Squier Affinity Series Stratocaster Electric Guitar - Olympic White with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

Love this version of the Squier Affinity! The Olympic White, with the one piece maple neck looks amazing! After setting it up, it Sounds great on my Line 6 Amp. I'm just newbie at guitar playing now, so this Strat is perfect for me!

I did lock down the bridge with the extra spring that's included. Along with the split shift tuners this guitar stays in tune and plays just like my MIM. Low action, great tone and playability. I had to do nothing to the one I got except I changed the strings from 9's to 10's. Again this is a solid buy for anyone. For me this is a 5 star"

I did lock down the bridge with the extra spring that's included. Along with the split shift tuners this guitar stays in tune and plays just like my MIM. Low action, great tone and playability. I had to do nothing to the one I got except I changed the strings from 9's to 10's. Again this is a solid buy for anyone. For me this is a 5 star"

I just ordered this guitar then i seen it was crated in china...tried to cancel my order but it was to late...so i waited until it arrived the whole time thinking i would just send it back and get something else, but let me tell you something after a few adjustments i started playing it, three hours later i put it down to go to the restroom came back and played it another 1-1/2 hrs and now play it every day this is my first crafted in China guitar... so don"t let the "crafted in" scare you this is the finest guitar i have played...i highly reccomend it...just my thoghts

This is an amazing guitar for the price. I bought it for my son as a starter guitar, expecting it to be cheaply made like Squiers of the past. Instead, I was completely surprised by the high quality. If the Squier name was covered, I would think it was a MIM Strat. The pickups have a nice, clean single coil sound. Not chimey or gritty, just clean. There is hum cancellation in positions 2 & 4 — a very nice surprise. The satin finish neck feels quite good. The bridge and tuners are high quality. My only quibbles are that the action was a bit high and the pickup heights needed tweaking. If you are new to guitars, you could just take it to a local shop and spend a few bucks on a setup. With a few tweaks, this is a guitar you could enjoy playing for a long time.

I had an "international strat " once before, and parted with it, mostly because I didn't get the Strat magic. This is clearly an inexpensive guitar, but now cheap by any means. I really can't fault with it, and it gave me a whole new palette of sounds and techniques - once I realized it wasn't a HH Gibson solid body. I read one review by someone who'd purchased a low-end Squier model, and professed that Squier should have spent a few more Pennies to place the volume knob out of the pick stroke path. This had to have been a joke. No one who knows a thing about strats would make that assertion, as the basic design is largely unchanged since its inception. It's either a joke, or someone who really can't control their picking. Yes, it's in the path. Once you learn the instrument, it's wholly avoidable. Noob commentary on a guitar I can not find fault with. Awesome price, now one of my go-to guitars, and kicka$$ service from Jacob as always.

I recently bought this as my second guitar after already owning a Telecaster. This guitar sounds phenomenal, it nails the Jimi Hendrix tone with my Boss Katana, I absolutely love playing it. The construction is sturdy and smooth, I highly recommend it to anyone on a budget! The Olympic White finish and maple fretboard look great, reminds me of Jimi's Woodstock strat! The only change I would make would be making the wood have a darker finish so it looks more aged, but that will just be a side project for me in the future. The neck pickup is chimey and bell-like, the middle is very steely and metallic, and the bridge is sharp and harsh (I prefer my Tele bridge). The neck-middle position sounds awesome as well, having an almost nasal quack. So happy with this stratocaster!

This Squire Strat plays well right out of the box. the Frets look good and we are impressed with this guitar. I'm sure there are nicer more expensive guitars out there but this one plays well and is very nice. Maybe we got lucky but i couldnt ask for anything more at this price point. Im glad we made the choice to visit the Sweetwater store, it was amazing. The staff and our Sales engineer Dylan was awesome. I can't say enough good things about everyone we talked to and interacted with at Sweetwater. It was about an 1hr and 15 minute drive to get there but I'll make that drive any day for this kind of service and experience. Thanks for everything and a big shout out to the Sweetwater staff, you guys and gals ROCK.

Much improved over the 25th anniversary model I purchased in 2003. The biggest issue are the ceramic pickups. Change those out and you'll likely have an excellent instrument.

Very good upgrade from previous lineup.

I'm an older experienced player and purchased two of the Fender Affinity Strats and one Affinity Jazzmaster to build. The bodies are full sized but thinner by 1/4" which along with the alder wood make the Strats lighter in weight. You don't notice the weight difference as much for the less contoured Affinity Jazzmaster.

This is a great guitar for a beginner and with a little help can become a super first step in learning to play the guitar. But they obviously are not the quality you get from an Ultra Strat or nice American made Jazzmaster.

