, and strap buttons are solid( most poeple will tell you that Fender buttons suck, but thats not true).

I think its a life time warranty. Never dealt with them, never will(I heard they're jerks, though).

This is my only Squier and I also own a mustang. I which i had asked if it came with the trem bar. If it were stolen i would find the theif and beat him crapless with, than get another one off the waranty. I love the finish the strings, 5 way selector, and the bridge. I hate the cheap pickups and the weird 'twang' on the 3rd string. This is one GREAT guitar. every body should go out and buy one or else.

This one was made in China. It's got all the features all the other stratocasters, 3 single coils. It's black (polyuro-whatever) and the maple neck actually feels pretty good. All the mechanical parts are very bottom end.

The sound that comes out of this thing is truely terrible. The sounds are very thin and one dimensional. Don't even attempt to get distortion out of this thing, becuause it won't happen, unless you like the sound of one-thousand garbage trucks unloading at once (annoying). On the clean channels, it stinks. On the bridge pick-up, the bluesish sound isn't totally awful. It has to be played with the volume all the way up, or else you WILL be sorry.

The volume knob is crackily, as is the pickup selector. At certain point in the volume knob, the guitar goes mute. The low action is actually quite nice. It is very easy to play. The body was no where as nice as it sould be. The wood looked as is it has multiple tension warps. The pickups had small corrosion spots after only three years.

I'm emabarassed to take this guitar anywhere, but it is the only on I can afford. The tuners stink. The strings go out out tune constantly. I woulde never gig with this, nor would I ever use it as a backup. It will probably die in a year or so.

I can't get any warranty help becuase my friend bought it and only had it for a year. He took really good care of it, as did I. Despite the TLC, it still deteriorated.

I wish I knew more about guitars when I bought this one. I could have saved myself. The action is the only thing I like about it. If is was lost or stolen, I would be happy. I would get any insurance money from a theft I could and get a Jackson JJ2 maybe, or something a lot better. This is even a bab guitar for beginners.

I got this in January 99, so I assume it was a 98. It was made in China, as indicated on the lovely stamp on the neck. 22 frets, S/S/S pickup arrangement, 1 volume 2 tone, standard Strat configuration. Pickups are stock, nothing special, but not as bad as most people say they are. Tremolo bridge, although I don't use it, it'll kill the tuning after one dive. It came in a decent arctic white finish, with the cheap one-ply pickguard. Tuners are cheapo's too, but they hold tune pretty well (surprisingly). I give it an 8 because it comes with enough features for anyone to get the sound they want.

Once again, this guitar is nothing special, but it can hold its own. I play through a Peavey Classic 50 (2 12") and really like the rhythm tone I can get, after I fooled around a bit and found the settings that fit my needs. I put it into the second position (neck/middle), dial the first tone switch down to 4-5 and the second all the way to 10. I keep the volume up because it keeps it real even and glossy. With those settings, it delivers an AWESOME rhythm sound. Distortion is ok, but I'll stick to rhythm. I give it a 9 for the rhythm sound I can get.

It was set up "ok" when I got it. I took it back to Guitar Center and had them adjust the neck, because it buzzed after the 5th fret. I raised teh pickups to about half the distance from the pickguard to the strings, with it a little higher on the bass side. with this setup, I got some good tones. The neck is perfect, frets ae even, and it feels good in the hand. Finish was ok, not sloppy, but no figured top either. :) I give it a 7 for the fact that it got out of the factory with that amount of buzz, but that can be fixed easily.

This may not be the best sounding guitar, but it can go through hell and back again. This guitar withstands live playing very well. My buddy dropped his NUMEROUS times, without even causing a scratch. The hardware leaves much to be desired. I definitely am going to replace the tuners. I changed the buttons to Schaller strap-locks, the stock buttons are ok, but I prefer the safety of strap locks. I've gigged without a back-up, no problems, but I usually bring along my trusty Samick, just in case. I give it a 10 due to the fact I can throw it off my roof without concern.

