How good/bad is the Squier Affinity Strat/Tele?

paul_c2

I have seen a bunch of reviews on YouTube etc and its fair to say its definitely "mixed" - some people say for the price, they're great, while others are saying avoid avoid avoid. I know I should really go to a shop and try one but I've had remarkably little success in evaluation guitars in guitar shops - they've invariably never quite set up right, and you're plugged into an unfamiliar amp so the "tone" is difficult to determine etc. I am starting to think that you can only really know whether a guitar is good (for you) after a week or more playing it (and tweaking the setup to your own personal preference). My fear is buying one for £100 and struggling to sell for £20 or so - or is there keen demand for secondhand Affinitys? I would feel slightly guilty and unloading a rubbish guitar to a(nother) beginner too.

usedtobe

They're fine. They crop up used on the bay, and nobody ever has to give one away.

LooseMoose

They really aren't bad at all - the parts feel a little cheap and the neck is a bit rough and ready but if you're happy to throw a bit of lemon oil at it, polish the frets up etc?

TTBZ

I have an affinity neck and it's ok but it's thinner than a standard modern c which isn't exactly thick.

Sassafras

I'm quite surprised it takes a week or more to evaluate whether a guitar suits you or not. I thought most people, myself included, could tell within a few minutes if a guitar's any good.
And that's usually before even plugging into an amp.
Sorry if that comes across as patronising, it's not meant to be. I am just genuinely surprised.

Jack_

I just don't know why you would spend almost £200 on one new.

You can get a much better guitar used for the kind of price these sell new for now.

I bought an Epi SG400 Pro from here a few days ago for £80, I saw an Ibanez S470 go for £85 on eBay yesterday, silly cheap bargains to be had.

With a bit of patience and a watchful eye, you could probably get a MIM Fender Strat for the price of a new Affinity.

Billy on here is selling a Squier CV Tele in Butterscotch, with upgraded pickups and wiring for a little more than £200.

benmurray85

Sassafras said:

I'm quite surprised it takes a week or more to evaluate whether a guitar suits you or not. I thought most people, myself included, could tell within a few minutes if a guitar's any good.
And that's usually before even plugging into an amp.
Sorry if that comes across as patronising, it's not meant to be. I am just genuinely surprised.

Tbf tho the OP does say in the post that he/she is a beginner. 

hugbot

If the resale value is that bad then I wouldnt buy one new.

crunchman

My brother in law has an Affinity Tele.  It's not a bad guitar.  The tuning stability isn't the best.  That may be because of set up issues with the nut or it may need better tuners but It's actually a very good sounding guitar.

I would day that at this price range you are better off going Tele (or some other fixed bridge design) than Strat.  Cheap Strat style bridges will quite likely cause tuning issues and the sustain/tone will probably be horrible as well.

p90fool

The Affinity Tele does a better bridge pickup country twang than the US Std Tele, though the neck pickup is a little bland. 

Affinity Strats can be a little thin or dull, or sometimes both at the same time, though they're still very giggable through a good amp. 

benmurray85

i had an affinity tele when I was starting out and it was fine for that sort of level. My opinion would be if that's all the cash you have to spend on a guitar then great go out and grab one of those. However if you can afford to spend slightly more then look at anything classic vibe or vintage modified. They're vastly better and will hold their own if you start gigging which I don't think the affinity series would. 

stimpsonslostson

The Affinity Tele I played belonged to a friend, it was fine.

It sounded fine, played fine, held tune fine and looked fine. I personally found it a bit uninspiring, but if you've got your heart set on a tele and you're on a limited budget they're, well, fine.

For similar money you could get a Te52 Harley Benton from Thomann, which is a step up in terms of hardware (the Wilkinson pickups sound good) etc, but doesn't have the "right" headstock shape or the association with Fender.

As you rightly point out, the second hand market is depressed at the moment and there are bargains to be had- if you can find a second hand affinity cheaply then I'd pull the trigger. If you like it you can always gradually upgrade anything you think is sub par.

benmurray85

If you like it you can always gradually upgrade anything you think is sub par.

I personally wouldn't suggest going down this route. On the Affinity I had the base materials were still fairly crappy ie the body and the neck. Completely personal preference but if you went down the modding/upgrading route I reckon you'd wind up spending far more than had you just bought something "better" in the first place. 

I should say that I had an affinity about 15 years ago so the current ones may be massively better 

Corvus

I bought an Affinity Strat for cheap, to do up and flog. I wouldn't buy new and take all that price hit when there's so many used ones for sale. On the upside they do sell well because of the badge but honestly my young lad's Crafter Strat was better in most respects - pickups nicer, neck felt nicer (Squier was a pretty crude thing). The bridge saddles were made of cheese but a trem swap was cheap. Have seen those Crafters go for as little as £15.
I don't know what age the Squier was so as Ben says some may be better than others.

paul_c2

Thanks for the replies so far. Let me put a bit of detail on my thoughts.......

