Squier Affinity Series Stratocaster FMT HSS Electric Guitar - Black Burst with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

As a first-time guitar student, I did lots of research as to the best fit for my level of experience. I was worried that if I got an acoustic guitar, the fretting of the strings would be too painful for me to have the desire to continue learning. Consequently, I decided to purchase an electric guitar. Ever since watching one of my favorite guitar musician's play electric Fender guitars, (none other than Prince, of course!), I decided on this Squire Affinity Stratocaster, specially designed for new guitar students, like myself.

Some of the reasons why I chose this guitar was the weight of the guitar - not to heavy at about 7 pounds - and after doing research about all of the components on this electric guitar - this particular design includes a "humbucker" device, which affects the sound.

The guitar is easy to hold and the neck of the guitar is easy to play. I would definitely recommend this guitar to anyone, like myself, that is just beginning their guitar playing journey.

This is my first electric guitar, previous experience was only acoustic. I paired this with a Fender Mustang LT25 Amp. Such a cool guitar, and it's absolutely beautiful.

It's gorgeous, it tuned, soft to touch, got an Aztec black and grey strap, picks and strings, stand. All in what seemed a day plus two. It is Squire by Fender. HSS is no beginner only guitar. I have a New songlist to print and let me and Blackie play. peace

I bought one in early 2023. I am really happy I plunked down the cash. I've had American and Mexican models. It's hardware is less but performs fine under comparative scrutiny. For the price you get you money's worth, fer sure. I sold some tube amps recently and the buyer commented on what a cool guitar it was. A

I'm getting into music slowly. Corporate America took most of my time and being a foster parent to twin 6-year-olds takes the rest of my time. I like the ability to select the finish and the guitar's weight on the website. I like the look and the feel. I still need to really get into playing it, I've primarily been practicing chords but I have dreams/plans for the future that include some playing time and blues music.

I purchased this guitar for an easier playing guitar and teach my daughter to play. The guitar was almost ready to play right out of the box. The action was almost perfect and all that was needed was a tune, quick setup, and inotation corrected. Love the guitar. I would highly recommend if looking for a mid grade beginner/intermediate low budget guitar.

I bought this as a beater Strat to complement my other, fancier guitar, a Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster FMT HH (Amber) (also purchased here at Sweetwater). Out of the box, it needed no setup other than tuning it up. After the strings were broken in after a little bit of playing, it surprisingly stayed in tune, even with a little bit of whammy action (but still needs tuning after a song or two when you go for the whammy, as to be expected). I am particularly happy with this HSS pickup configuration since if gives a little bit more of a tonal capability. The finish is perfect and looks so much better in person. Maybe down the road I'll mod this guitar to my personal tastes, but for now I am quite impressed with it at this price point. If Fender is listening? I wish there were a red variant (same style finish + white pick guard, please). :)

I love this thing. Out of the box with a quick tune,it sounded great. Thank you Sweetwater and Derek Spaulding for putting this in my hands.

Hi, 64 yo person here. First time guitar. Newest addition to my late blooming after piano…drums for decades. If you're young and reading this, heed this advice, jump in to music early and often to enjoy a lifelong passion.
As far as this particular instrument, I'd rather see it was made in the USA, but it is nice. All maple where it matters, the 5 switch option for the pick-ups is very handy. Neck is smooth and true, frets feel right for ease of fingering. Stays in tune (so far) pretty well. I see why guitarists accumulate the instruments. I want the Jazzmaster next!

This is my first electric guitar. The photos sent to me were lovely, but nothing compares to what it really looks like in person! No issues from what I saw and it was in tune when it arrived to me. Sounds wonderful with the Blackstar amp I also purchased. Thank you Sweetwater Team, and thanks to my Sales Engineer Edward for being super nice and reaching out the same day I made my order for a quick chat. Looking forward to any and all future purchases here!