I don't know much, but with as cheap/solid this guitar is, don't fix it, get a new one

I've been playing for about 5-6 years, acoustically, and got into electrics about 2 years ago. If this guitar was stolen, I'd hunt the bastard down, throw him against a wall, and yell at him for wasting time on such a cheap guitar. Then I'd probably give him a $20 and send him on his way. My Squier s different from mosts. I've noticed the Affinity Strats now have a thinner body (either 20 or 40 mm, I don't really know, I hate the metric system) compared to my thicker one ( once again either 25 or 45 mm). I also think my neck is different. It seems longer and fatter than other Affinity's. Overall, this is a solid guitar. It has some decent heft to it, but not too much to weigh you down on stage. I give it a 10 for the fact that it will suffice until I can get enough money for the Godin I want. :) It's a good guitar to use until you can get enough money for something better.

This is a follow-up to my review of 1/29/2000. It seems my criticisms of the guitar are mainly due to a faulty component.

I mentioned that the there was an intrusive hum. I tried all the channels on the Peavey KB100 amp and found that the hum could be reduced to somewhat unintrusive on the third input (electrically the same as inputs 1 and 2). With level tone settings (the Peavey has four tone controls) I could get a Buddy Holly sound. If I tried to change anything I ran right into the hum again.
I presumed that this was an amp fault and I decided to get a Korg footpedal (the AX1G). I tried the Strat through this using the Peavey amp and some Sony MDR-V600 headphones. In both cases the sound was terrible. Plenty of hum and general wierdness.
This led me to believe that there was a fault with the guitar. I have a 20-year-old Hondo Explorer with humbuckers, so I tried that through the Korg. WHOA!! It sounded great, far better than the Strat and most of all, far louder.
Tonight I took the pickguard off the Strat and poked around (not too literally!). I wasn't impressed with the quality of the soldering, nor with the unshielded leads from the volume pot to the output jack. I can't understand why the leads from the pickups to the five-way switch are shielded but the volume pot to the jack isn't, because unless you have the volume up full the signal from the volume pot will be less than that from the pickup.
However, I couldn't find any place where there might be a strand of wire accidentally laying across a ground lead, so I re-assembled the guitar. Suddenly I found that I was getting a far more powerful signal. I tried one or two presets on the Korg and everything was OK until I moved the pickup selector switch two or three times and the volume suddenly went back to its old level. I found that if I bent the lever sideways (i.e. toward the bridge) I could get the full output. but I don't have a third hand to do this all the time.
Anyway, the result is that there's a faulty selector switch, so my comments on the hum seem to have been overstated. I didn't have the chance to play as I had been playing before, so I can't say how intrusive the hum is if the guitar is OK. I may try to get Guitar Center to fix this under warranty or I may do what I was planning to do all along - get a Carvin pickguard, pickups, and switch.

Two further comments in this area. I dropped the action a whole turn of the allen screws at the bridge saddles. I think the G string rings a little, but generally the action is as low as anyone would ever want. So I still think the woodworking is outstanding.
I noticed when I had the pickguard off that the body is routed for three humbuckers if that's the way you want to go. I might get the Cavin pickguard with a humbucker in the bridge position - I'll see how the guitar sounds with the stock pickups when the selector switch is fixed/replaced. But it's nice to know that humbuckers are an option in any position.

By the way, when I bought the Korg AX1G I also bought a bunch of picks so the dog biscuit is now retired - in fact, it's currently inside my dog.

I think it's from 1998. Made in Mexico. Three single coil pickups. It has a tremelo (which can be fun, even though it makes it horribly out of tune). Made of poplar, probably cause that's the cheapest that could be bought. I wish it had a humbucker in the bridge, as this would be better for soloing.

One thing that I like about this guitar is its versatility. I play a lot of different music styles. I usually use the neck pickup because I like the mellow sound it gives. You can get some pretty warm tones from this baby.

The action was pretty good, but I wish I had had the sense to get the les paul special instead of this since it's easier to play. Everything was fine with this guitar at first, although eventually something a little weird happened with the finish, there's only one little hole in the finish, and it's hardly noticeable, but alas it's there.

For my level of playing I can depend on this guitar. That's basically all I can say for this category.

Haven't had to deal with the good folks at Fender yet.

If you're just starting guitar I would recommend getting this, the Epiphone Les Paul Special, or the Ibanez GAX70. I was going to get the Epiphone one, or this one. I'm glad I got this one so I could get a good amp, instead of the crappy one that came with the Epiphone. I've only been playing for 2 years, so maybe I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. I plan on soon getting either the route 101 solimar, or the Fender Standard Stratocaster(could somebody who knows a lot about guitars please give me advice on which one), maybe I'll then sell this to someone. Maybe I'll keep it and use it as a decoration or something.