When I re-took up the guitar (I'd played it 30 years ago; and also play bass) I deliberately restricted my budget to £150, so that in case I didn't like it or it was a passing thing, I'd not have wasted too much money. I wasn't really confident to search out and find a secondhand guitar (didn't know anything about them) and also was worried about getting one which needed a bit of work or setup, which I'd be unable to do. So I went to a couple of music shops and tried a few different guitars. I had in my mind the "Les Paul" sound/tone and after trying a few different guitars:

Epiphone Les Paul
Vintage Les Paul (outside my price range)
Stagg Les Paul
secondhand Affinity Telecaster
Epiphone(?) SG

It was pretty clear that the "Les Paul" sound was the right one for me. The Stagg actually played and sounded really lovely, however it was a shop example and had a number of marks/dents on it, etc. The Epiphone didn't have the 4 knobs (its the cheapest, most basic one) but personally that doesn't make any difference to me and in all other respects, was as good as the Stagg and better value so I chose it - also it was brand new in the box.

Initially I found it a bit funny/uncomfortable sitting with it but I've kinda adapted to it now.

Fast forward a couple of months and, with the plan that the first one was always going to be a "starter" to get me into it, I decided to spend a bit more. After frustration with going to music shops which simply didn't have the stock I thought they would (I went to a big store and they had ONE Squier Strat!) I found a really good condition MIM Strat. I wanted a bit of variation in sounds after the Les Paul and the comfort factor also appealed. After a week or so putting new strings on it and setting it up nicely, its nice but its not "blown me away" with goodness - maybe I was expecting too much or maybe because I'm still a beginner I simply can't feel or tell the differences. But it goes to illustrate that the cheap Epiphone LP is in fact really great, despite the price. The only issue is tuning stability, but I understand its a design flaw with the LP shape, excacerbated by the low-cost components (nut and tuners).

So.......I'm pondering selling the MIM Strat and buying a cheaper one - Squier Affinity - AND going back to that music shop, where they still have the Affinity Telecaster. For the price of a MIM Strat I could buy two Affinitys and have a bit left over. Maybe I need to spend more time with the MIM Strat, maybe I need to look at other guitars too - or maybe - perish the thought - just stick with one guitar????

stimpsonslostson

paul_c2 said:

So.......I'm pondering selling the MIM Strat and buying a cheaper one - Squier Affinity - AND going back to that music shop, where they still have the Affinity Telecaster. For the price of a MIM Strat I could buy two Affinitys and have a bit left over. Maybe I need to spend more time with the MIM Strat, maybe I need to look at other guitars too - or maybe - perish the thought - just stick with one guitar????

I'd say one good guitar (good being whatever suits YOU) is FAR better than two guitars that aren't good.

There are MANY threads on here where people are, rightly or wrongly, espousing the virtues of having less stuff but of better quality and spending more time playing.

paul_c2

stimpsonslostson said:

paul_c2 said:

So.......I'm pondering selling the MIM Strat and buying a cheaper one - Squier Affinity - AND going back to that music shop, where they still have the Affinity Telecaster. For the price of a MIM Strat I could buy two Affinitys and have a bit left over. Maybe I need to spend more time with the MIM Strat, maybe I need to look at other guitars too - or maybe - perish the thought - just stick with one guitar????

I'd say one good guitar (good being whatever suits YOU) is FAR better than two guitars that aren't good.

There are MANY threads on here where people are, rightly or wrongly, espousing the virtues of having less stuff but of better quality and spending more time playing.

True, you can only play one at a time!!

Jack_

Also, the thing about spending £150 and not wasting money isn't the best way of looking at it, resale is.

If you buy a guitar for £150 that you can sell on for £150 if you don't take to it, then nothing wasted, but if you buy a new Affinity you'll struggle to get more than £50 for it when you sell it. eBay and Gumtree are littered with starter guitars.

benmurray85

If you felt the MIM lacked quality, warmth or character or whatever you wanna call it I don't think you're gonna find that by shopping "down" from there. You may but I can't see it. However if you're just looking at cutting your losses then it's a fair strategy but in all honesty id stick with the MIM or look at the squier range I mentioned above second hand prices can be very good on those too. 

The Vintage range is also WELL worth a look if you get chance. 

andyp

I would definitely stick with one guitar for the moment to be honest. I started playing in January 2015 and only bought a second guitar a year later to save me carting my first one up and down to and from work in the car all the time (I'm away from home Mon-Fri). I think the continuity of playing on one guitar all the time really helped me learn.

Regarding what you prefer to play, I was really surprised but I could somehow tell from the off what I liked and what I didn't. I had no real way of knowing what it was that I was after or how to describe what I liked or didn't like, I just tried a few and some felt good, some horrible, some superb. I don't know much about guitars to be honest, but I can't see how moving "down" from a Mexican Strat to a Squier will achieve much (other than save some money) as they must be pretty similar to play?

usedtobe

For £150.. Westone thunder 1/1a can be had. 2x humbuckers, coil taps, best of both worlds, sound wise, and proper quality!