Squier Affinity Stratocaster

Bought my Squier Affinity Strat a couple of years ago. It was discounted as an ex-demo model. Music store put together a package of guitar, Kustom 10w practice amp, soft case, leads and strap for about ??150 (at the time the exchange rate was around ??1-$1.8)Now the amp is around ??60, so I got the guitar for about ??90 - not bad discount on list! Because it was ex-demo, it had been set up really nicely. More on that in a bit. I checked out the serial number and it was made in China - like most Affinity Strats. It is a really nice three colour sunburst. Standard tuners, rosewood fingerboard. No skunk stripe !!!

Sound is OK. To be honest I haven't had a lot of opportunity to compare it against anything else. I tend to do a lot of finger picking blues/rock stuff. I link it through a Digitech RP100A and a Vox volume pedal (works as a wah with the Digi box), or straight into the Kustom with moderate gain for a nice bluesy sound. Without an effects box it sounds good on both clean and overdrive, with OK sustain. Hitch up the Digitech and you can really crank it up. Replaced the standard Fender Bullets with Super Slinky Ernie's. Much more bendable :) Whammy bar doesn't get used and I'm thinking of taking it off and switching to a hard tail. Suspect that a new set of pups would improve things - just that it seems a bit silly to buy a set of Texas Specials which would cost more than the guitar.

Ahh now here's the nice bit. So it's an ex-demo model and as a result was well set up. But it felt way better than other Affinitys I'd tried. Oh and I also gave a Yamaha strat copy a whirl. Looking at the back it turned out that it is a 20th Anniversary model. Action is really fast but no fret buzz. Frets are nicely polished with no harsh edges. Only moan is that the nut holding the jack socket worked slightly loose and needs an occasional tightening. The thing that sold it for me was that when I picked it up it just felt right. Far better than any other comparable priced guitar.

I reckon this one would survive live. Holds tune well, but then if you avoid whammy bars that isn't difficult. Pretty dependable. It's now a couple of years old and still looks like new.

Starting to gather a collection of guitars. I've got a Marlin Seagull (Korean acoustic) made about 25 years ago. Tanglewood now make copy of this. There's also a Stagg classical and I'm on the hunt for an Epiphone 335 (can't afford the Gibson) or a Hofner Verithin. Would I buy another Squier ? Not sure. I think I was very lucky with this one. Production quality does seem variable. If I was starting again and looking for a cheap guitar I'd probably either go for the Squier Standard Strat otherwise I'd look for a Fender Standard with Texas Specials.

The features are those of a typical strat, but made in Indonesia. This one has the big headstock, which I do not like much. It has a tremolo bridge, but I like it flat on the body, since this guitar tends to go out of tune easily.

I agree with the guy who thrashed the MIM strat. I actually own a MIM strat, which is in excellent condition, but the sound is not nearly as good as this one. I use a Behringer V-tone Amp modeler, and this guitar sound just great on the original pickups. Let's face it, it's not the 70's or 80's anymore. Guitars manufactured outside of USA are as good as those american made. I own a PRS SE ONE, made in Korea, and the quality and sound are great.

The setup should be adjusted to fit each player's style. The set-up on this guitar was great out of the box.

The guitar is durable, not reliable. It goes out of tune easily, so I had to fix the tremolo flat on the body to avoid that. Schaller tuning machines would no be such a bad idea either. Mine has two small cracks at the neck joint, but what do you expect for $149?

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing for about 26 years, and this was my first strat. I currently own a MIM Strat, a Hohner LX250G Rockwood (great guitar too, by the way, made in Korea), a PRS SE One and a couple of Martin and Yamaha acoustics. This guitar has a great sound at a very price. Excellent sound. I wish it had better tuning stability, but besides that, it's a great guitar

Features are pretty well covered in other reviews. It's a strat.

OK, here's the situation. I had a MIM Strat (early 90s) with EMG pickups in it (I love David Gilmour). I busted it up pretty bad, but the pickups still worked, and are worth about $250. I decided to buy this as a blem from Musician's Friend to be a cheap guitar to throw the pickups in. I figured the stock pickups would be junk, and that the guitar itself would be just passable.

I was wrong. I'm actually liking the pickups enough to consider buying a second guitar to be the EMG recipient. They aren't awesome, but give a totally different vibe than the EMGs (as you would expect) - one that I'm not really prepared to lose.

Like I mentioned, I fully expected the guitar to be just ... passable. I'm no professional musician, but I've played Strats for about 15 years, and in addition to the MIM Strat I trashed, I put together a Strat from Warmoth parts, finished it, all that. I have a good idea of what I like, and I like this guitar. The neck, with its satin finish maple board, is awesome. The thin alder body is resonant. The hardware isn't great, by any means, but this was a $140 purchase.