This is the standard el cheapo Strat, with rosewood fingerboard, made in China. Usual three single coils, master volume, tone for middle pickup, tone for neck pickup, tremelo.
I looked at a maple neck model, and discovered that it was made in Indonesia, and had different tuners (oval) and back of neck finish (slightly better, but I don't mind). The pickup polepiece heights seemed different also.
Despite what some people say, I would bet that these guitars are made by computer-controlled woodworking machinery.
The price on this was $129. I found a couple of nicks in the paint job, which I thought might be worth $10 off, but for once I kept my mouth shut and the salesman said "I can do it for $105." Woo-hoo!
Asked for (and got) trem arm and truss rod and bridge wrenches, but no high-class cardboard box.

My music style is basically 55 year old pimply guy trying to sound like 15 year old pimply teenager. I've been paying badly for forty years (certainly not good enough for public consumption) and this is a last-ditch attempt to get better and pick up chicks (if my wife lets me).
In other words, it makes noises but I wouldn't like to say what kind of players would prefer it. The sound is thin, but I am playing it with no effects through a Peavey KB-100 keyboard amp (for my synths, which I also can't play).
However, the hum. The Peavey has never been a healthy amp, and I suspect that it could do with some fixing, but turn up the guitar's volume and you dial in a massive dose of hummmm. It varies depending on the position of the guitar to the amp, but I can't see exactly what's making it worse. You can cut down the hum if you touch the strings. If you played this in a band you wouldn't notice the hum except between numbers, but I can see why people change the pickups. It didn't help that they were fairly low when I bought the guitar.
Although the pickups are somewhat microphonic I don't see that this would be a problem for most people. Jab at them with your pick and they make noises. Solution? Don't jab at them with your pick.
The tone controls seem to cut the treble to a massive degree, so that a reasonable volume at full treble becomes almost inaudible at less than 5.
My plan is to get a Carvin pickup/pickguard set for $100 and a Zoom 505, with maybe a Zoom amp simulator. I figure that this will make the sound halfway decent.

Well, this is the main attraction. The woodworking on this guitar is phenomenal (Yay CNC!). I have played about a couple of dozen strats for very short periods since the late 50s and this one is as good as any. In fact, I now have a guitar which I cannot blame for my lack of ability.
As I said, the pickups could have been higher. And as I also said, there were pretty minor dings in the body, and when I got the guitar home I discovered another small imperfection that had been painted over. I suggest that if you decide to buy one of these that you should run your hand over the front and back to try to find imperfections (don't worry about the other people in the store thinking you're getting off on it).
All of these things are only apparent if you look for them. I just checked over the nut (fine) and examined the rest of the guitar and couldn't find anything else wrong.
I looked at about a dozen of these, and mine and the Indonesian maple neck had the lowest action. I would guess that it's more a matter of adjustment - none of the necks looked bad. If you had told me that this was some $1000+ Strat I'd believe you, based on the action.

Well, I can truthfully say that in the twelve hours that I've had this guitar, it's held up well. Others have spent longer with their guitars before passing a usually favorable opinion, and from everthing I've seen it looks like mine will be as strong.

About all I can say is that I spent some time at Fender.com and that was fairly reasonable. Obviously I haven't had to deal with Fender. I didn't even check, but I presume I have a one-year warranty.

I own a bunch of older synths, but I've had a Hondo Explorer for about 15 years, and it's been gathering dust. It's certainly not as good a guitar as the Strat.
What blows me away is that when I was a teenager in the UK in the 1950s, a Strat was around ten weeks' before-tax pay for an unskilled man (over 21). Even if I'd paid Guitar Center's normal price, that comes to around 25 hours at minimum wage (and I earn much more than that). I'd rate this guitar at around 80-90 percent of the Strats of the 1950s. Really.
My dream is to get good enough to play for money. If that ever happened, I'd get a Carvin, which is the best guitar I've ever played. But for now I'm really happy with what I have, and I know that it's up to me to make something of it - I can't use the guitar as an excuse.
The price is the obvious attraction, but I tried the range of low-cost Epiphones, Danelectros, and De Armonds. Maybe the pickups might have less hum, but nothing played any better. And for the price, i forgive the noisy pickups.
Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to give opinions here - I know that I would have been far less likely to buy *anything* if Harmony Central didn't exist.
One last tip: if you go shopping for a guitar, remember to take a pick. It's kinda embarrassing to have to strum a guitar with a dog biscuit.

