If I you an itch to try a Strat, would a Squier Affinity 20th anniversary be enough to satisfy it?

HeldByWire

I currently play an Epiphone Les Paul. I've always considered myself a Les Paul guy, but lately I've been getting more and more into blues and seeing as I'm going to be making a major guitar purchase next year (bday present) I've got an inkling to try a Strat to see how that feels compared to my Les Paul.

I've played strats before but it's been many years since I owned one and quite frankly I can barely remember how they feel. 

I've seen a used Squier Affinity 20th anniversary Strat for £85 and I'm thinking that for the sake of £85 I might as well try it. But then I'm also thinking there's a reason why it's that price....

Will it give me enough of a feel for something stratty  so that I'll know down the line where I want to spend more money, or is it so cheap that it'll end up putting me off strats for life? 
 

dazzajl

It could be either, a total gamble. 

Where abouts are you? I’m sure someone local would invite you over to try a strat. 

gringopig

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JoeBoult

Totally depends on what you're itching about. For me, the main reason I love strats is the position 2&4 "quack" sounds, and while you can get that sound on an affinity, if you can get to a shop then try out a mexican, or "player" as they're now called. Not too expensive, and usually damn good quality.
Getting the affinity won't hurt, but you won't get a good representation of a good strat by trying it's cheaper companion. Just try the one you think you'll like man!

Funkfingers

The Squier Affinity STRAT would certainly make for variety compared to your Epiphone. Different construction, different sound palette, different scale length.

If you tire of the stock pickups, the pickup cavity routs should permit easy changing to other permutations of single coils and humbuckers. 

In my opinion, the vibrato bridge on the Affinity STRAT is cheap 'n' nasty. It will provide no sense whatsoever of how a well set up Fender fulcrum vibrato should behave.



Since the Epiphone LP is your yardstick, a fairer equivalent for quality might be the Squier Vintage Modified and Classic Vibe ranges. Your birthday budget might even land you a pre-owned Fender (Mexico) Standard series instrument. 

If I were in your present position, in search of greater sonic variety, with an immediate budget of £85 and the prospect of more in future, I would probably spend it on a pre-owned replacement pickup or two and better controls components for the Epiphone.

HeldByWire

As much as I'm sure someone local would let me try one, it's something I'd want to judge over a period of time, rather than a quick blast.

The other option is to get rid of the Epi and get a MIM or similar, just to see if the grass is greener.....

I'm not in the position to have multiple guitars ATM, so this option might work out best. And if I end up hating it I could always sell it and get another Les Paul!

Funkfingers

HeldByWire said:

As much as I'm sure someone local would let me try one

Well, if you don't ask, you certainly will not get.

HeldByWire said:

it's something I'd want to judge over a period of time, rather than a quick blast.

Round objects. It took me seconds to decide that a Fender AVRI '62 was coming home with me. (Arguably, it took me decades of mistakes to arrive at the position to be able to form such opinions at such short notice.) If a guitar or bass does not make you grin almost immediately, it is probably not the one for you.

HeldByWire said:

The other option is to get rid of the Epi and get a MIM or similar, just to see if the grass is greener.

The obvious compromise choice would be a Telecaster with either dual humbuckers, dual P90s or HSH pickups. 

rossi

I bought an Affinity on Gumtree for 40 quid and did a good set up ,fret level and trem set up .it played nice but took a while to tame those Ceramic pickups .In the end i put a a loaded pickguard I had with some Wilkingson higher end pickups  and it really was a nice guitar .I parted it out and sold but then regretted it .That will teach me .I found once it was set up well  the guitar wa s transormed .Off course it does have a narrow  nut but they could well be an advantage .Most of the battle with a guitar is how well its set up not what what it is comprised of  but then i'm only 71 so what do i know .

A Squier SE is better that Affinty as its full size but has an even cheaper trem .I stupidly sold that one as well .

gringopig

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vale

i reckon yeah. squier use for-all-intents-and-purposes 'real thing' specs for body dimensions because they are theirs to use. connoisseurs will get excited about little things but it's pretty much there. so body dimensions, feel, balance, etc, all there.

i have heard the affinities have slimmer necks than standard strats for certain years (i think early 2000s?). if you are used to chunky LPs you may not want that. another strat may be chunkier necked.

the sound will be that love it or hate it strat tone (i'm not a fan). stock affinity pickups may (or may not) be weaker than other brands, but strat pickups are an as common as muck type, so easy to find affordable new-used upgrades for. i imagine most guitarists you know will have something spare in a drawer you can try out.
actually that's probably the best thing about strats & teles, imo. upgrades & options & mods easy & cheap. something like a gretsch or weirder & things get tricky & costly.

squiers hold their value because they are decent reliable guitars & everyone knows it. so maybe try it out for six months & if you don't get on with it, sell it on. you won't lose £85 so not an £85 gamble. you may even make something on it.

it's all learning. learning which gear suits you is as important as learning new chords in some ways. once you have levelled out re playing learning curve, recurve & learn about how new kit might affect how you think about playing.

