This article is based on a video I did on the YouTube channel.
I recently bought an HSS Squier Affinity Strat on Amazon for $229. After a quick setup, rolling the fret edges, and using my StewMac fret end file to knock off a few little annoying spots, it plays great, looks great, sounds good, and I’m really enjoying it. I’m going to make some very detailed setup videos about this guitar, but in the meantime, I thought I’d tell you 10 reasons why I love my Squier Affinity Strat.
Reason 1 – It looks cool. OK, this is just my opinion, but olympic white with a black sparkle pickguard looks cool, and I’ve always been a fan of oversized strat headstocks. I could also be biased, because one of my guitar heroes, John Mitchell of the band Frost*, plays a white Squier Affinity Strat with a black pickguard.
Reason 2 – Split Shaft Tuning Machines. I love locking tuners, but split shaft tuners would be my second favorite. You put the string down a hole in the center of the shaft, twist it around the barrel, and wind. It’s super easy to do, and the strings come off super fast.
Reason 3 – HSS Pickups. People say the Telecaster being the most versatile guitar, but I disagree. A stock Tele doesn’t have a humbucker, and a humbucker has a distinctive sound. This guitar can be a backup for my main strat, AND a backup for my PRS humbucking guitar.
Reason 4 – Stock pickups sound good. OK, I’ll admit this is a stretch, but honestly, these pickups sound good. I’ll be demonstrating this in a future video, but I like the sound of these pickups better than the budget Alnico 5 pickups I got online. They are ceramic low output pickups, by the way.
Reason 5 – Weight. This guitar is lighter than either of my other strats, so playing it while standing up is really easy. My right shoulder has been a mess for years, so it really helps to have a lightweight guitar.
Reason 6 – Neck. I did file down a few fret ends, and I did round the edges of the neck, which I will show in a future video. And once I did that, I really liked this neck. It’s got a nice satin finish, and now it’s got rounded edges, and it plays great.
Reason 7 – Value. I mentioned John Mitchell before. John tours with several Squier Affinity HSS Strats. His reasons are that it plays great, sounds good, and is lightweight, AND if anything happens to it, he’s not out two thousand pounds. I paid $229 for this guitar – in 2023 money, that’s nothing. I think it’s an amazing value for the money, once you do a little work on it.
Reason 8 – Synthetic bone nut. This isn’t an ordinary plastic nut – it’s closer to what you’d get with something like a graphtech nut. I think it sounds and plays good. Or would that be well? It sounds good and plays well.
Reason 9 – Frets. This guitar has medium-jumbo frets, which I like a lot. It feels very similar to a standard strat.
Reason 10 – Block saddles. Block saddles seem to avoid the problem with the bent saddles. On bent saddles, the screws always seem to stick out and when you palm mute, they stick into the side of your hand. But the block saddles seem to avoid this problem.
So does this mean that the Squier Affinity Strat beats out my American partscaster? Nope. This is a fantastic spare guitar. And since both of my other strats are all single coil, this guitar is more versatile, and I’m going to be playing it a lot.