For me I initially loved the lighter weight of the Affinity Strat compared to my 1991 American Standard Strat and I love the relief on the back side. So I felt I could build out the rest into a Super Strat but can see now this might not be possible. The Pau Ferro rosewood simulated necks on mine are easy to play but a bit grainy.

I decided to build one of the Strats by ordering a hard maple neck from Warmoth with jumbo stainless steel frets. In the mean time I changed the tuning keys to anodized locking Schallers and the three single coil pickups to Texas Specials. It sounds much brighter now and clean and responds better to reverb. Very nice.

Now the tricky part. For added sustain I wanted to upgrade the bridge to one of the respected leaders such as the Vega Trem, Calaham, Wilkinson or Halon. However these all have tremelo blocks that will stick out the back of the body by that extra 1/4" mentioned earlier. So plan B I purchased a nice heavy shorter brass block made for the existing six hole tremelo bridge. I eventually will have a luthier cut off the extra metal from a better quality bridge and redrill the spring holes of which I will probably only need two since I intend to float the bridge as I have on my 1991 American Strat using only two springs for 9 gauge strings. For ten gauge use three springs with two attached closer to the low E and the bridge floated nicely.

So now you're thinking all that money to upgrade an Affinity. Are you nuts. Yes. Well I really like the body. For a beginner don't let my project distract you from the great out of the box value of a very affordable Affinity. With minimal setup this is a great guitar. I would still change the pickups at least. You will hear the difference. Locking tuners are nice too. Fender sells a set that are cheaper than the Schallers. So if you are running through a nice lead with bends and vibrato and hit a bad note you can always look over to your new tuning keys and figure you at least look good.

Final thoughts. For ladys or young people this is a great lighter guitar. It has a thinner C neck making it easier to quickly reach all the notes. Let a luthier set it up though for minimal cost. For everyone else this can be a great project guitar. Sort of.

I've found recently that picking up a Jazzmaster mid range priced guitar feels good too. As does the pricier Player Series and Ultra Strats. Ones with a full thickness body so I can upgrade the tremolo bridge without alterations to its depth. Easy drop in replacements. Also the newer alder full thickness bodies are lighter than my 1991 laminated piece of lumber. However my older Strat sounds incredible. And the older necks are more substantial.

The Ultra Strats have a great sound out of the box. As do the player Series. You can't beat a Strat neck. Although to be honest the flamed maple necks on a Musicman John Petrucci or Silouette are great. But expensive.

I can heartily recommend the Affinity Strats and Jazzmasters. For a beginner it's one of the best affordable guitars out there. For an advanced player who wants to build his super guitar you will enjoy the ride but you might want to start with a mid range full body Strat or Jazzmaster. The depth and weight of your tremolo block and the thickness of wood for your body are the heart of your guitar I'm finding. Pickups can be swapped per taste. And for me the feel of a great neck with jumbo frets is irreplaceable.

So don't fret (pun intended).

This won't be your only guitar. You won't be able to help yourself.

It's great for the money for a beginner with a setup. Great for building too. But as you become experienced you will find it is better to upgrade an expensive guitar. Better bridge. Nuance the pickups with a custom sound. Refret an already great neck with stainless jumbos if you like. Redo the pots and wiring too.

But for beginners with a low budget you will have fun with is one. And learn about what makes great expensive guitars sound better watching youtube videos on upgrades.

Enjoy !
:-)

There were some issues with the frets and some other things when I got it. The output jack stopped working after owning it for only a month. After that was resolved everything was better and I'll be honest, it plays like a dream now! Get this guitar, but just know that at this price, you may have some slight issues with it at first.

I got this guitar for my girlfriend for her first-ever electric guitar and she absolutely loves it. It sounds nice and it looks so lovely in white. 4.5 stars because it really needs a nice setup to be the perfect guitar. We're gonna learn mayonnaise - smashing pumpkins soon

Squire has been knocking it out of the park recently. The only "bad parts" were the setup and the fretboard edges. I lowered the action then rolled the fretboard edges with a sharp blade and refinished the fretends. Then I polished it up with 220 and 1000 sandpaper and 0000 steelwool. It was good before doing all the work but it felt a little too squared off in the hand. Thick neck for a strat. They must have been trying to continue with the 70's theme of the headstock. Speaking of that, there was a ringing sound coming off the G-string above the nut. A hairtie or rubberband fixes that but with Jimi style fuzz it's pays to let the headstock ring. By far, the best $ I've ever spent and the reason I'll be buying sets of split-top tuners for every other guitar I own.

Affordable strat sound. Mine personally came set up and intonated rather well from the factory. But I assume at this price point it's hit or miss so don't expect it to be the same for you.