I paid more for mine. So this is a great bargain! This model holds up well to much higher-end models. It holds its tuning for a long time so well, and the resonance is so crisp and clear. It can be heard clearly from afar without an amp! Its very lightweight and doesn't wear you out! Sweetwater has such wonderful personal one-on-one customer service as well. I'd jump on this deal if I were you. It's not just a beginner guitar. It's stage-ready for paying gigs!

I received my Squire Affinity Stratocaster and upon first appearance everything looked great! Love the black see through tint color.
Playable right out of the box.
Sounds great and the Texas Strat with the humbucker is awesome.
Maple neck is fast and smooth.
Sweetwater does a great job packing and shipping this instrument.
Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase and love playing this guitar.
Thanking Fender and Sweetwater for giving us the opportunity to enjoy a Strat at an affordable price.

Fast delivery. Plays great sounds good .
Would recommend for a friend .

I'm a beginner I can't give you technical aspects. The feel is great, when my instructor plays it sound beautiful.
Couldn't be happier.

Didn't know about this guitar . Low price but fnd it great to play .. using it more than my les paul now . Fun to use the whammy bar. Enjoy playing . If I have trouble with it down the road will replace it with one just like it again .. great little guitar

This Strat is way more than I expected for the price. Beautiful guitar that plays terrific. I'm relearning how to play after 20 years with my 13 year old grand daughter. Looks like I'm going to have to get her one she absolutely loves it. Can't say enough good things about the Sweetwater staff. It was setup and ready to play when it got here and thanks to their packaging it didn't have a scratch on it. I guess the Fedex driver didn't know what fragile means because he made a good effort to bang up the box. Thanks again to Sweetwater and my sales engineer Kingsley!!

This guitar plays so well. Very happy with Sweetwater and their quality and customer service.

Picked this up, and I am impressed. For the past 15 years I have played a 60th Anniversary American Strat, and I wanted a second guitar that had a humbucker option (the Strat is 3 single coils). For the past few months, the Squier Strat is all I have played. The humbucker provides some diversity to the sound I dont get with my standard Strat. The guitar is gorgeous. The neck has a slightly bigger radius than than the standard Strat - feels a little more like a Tele neck, but this is not a bad thing - might be a positive depending on your preferences. The only knock I have, and it is super minor, is the whammy bar is loose - fixed with a little plumbers tape. Other than that, I was impressed how solid the tuning is, even with deep whammy dives. I will say it again....the guitar is gorgeous.

This is my first ever guitar, and all I can say is wow. Obviously I have nothing to compare it to, but everything about this thing is great. First off, it looks spectacular. I can't stop looking at it and admiring it, and yes, it makes me want to pick it up and play it far more than a solid color body guitar would. As far as the sound, feel etc. it all seems great to me, but again, as a first timer I can't really speak to any of that.

I paired it with a Fender Mustang LT-25 amp and together they look and sound amazing. Each guitar is unique in it's look too, which I think is really cool. And if none of the ones they have in stock strike your fancy, just wait a week until they get more in and one is sure to call out to you.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the guitar and Sweetwater as well, it arrived ready to play (needed a bit of tuning, no big deal) and I don't feel the need to go in and get it set up. Would definitely recommend this guitar and Sweetwater.

This guitar is great! Plays like a dream, smooth action on the neck. Effortless bar chord playing. I'm 99.99% satisfied with it. My only issue is the volume is so close to the strings that I keep turning it down. Just how I'm used to playing, hand position. Fixable on my end, even at over 50 years of playing.
Nicest guitar I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