I bought it blem, and there were two small cracks in the finish. The rest of the finish looked pretty awesome.

Dunno yet, but seems well built - every bit as good as my MIM strat.

N/A

It was quite an accident that I ended up purchasing this, but it's much better than my MIM Strat. I'm looking at the Affinity Telecasters now. I fully expected to be underwhelmed by this guitar, and was buying it only so that I had something to noodle on in my home office, and to put the EMGs in. I was totally blown away.

That said, I went to the local guitar shop and tried out their range of Squiers. Most of them sucked, partially because they had ancient strings on them, but also the necks weren't nearly as great. Perhaps there is little consistency, and I just got a good one, but I'm willing to give it a shot on a second Affinity, based on what I ended up with.

I have a 2001? i think. the 20th anniversary strat made in indonesia.

Its a 21 fret guitar, although the top frets are quite hard to reach (anything above 18 doesn't really play particularly cleanly either).

Not a bad finish, i went for sunburst,in hindsight i would have chosen another colour, but that is personal preference. a friend of mine had a white one which yellowed quickly. scratches very easily, revealing a white plasticy look underneath.

it has three single coil pickups operated by a 5 way switch one volume and two tone nobs.

some work really was needed before it was particularly playable, nevertheless quite good for learning on. Recently though i have found it struggles to keep its tuning, especially the G string (nothing rude intended) which is continually going flat, it has been like this for many months and after several restrings. Dont know why.

i play most different types of music, probably just about at the intermediate stage, my friend is grade 8 and he has no qualms with the guitar style, ie it doesn't inhibit any type of playing. Not so good for metal stuff i wouldn't have thought, the pickups aren't powerful or clear enough, it is often just a noise when you turn up gain on the amp.

My amp is a crappy fender frontman 15w amp but i have used it on several amps, including top end marshall amps and a good orange cube thing. it is hard to get clarity from the guitar though when using the slightest amount of distortion.

also the pickups buzz, more than any guitar. a lot very loudly, a real problem and my main hate of the guitar. also when the nobs are turned whilst playing, it interferes with the pickups, and is very noisy. the neck pickup has gone very muffled lately, and i think there is a loose connection, a worry as i have treated that guitar very carefully.

despite these negatives it is still a very versatile guitar.

the set up was ok. the electrics were quite poorly set up, the wiring has never really been right and in hindsight i should have insisted it was improved. but i was quite young and naive when i bought it.

ive readjusted one pickup, because it was much quieter than the others, moving it closer to the strings (with my new danelectro on the way i will mod this guitar, hopefully try and find some p90s, or soapbars that will fit to improve the sound.)

The whammy bar threading got nackered after a year and now can't be removed from the guitar it appears, which means it often goes out of tune when being transported about cos the bar is pressed down too much.

on the whole though the body, the neck etc was all fine, although a friend did have a neck that wasn't straight so the strings buzzed when struck against the neck if that makes sense.

i wouldn't recommend this guitar for live playing. it would probably be ok to play but your set would suck.

The strap i first had kept slipping off the pegs, although i think this was partly the straps fault and happens much less with my new strap (id use duct tape for a gig to make sure though)

I prefer the affinity tele i bought, a very cheap guitar but much better than the strat, pickups are in particular a vast improvement.

Nothing overly major, except for the one pickup being muffled has gone wrong with it though, and i think it could withstand most knocks.

not used.

not as good as many starter guitars. Affinity Tele is a great guitar for a very similar price. or for a few quid more very good guitars such as the tele custom II or danelectro. having said that better than other guitars, eg yamahas etc. i would not recommend yamahas.

besides its bad points, it is a very cheap guitar, and fitted the purpose of someone who never had touched a guitar to someone who didnt suck any more (that much). A very solid guitar, better paint finish than affinity tele it appears, with the teles finish cracking more than the strat (not my guitar i look after it but my friends guitar) the strat tends to scratch, which in my opinion isn't as bad.

This guitar has not got the best features it the world ok for starter but better of with westfield e4500 fab.

I like playing rock but it's pritty rubbish on first 2 pickups but on the last 1 sounds great i play through a crate g160xl gain full up rock the house down stuff

finish is ok hard to play 17 fret up very nosiy pickup selector but mabbie just mine.

I have had it 1 year lot droping and hitting of walls but it still plays so its pritty good i would use it at a gib with no back up sipmly because its a good guitar.

never used it.

Overall ok guitar but if ur starting guitar don't buy this buy a westfield e1000 or e2000 good starter guitars.