This Squier Affinity Stratocaster was made in China in 1998.I purchased the Squier Strat used. It is Arctic White laminated.22 Frets.It has the standard cheap pickups, volume, two tone controls and a 5 way switch. I mentioned to my nephew that this was a great entry level guitar. He answered by calling horse manuer, horse manuer. But, it is still a great entry level guitar.

Since I am learning I haven't developed any musical style. I have been crazy about progressive rock for 30 years, which can encompass all styles of guitar and a few styles which are unique styles also.I play the Squier through a Brownsville 15 amp and a Zoom 505. I get some interesting sounds depending on which settings I use. It is noisy though. When I get good enough to jam or even perform I will definitely get a much better guitar such as an American Standard Strat or a Carvin DC135T. My other guitar is a Sigma Martin 28AE which is no contest between that and the Squier.

At first I thought the action on this was pretty good until I tried an American Standard Stratocaster and then I realized what good action was. I have not had any work done on this guitar. In the future I may replace the pickups and redoo the electronics. It would be a great guitar to learn on.

Again, I do not think I would want to perform with this guitar, maybe jam when I get better.

I've been playing about 2 months. Again I also own a Sigma Martin 28 AE which has great action for an acoustic. If it was stolen I would not buy another one. I am saving up for an American Standard Stratocaster or a Carvin DC135T. I figure that I will make the purchase about a year from now. What I love about it is that it is easy to pick up and play. It plays about as good as I play right now.

This guitar was made in 1998. It's got 21 frets. There are 3 low grade single coil p/u's. I'm not sure what kind of wood it is, probably maple, but definately not plywood. Standard strat bridge and tuners. Medium sixed frets.

Sound.... thats a little tough on this axe. Clean sound is pretty airy, and bright. Distorted, its crunchy, and dirty. In between the 2 there is the mildly dirty sound. I don't like it. The 'cheap' sound of the p/u's really come thru on that setting for some reason. The tone can go from muddy to jangly.

Action? I didn't know what action was when I bought this guitar. And i frankly dont remeber what it was like factory. But I've since tweaked it. The poor electronics on this guitar really hurt it. The volume pot is wearing out and the selector is very noisy. And the P/U's are cheap.

One thing about this axe is its durable as all hell. It's been dropped, banged, kicked and all that happened to it was a few paint chips. (character!). I've put a bunch of stickers on it and it only enhanced the looks. I never have been in a real gig, just jammed w/ other players.

NA

I've had this axe for a year and have been playing for 2. If it were stolen, I'd kick then bastards ass if I ever caught 'em. And then I'd either buy and Epiphone Texan acoustic or an LP junior or an SG or I'd buy a mexican strat. (I'm very indecisive). feel free to email me and talk guitars.

Twas made in 1999 in an indonesian sweat-shop, has 21 frets, one volume and two tone controls, 3 single-coil pickups, an (apparently) maple neck with a body made of some sort of wood that is usually used to build public housing with, a neat white finish, a standard strat bridge, really awful non-locking tuners, a really nice neck, and that's it.

It sounds awesome on the 2 and 4 positions, really neat, but the other positions are garbage because of the huge amount of noise. Seems to me that it would fit many genres, including but not limited to: country, punk, and classic rock. Overall the pickups are pretty horrible, but they just have a certain magic on the 2 and 4 positions that I can't get over. Note: I give this a nine only because of how awesome the 2 and 4 positons are.

It's fine. Buzzez a little, but I don't mind.

I trust it more than I trust my pacifica, but that isn't exactly saying all that much. It would survive if you dropped it. Seems solid.

I've never dealt with them, but since I'm so evil, I'll just give them a 1.

It's a nice guitar. I'm intent upon ripping out the pickups and putting lace sensors in, but then I won't get those orgasmic 2 and 4 sounds... Oh well. What are you gonna do? I'm also intent upon putting locking tuners in, though it does stay in tune relatively well. It's a good guitar for incredibly poor people like myself.