Amazingly well-crafted Squier HSS Strat. I also own an American Pro SSS Strat and wanted another Strat with the HSS configuration. This wonderful electric is right in there with my US-Made Strat and has a tone all its own. It's a striking looker in Transparent Black, contrasted by the black guard, pickups, and knobs. The Maple Neck with black dots complements the color scheme perfectly. Neck is a slim C profile and it plays 'fast'. No slop here in any way, nor sharp fret edges. Also love the string through set-up with the split-shaft Vintage tuners. All guitars should feature that system. So easy to re-string! Sweetwater did an excellent job in packaging and getting this one out to me quickly and safely. This particular guitar required just a little set-up work, as is often required with any guitar. Next time I order a guitar from Sweetwater, I'll just pay a little extra to have them perform a basic set-up before shipping. Regardless, this Squier Affinity Strat looks, sounds, plays, and punches way, way above its weight class. Extremely satisfied with this acquisition and its a favorite among my small arsenal of electric and acoustic guitars that I routinely play and use to record and produce mostly original music. Shout outs to all at Sweetwater for the unparalleled service and coordination. As always, Thanks to my Sales Engineer, Daniel Rivera-Tre, other members of his team, and the incredible Tech Support Folks at Sweetwater, as well.

The neck alone makes this guitar worth it, unreal at this price point. No sharp edges on frets. Smooth, fast neck. Setup was perfect out of the box. Low action. Good intonation all around.

Perfect beginner guitar. Or an additional guitar for someone like me who wants to dabble with a strat sound without spending a lot.

The neck and mid pickups have that classic strat tone. I may upgade the tuners, for better tuning stability. I find myself tuning this guitar more than my others.

Also recently got the Affinity PJ bass. Same story, exceptional value.

The guitar is everything everything I expected it to be and more. Sweetwater was quick shipping and packaged the guitar so there were no damage during shipping. Very professional and helpful.

I'm retired and due to COVID-19 I decided to actually start over and learn to play the guitar. I don't have any ambitions of becoming a true pro. I just want to be good enough to play a few tunes for my self and some friends. That doesn't mean I am not serious about learning. But those are my expectations.

My order was processed promptly. The Guitar arrived as advertised and in great shape. The price was right as well. Sweetwater checked on Me using e-mails and texts to see if I had any questions. All things considered I am very satisfied with this purchase.

no problem with this guiar

I've mostly been a Fender player my whole life. But Strats were never my guitar of choice, mostly due to the deep shape of the neck. I prefer Fender's "shallow" neck on the Tele - and even better if it is on a maple fingerboard. This guitar has exactly what I like with the great range of Strat sounds - from crunch to twang. Looks amazing, too!

If you just want a very playable "knock around" guitar to always have handy, this is the one. Beautiful finish, lightweight, and surprisingly quality Fender tone. Whether a beginner or seasoned pro, I highly recommend one for this price. Definitely the sweetest "budget" guitar I've ever bought! Very happy with it :)

Son loved his birthday gift, thanks for the great recommendation Sweetwater!

I purchased this guitar as a platform to get into modding- including but not limited to replacing the nut, tremolo, and tuners so I'd have the confidence to work on my more expensive guitars. What I received was an instrument of a quality where I don't know that I could make anything any better. I didn't mean to end up with such an easy playing axe.

This guitar has "good bones", though I'm fairly certain that Sweetwater's inspection elevated it. This isn't like a Squier from 2005. I'm hesitant to even change pickups.

A two point tremelo and a wider nut for this year are great improvements. The black burst finish is IMO great and gorgeous. The stock photos from squier don't really do it justice. The gallery photos and mine have mine more natural grain while the squier stock photos make it look like a typical flame maple top.

Build quality is nice, as good at least as guitars I have costing twice as much. Component quality is obviously not as good as more expensive guitars but still more than capable for a beginner or even experienced player on a budget.

If they ever offer this finish in a fender player series, they'll definitely take more of my money.

Overall the guitar feel and finish are fantastic. Came out of the box with a fantastic setup. The pickups sound pretty darn good. I think the best part is the neck. it's big, a bit thick, but feels really well made. The maple finger board is good. But the five way selector switch is TERRIBLE. it started dying two days after purchase. Instead of returning, I am going to upgrade the switch. The guitar feels so good I don't want to loose that, so a replacement five way switch and some rewiring will make this right. I'll also note that the guitar is basically not shielded at all, so I will be upgrading that and as much of the extremely cheap wiring as I can.

All in all, this is a great guitar. but it's not perfect and you do get what you pay for.