Features to be aware of:
1.) Vintage tuners
2.) 70s big headstock.
3.) Single string tree
4.) Two point trem w/ block saddles.
-I feel like most prefer bent saddles.
-also the two point trem is a floater.

Fret ends were fine and the frets themselves were somewhat smooth. There a little bit of grit to them but it doesn't bother me and it'll smooth out as you play.

No major blemishes on the finish. One tiny spot had an imperfection but you gotta squint at it to even notice.

I totally recommend if you have a budget and want a strat.

I bought this to have a strat with an SSS configuration. I mostly play guitars with humbuckers and I wanted a low-cost guitar to mess around with that had that classic 'strat' sound but didn't cost a fortune. This is the first guitar I have ever purchased online without picking it up and playing it first. To be honest, had I pulled the one I received off the rack and played it in a store, I may have decided on a different model or at least a different guitar.

The Good:
- The finish of the body is excellent. No chips or dings on the body or neck. Build quality is good, everything is tight and perfectly aligned.
- Tuners are solid and smooth and seem to be more than adequate.
- For a plastic nut, it is cut well with the right amount of clearance at the first fret. No issues with the strings buzzing, sticking or binding.
- The trem was setup to float perfectly out of the box. After stretching the strings, the guitar stayed in tune after using the trem.
- The neck is straight, string height is good and the truss rod was set right where it needed to be.
- The pickups actually sound pretty good. My original intent was to possibly upgrade them, but I will leave them in for a while and give them a fair test.

The Bad:
- Intonation out of the box was not even close. I had to move the saddles on the low E and A strings back to where there is almost no more adjustment. The other saddles had to be moved back a full 1/4" to get the intonation right. Fortunately there was enough adjustment available.
- Only the front face of the headstock was lacquered with a satin finish. The fretboard and back of the neck was left unfinished. The back of the neck was still pretty rough so I had to wet sand it with 3000 grit paper to smooth it out.

Summary:
After a bit of setup work this turned out to be a pretty decent guitar. I was able to do the work myself, but if you're buying this as a first guitar and are not comfortable doing setup work, plan on spending a few more $$ to have it professionally setup. Given the price point of the Affinity, I expected to have to do the setup work, but the finish on the neck was a bit disappointing. For that reason, I knocked off a star.

I received this guitar today, and it was just OK. Packaging was A+. The setup was B- to C+. Action was really high, intonation was OK and proper for that high action. The neck was straight.

Frets on this guitar from factory are rough and sharp.
I polished the frets with steel wool, filed the sharp edges with a specialty guitar fret file, adjusted the action with the included Allen Key wrench and it's all good now.

Summary: If you are willing to put a bit of work and maybe buy a couple of tools to accommodate the task, this guitar is a bargain. After setup it plays and sounds as good as any Strat-style guitar including the Fender-branded ones. The pickups are on the weak side, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
The guitar is light. The finish is good.
Overall, it's a really good value for an experienced player that understands guitar setup and who can use some basic tools. A beginner could be turned off by the lack of playability out of the box, but seeing that they have no reference to begin with, it's still a good choice for their first electric guitar, given they stick with it and try to improve it once they learn the basics.

Very comfortable guitar and a good range of tones. My only real criticism are the tuning machines. They are inconsistent. Sometimes a little turn will change the pitch and the next string you will need to give it a full turn before it changes at all. One day I'll change them and have an awesome guitar.

The centerpiece of this instrument is the two point tremolo. This has raised the tunability and playability SO MUCH. It stays in tune way better than previous offerings. I love the vintage slotted tuners- keeping the integrity of the large headstock aesthetic. The neck had no sharp spots and no "bad frets" that you usually will see one or two of on a Squier. The satin neck leaves me wanting my old lacquered neck back. Shape is there, I just prefer what I prefer. The pickups as you'd expect are the cheapest, most sub-par strat pickups you'll ever hear. They can make a 65 Twin Reverb sound cringe. Mine were replaced with flipped-around Fat 60's after a week. They went well into the giant, swimming-pool-shaped abyss of a pickup cavity. I would ask Squier to quit cutting cavities that fit every pickup scheme and cut these things for single coils specifically. I lost so much tone in that swimming pool with all the particle board body woods.

Asides from trash pickups and oversized pickup cavities that are cut into particle board body woods- Squier is getting closer to delivering a decent product.

I purchased a Squier Affinity Olympic White Stratocaster recently. I pulled it out of the box and got to play it once stock.
If I were a beginner, waiting for this like for Christmas, I would be totally disappointed. When I changed the strings, the guitar wouldn't get in tune and the bridge studs pulled up from the body. Not sure what the fix is (obviously a new bridge and some good tuners).
That said, when it gets upgraded, it's going to be killer partscaster.