This guitar has not got the best features it the world ok for starter but better of with westfield e4500 fab.

I like playing rock but it's pritty rubbish on first 2 pickups but on the last 1 sounds great i play through a crate g160xl gain full up rock the house down stuff

finish is ok hard to play 17 fret up very nosiy pickup selector but mabbie just mine.

I have had it 1 year lot droping and hitting of walls but it still plays so its pritty good i would use it at a gib with no back up sipmly because its a good guitar.

never used it.

Overall ok guitar but if ur starting guitar don't buy this buy a westfield e1000 or e2000 good starter guitars.

SQUIER AFFINITY STRATOCASTER ??80-??100

Made in wherever, doesn't really bother me.
Finish is quite cheap, but not crappy-cheap.

Tremelo goes down only, but not up - this is a feature I don't like one bit.

Played 'unplugged' it's really not very nice but plugged in it's better.
Sounds sometimes a little dull, but with work you can get some nice tones.

Distortion is the best option for this guitar, played clean it is horrible but with some crunch is very workable.

I played 2 different Affinity's in a local shop, very nice, I learnt on one of these. I find the setup on Affinity's can sometimes be a (excuse my language) a bit of a bugger to play but mostly is okay.

Pickups are somewhat nasty, change them if you want to play this guitar in public (plus you'll get some very good tones)

This guitar will last you a good 3-5 years well treated, but you'll find yourself wanting something more exotic, maybe only for the variety but Affinity Strats aren't the nicest sounding or feeling guitars out there.

This is a seriously worthwhile guitar to LEARN ON. Take some lessons at your local store, try different models (though I would reccomend Squiers/Affinitys for the initial couple of lessons) and when you're ready to buy bear this axe in mind.

It won't stand for any irresponsible behaviour, and will not give you great sounds on-stage - but this is perfect in your first year or two of (learning/developing) guitar.

I've not bought this guitar, but I've played about 4 different ones (3 in a shop, 1 a family friend's) so I have no dealings with 'em.

The Squier affinity's are the guitar to LEARN on and for a first instrument,

however for those who want one guitar only for their entire lifetime you need to look furthur up the shelf, something in the region of ??170-??210

(British Pounds for those of you ignorant enough to not know what ?? means!!!)

This is a great guitar for a beginner for those first years, but you will start to want something better quality when at an intermediate level.

This is also a good guitar for those who've been going a while and want some variety, but MAKE SURE YOU BUY A NEW ONE THAT'S SET UP WELL. Change the pickups, maybe the tuners (definately the strings) and you have something perfectly useable as a backup or for the odd surf-pop song with bite.

Hope that made sense...

AVERY basic strat "like" guitar body made in India, the rest Gpd knows where Indonesia is ehat it says but they are peiced from Asian componets around the globe..Read the other reviews for specifics

Thos is a 150 dollar guiatr and sounds like it. A good guitar for a pre-teen to learn on. Single coils are noisy and the sound is sub par to say the least....don't believe the reviewer below....You get what you pay for but this guitar would make better kindling than an instrument...pickups are bland and lifeless...usually wired wrong with one or both of the tone selectors inop...The sound isn't even worth rating

You will ahve to spend alot of time to set this up where it is playable ...whatever you do...DON'T ORDER ONLINE...buy it from a music store that can at least set it up where it's somewhat playable...otherwwise plan on learning how to set up a guitar because you'll have your hands full

As I said Indonesian wiring is not up to Mexican standars or Korean....This guitar won't last long...make sire you get a receit from the store you buy it at as they break down very quickly..drop it and it may never work again

BYT IT FROM A MUSIC STORE....or save the carton because you'll be sending it back...It's Ok for a pre-teen to learn on but that's about it...good way to discourage a teen from playing guitar...Fender will never anwser your emails...

Save your mone and but the 200 squire strat...It's a much bettter guitar but no by alot...If someone wants a reall strat put away 259 dollard and buy a used Mexican Stratocaster or save 400 and buy a NEW Fender Mwxican Strat a much,much nicer guitar. Just make sure you TRY it BEFORE you buy it. No guitar in the world varies so much from guitar to guitar like a Fender. That INCLUDES the American made strat. you may have to play 6 0r 7 befor you find one that feels right for you...but when you fin a GOOD one...It's a keeper for life. With that in mind I'll end this review by telling the truth...something the last poster didn't do and that is that The Squire infinity is basically junk.

It has been quite some time since I had something to say on this forum. So with that said this is my review of the Squier Affinity Strat.

