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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
I should say that I had an affinity about 15 years ago so the current ones may be massively better
I don't know what age the Squier was so as Ben says some may be better than others.
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????
True, you can only play one at a time!!
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.
The Vintage range is also WELL worth a look if you get chance.
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?