- Excellent price/value Stratocasters
- Possibly the best entry-level Strats
- Top build quality for the price
- Very easy to play
- The hardware and pickups are naturally not the best
- You may want to upgrade some parts and components in time
Hey there, welcome back to another review of a nice, budget-friendly electric guitar by Squier. This time I will be looking at a Fender Squier Affinity Stratocaster electric guitar and telling you why you should grab one. Basically, the Affinity series is a step up from Bullet Strats. I can’t tell you they are completely different, as there’s a slight difference between the series. However, you will definitely feel and hear the difference between a Bullet and an Affinity guitar.
Table of Contents
During my time in the MI industry, I had the chance to play Fender Squier Affinity HSS and SSS Stratocasters frequently, and I really liked the instruments’ raw quality. Especially the maple fretboard version was so perfect for my needs since I love unfinished fretboards and am a big fan of their attack. Even with a low-budget, entry-level guitar like this, you can feel the difference. The most frequently asked question about the Affinity series is which one you should go for. HSS or SSS version? It’s basically up to you and a very simple question to answer.
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If you like heavier music genres, a humbucker pickup in the bridge position will definitely help, but if you are more into traditional music genres such as blues, rock and roll, etc., you can go for the standard 3 single pickup version. Before we dive into details, let’s hear the guitar first as we always do 🙂 
Sound Demo (no talking)
Tech Specs
| Squier Affinity Stratocaster | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Body | Alder |
| Neck | Maple - C Shape |
| Fretboard | Maple |
| Frets | 21 Medium Jumbo |
| Scale | 648mm |
| Radius | 241mm |
| Pickups | Standard Single-Coil Strat |
| Selector | 5-way Selector |
| Controls | Volume - Neck Tone - Middle Tone |
| Bridge | 6 Saddle Vintage Style Tremolo |
| Tuners | Standard Die-Cast |
| Neck Plate | 4 Bolt Standard |
| Strings | Fender USA 250L, NPS 9-42 Set |
As you can see from the table above, there is not much difference between a Fender Squier Bullet Stratocaster and a Squier Affinity Stratocaster. The most notable difference is the body wood; in this case, it’s alder wood, and it’s known as the standard body wood of Strat guitars. Note that the guitar I demoed and featured here belongs to the 2015-ish era. Since guitar manufacturers constantly alter components and materials used in building these guitars, a current-day Affinity Strat might not feature all the specs listed above. At first glance, I can already see that they started using poplar as the body wood. Also, since these are entry-level guitars, they may still use laurel or other alternative fingerboard woods instead of rosewood. So, please bear these in mind. 
What I really like about this guitar is the neck! It’s unfinished, both the neck part and the fretboard part. I must say it does have one of the best full satin necks I have ever bumped into, of course at this segment. Tuning stability and pickup sound are not so different from a Bullet version, but it feels like a tiny step up from its siblings. 
I usually don’t comment on tremolo bars at this level as they always cause problems. However, if you are after a raw Strat vibe without spending too much money, this is one of your best options out there. During my service in the musical instruments industry, I had the chance to test and play all kinds of electric guitars every working day. Naturally, the more affordable guitars would appear more regularly in our shop. During those days, I decided to go for a proper Strat. When I say proper, I mean at least an American Standard Stratocaster (2013 – 2016 era).
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Of course, it would be a huge investment for me, and I wouldn’t be able to pay for it at once; instead, I’d have to go for paying in instalments. But sometimes my ambition to go for a proper, American Standard Stratocaster would die off because of other Strats coming into our shop. One of the strongest candidates for this feeling was, of course, the legendary Mexican-made Stratocasters.
I don’t have much experience with today’s Mexican ones, but I must confess these would play and sound almost as good as the American counterparts. But sometimes, this would even become a meaningless chase because of the Squier Affinity Stratocasters! Here I’m not saying these can compete with American ones, but for an amateur player with a minimum amount of budget, these would offer huge value and often made me think why I should avoid investing a lot of money in the American versions. I ended up getting myself an American-made Stratocaster, but years later! And if I ever want to go back to having a Stratocaster at my disposal, I’d definitely consider these. 
If you are after a more polished, authentic and classic vibe of these iconic designs, you should be looking at the Classic Vibe versions of the same template.
Pricing & Availability
Fortunately, Fender & Squier still want to offer these instruments to us at still very competitive prices! Although the prices have increased throughout the years, I’d say these are still one of the most affordable yet high-value Stratocaster clones made by the actual company, Fender!
Check out the Squier Affinity Stratocaster on Thomann here
Since the price tag is pretty low and considered an entry-level price segment, you may be able to find many used ones on Reverb. So, in case you want to save even more, please check out Reverb.
Check out the Squier Affinity Stratocaster on Reverb here
Also, since these are positioned as high-end, entry-level guitars, you may be able to find many sellers, including authentic Fender & Squier stores, on Amazon (in case you want to prefer buying from there!).
Check out the Squier Affinity Stratocaster on Amazon here
Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