This section is for features so I will briefly summarize and say that this is exactly what one expects from a strat. three single coils a five way selector, volume tone tone. the machine heads are of decent quality and so is the bridge and saddles. not great but far from awful. At first I didn't care that much for the large headstock but it is growing on me. Not much to say here accept that everything is decent... hell... even the pots roll smoothly. The neck profile is kinda thin for me but as thin necks go, btw it isn't super thin like an ibanez wizard neck, it is comfortable. I love 21 fret necks and this guitar has one.

Okay then.... Here is the real meat of this review from me.

It is just plain stupid ridiculous that one can have this good a guitar for one hundred and fifty dollars. I bought this guitar so I could have something to play while on a business trip. I was not expecting much which may in fact be the reason I am so pleased with this instrument. I bought this guitar and the Guitar Center in Greensboro NC. It had a couple of nasty dings on it so they threw in a few extras. Except for the dings the finish is really nice. Not great but nice.

I demoed this guitar through a Fender reissue tweed deluxe, the old hot rod model. I only used the clean channel. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I really like the pu's. The five way works very well and as I said above the pots roll smoothly. I would judge this guitar to be on the bright side but I did not find it to be harsh even on the bridge. The guys at GC were great to deal with. The kid who sold it to me accommodated me very well. This guitar came with nine's on it which is beyond me why anyone would want a strat with anything less than tens. In the store I changed it to eleven gauge strings which required an extra trem spring which GC provided. Once properly setup with elevens this guitar really came alive. Absolutely killer for the money.

I would judge action fit an finish to all be very good. Again just incredible that one can get this good a guitar for a buck fiddy. I have not taken the neck of so I cannot comment on the neck pocket fit, however the neck does not shift around in the pocket. I have had high dollar strats come without the clean neat routing that this guitar has. Hell I took the backplate off when I set it up and it was finished nicely inside the trem cavity. All of the wood has nice grain to it. Again not great but nice. The thing that impressed me the most about this guitar is how well the nut is done. Excellent period. I have seen three and four thousand dollar guitars that did not have the nut done this well.

The pu's were set well enough from the factory that I left them alone. Nice balance across all five positions. Lastly I have played many guitars from Leo's other brand that were considerably more expensive and the frets and/or the wood curing was so poorly done that the tang cut up my hand. Just simply not the case with this guitar.

just got it can't really honestly comment on this now. I will use it live. given how much I practice if I experience no probs with it during practice I would def gig without a b/u.

I bought this at GC so if it falls to pieces I am sure they will take care of me so long as it is within a reasonable time frame. Short if fall apart and given the very low cost of this guitar if some of the components fail I would have someone local to me change them out.

Been playing many years. I have two other squiers that I truly love. They are both espirit's. I took them to Phil Jacoby in Baltimore and he replaced the nut, the input jack and the pu selector with really good parts and I had him plek them. I even left the stock pu's in them and they are fantastic. They are the reason that I chose squier again. This guitar is a fantastic value because it is very good as it is and if you drop high quality pu's and pots in and maybe add a cap and resistor to the volume pot you will have an excellent guitar.

I said I would come back with an updated review. Having fitted the loaded scratchplate with GFS '64 greybottom pickups, and the option of a 6th pick-up combination, I have been having some real fun with this guitar. My guitar is I reckon, now comparable to a GOOD Mexican Fender. It has a real "surfy" sound. The pick-ups give the guitar a whole new dimension, especially in the combinations. The neck/bridge combination has a real Tele sound to it.

The sound now is rich, bright and full. I am using it through either a Fender 15R practice amp. or a Fender Frontman 210R 65watt twin. I use a Zoom 508 delay/reverb pedal in the effects loop on the big Fender. I have other pedals, but I only otherwise use a Morley Wah or a Zoom G1X set for the Vox AC30 amp. I mainly play 60's and Shadows stuff, but the combination also has a really smooth Jazz sound to it.

See my previous review

With this combination I would DEFINITELY gig with this guitar (and be proud of it). I would , however have a back-up, or use this as a back-up for a true Fender. I have fitted lockable strap buttons.

I don't think I would need it. If anything went wrong, I would take it to my nephew, who is a guitar technician.

If anyone is thinking of buying a Squier Affinity, I would say go ahead, but get some decent pick-ups (the guys at GFS are very helpful). The pick-ups won't cost you a fortune, and will make a "low range" guitar into something VERY much better.

Im sure you will read the specs on the website. All you need to be worried about my son is the name on the headstock! Squier, you see that? That means QUALITY. Its made in the same factory as Farida so that means the great build quality just oozes thru!

I had my tech look over this guitar and he agrees, it has many features!

Well, many years back I suddenly came to the realisation that in a former life, I was Jimi Hendrix. And its true! Sure, the afro is gone and I don't use them marshalls anymore, but one thing I do use is this awesome squier and of course my Peavey Bandit practise amp, which I had my tech completely rip apart and rebuild with REAL componants like wood screws as opposed to glue.

This has got every sound you want, son! I had the oportunity of playing with buddy guy recently and he cried like a little girl when he couldn't get my sounds with his fancy gear. Brian May once told me he was gonna go straight home, call up eric clapton and call him a pussy right then and there, just cuz he herd my tone! I am the most toneful player ever. So there, and all I need is my squier. I'll send you to heaven before I send you to hell!

Now listen son! Like I said, squier is quality. Everything is where it should be, the strings and everything! Squier KNOW how to make a guitar. Not like these other stupid pointy brands like charbel or whatever. They're all for pussy me me me emo metal kids with their silly fancy 100 watts amps. Stupid kids, when will they learn that the real music is with the blues.

My wife even left me the other day. She just couldn't handly my blues man!!! Blues ain't about stupid family and wife crap, I'm all about the getting drunk and playing better than eric wuss clapton! All on my squier. So don't talk to me about how well pickups are adjusted or my top looking like some kinda book or whatever. This is squier man! I through that wife out and carried on drinking my beer and playing my blues! Aint nothing bad man!

Hey, I can rely on my box man! All I need is my squier and my bandit! Don't need nothin else! I was playing in this pub the other night when some dude who claimed he was the landlord tells me he don't want me there cuz he don't know who I am. I just smacked him one and yelled that he didn't know squat about the blues man. And I know that poser eric clapton was in disguise or sommat sucking down some cold ones cuz very next album he was steelin all my riffage and hiding like a wuss!

Punk ass bluesers, tryna steal from Terry the blues man! If I ever catch you ninnies stealin my licks and my hooks, I'll be takin this very durable squier to upside ya head!

What? This is the blues man!

I'm terry I am the blues. Nobody else can touch my nuts cuz I am the blues, YOU HEAR ME? All y'all can take yourself, press your faces up against the glass and listen to my woman tone like you aint no thing.

Just for the record, i own woman tone. I don't need no dumb wife or kids, i just got me and my squier and to hell with y'all.

See my last review

I took the guitar to my nephew who is a bit of a whizz in these things. He set the thing up for me, and eased the nut channels a bit and put pencil lead in them and under the string trees. This has helped with the "de-tuning" problem these guitars are noted for. Since the set-up, I have noticed a fantastic amount of difference in the sound, and would recommend anybody who buys one of these guitars to have it set-up. I have also just acquired a "loaded" scratchplate with 3 GFS Staggers on it, and an adjustment to make the top tone control a master control, and the bottom one, wired to give the option of using bridge and neck pick-ups together. Will come back on the effect of this.

See my last review

Having had the guitar set-up, I would now definitely use this guitar to gig with.

My "Strat" is gloss black with a "string thro body" bridge. Generic tuners Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and an Alder body (Indonesian made). It came with cable Fender strap, wammy bar set of 3 picks and Fender Dvd, and a Fender (not Squier) 15R practice amp. 21 frets usual 3 pickups 5 pole selector switch 1 volume and 2 tone pots. Pick-ups are single coil. The neck is thin, but I don't mind this,. as I found with a fat neck you get cramp very easily.

Suits my music style very well, as I am well into 60's music, and Hank Marvin and The Shadows especially. I am currently using the practice amp which came with the set, but have also just ordered the Fender Frontman 65R amp, which I intend to use with a Zoom G1X effects pedal. As I only play for my own amazement, this suits me fine. I find the sound is bright, having replaced the crap strings which were on the guitar with Rotosound "Yellows". I may even go to "Pinks" next time round as Hank Marvin says he used 13-52's on all the early Shads stuff. I wish I could have afforded the real thing, but this will do me for what I want. A realy nice sound.

The only criticism I can make in this section is that the fitted strings sounded "dead", so were immediately replaced. The nut is a bit basic, but for the money I'm not complaining.

I would quite happily gig with this. The action is so smooth. The finish is brilliant. I always wanted a "RED" one, but Black looks really cool.I have only had it a few weeks, but so far I am quite impressed. It seems solid, and is no lightweight.

Have been playing for over 40 years, both electric (last electric was a Framus Acoustic/Electric). and acoustic, and for the money, I am pleased with what I have got. If it was lost or stolen, I would probably go for a Fender Strat, but I'm not complaining. The 15 watt practice amp is really good for the size and output. Obviously not a gigging amp, but perfect for home or backstage. From what I have seen and heard, the Fender version seems miles better than the Squier.