Funkfingers

vale said:

i have heard the affinities have slimmer necks than standard strats for certain years (i think early 2000s?). if you are used to chunky LPs you may not want that. another strat may be chunkier necked.

Narrow string spacing at both the nut and the bridge. Relatively shallow profile. In other words, tailored for young/petite beginner to intermediate level players.

I have one. I cannot recall whether I accepted it in a trade or bought it cheaply at a Sunday market stall. Either way, it needed extensive TLC but turned out nicely after a serendipitous occurence.

I confess myself a fan of neither the stock Affinity STRAT pickups and electronics nor the EMG-81 humbucker. Just for larfs, I decided to combine these two unloved things. It turned out wonderfully. I probably subliminally stole the idea from somebody who had fitted a white EMG humbucker into a Hello Kitty Stratocaster.

skunkwerx

Heres some balance. 

Im predominantly a metal player. I love my explorer, xj frets and high output pickups. 

I wanted to try a tele, because I wanted one. I had no idea if I’d like the thing, the pickups, the smaller frets, the maple board. 

Triggers were pulled and I bought a new affinity tele for £160 odd. 

I love it. 

But heres the predicament. I love it because it was a cheap and vastly different animal to my usual line up. 

If I bought a £500 mim tele, would I get on with the neck on that? Would I expect it to be exactly the same feeling but £340 more expensive? Would I then be disappointed?
This affinity’s board is laquered so thinly its like its bare. Which I love! But I might really not feel comfortable playing a maple board with more laquer on for instance. 

I guess what I’m saying is, you’ll get a feel for certain things on that particular instrument that may very well represent many things a more expensive version would, but its still its own guitar and you may or may not like it, which may jade your future thoughts. 

Bear in mind a lot of things will feel better on a more expensive version, the fret ends possibly, the general feel of how its all been finished too. 

For me I usually do just have to suck it up and buy it. Too hard for me to judge one instrument by another even if its the same style, brand etc! 

Unless its esp, I pretty much like playing any of them so i know I can buy almost blind and will probably be happy! 

vale

Funkfingers said:

vale said:

i have heard the affinities have slimmer necks than standard strats for certain years (i think early 2000s?). if you are used to chunky LPs you may not want that. another strat may be chunkier necked.

Narrow string spacing at both the nut and the bridge. Relatively shallow profile. In other words, tailored for young/petite beginner to intermediate level players.

I have one. I cannot recall whether I accepted it in a trade or bought it cheaply at a Sunday market stall. Either way, it needed extensive TLC but turned out nicely after a serendipitous occurence.

though i'm neither (partic) young nor (conspic) petite & i'm not even sure i would meet minimum criteria for 'beginner to intermediate level player' (sounds too finger style & conventional for me), but 'shallow' is definitely all about me. neck profile obvs.

if you have any callipers to hand, woud you be able to tell me the shallowness of your affinity neck at frets 1/7/12 (wood front to wood back just behind each fret)?
cheeky ask, i know. but may be useful info for the OP too, for reference.

i'd be interested to compare that with what i have to see if i should look out for a neck (bodies far too big & heavy for me). i am never sure when people say 'shallow' whether they mean 'shallow for a strat' or 'shallow compared to other guitar necks generally'.

am glad you managed to turn yours to account. my favourite squier was a jagmaster, which though it lacked fancy fender finish touches, was surprisingly not far off the real thing as a player under the fingers (woodwork-wise). obviously electrics sounded a bit different.

thegummy

I think that if I hadn't played a Strat for years then played a low end one and didn't like it, I would never know if it's the Strat I didn't like or just that particular one wasn't good.

crunchman

Squier Affinity Tele can be really good.  Not so sure about the Strat though.  Cheap Strat style trems will have poor sustain, and probably won't help the tuning a lot either.

thegummy

I've always thought it would be great if big shops had guitars of each type that you could rent for a week at a reasonable price to decide if you like it. I never find playing in a shop for 15 minutes gives me much idea at all about it.

Could stop a lot of returns on new stock too (from previous threads there are varying views on the distance selling laws, mine is that the law is good but I wouldn't feel comfortable using it as a home demo then lowering the value of the stock purely because of my preferences).

Hopefully I'll be borrowing my mate's tele for a week to test that out - maybe that's an option for you OP?

Funkfingers

crunchman said:

Cheap Strat style trems will have poor sustain and probably won't help the tuning a lot either.

The shop in my town would routinely take advantage of Fender mid summer bulk discount offers in readiness for the Christmas present market. In order to minimise customer returns and/or time wastage on after-sales attention, the bridges on all Affinity STRAT guitars would be adjusted down against the body. 

vale said:

if you have any callipers to hand

Reality check, please. You appear to be asking a middle-aged bloke to produce honest measurements of wood. Have patience.

HeldByWire

I've just seen a used 2012 MIM Strat for £250 on Gumtree.

£250s not that far away from £85 is it.....

crunchman

HeldByWire said:

I've just seen a used 2012 MIM Strat for £250 on Gumtree.

£250s not that far away from £85 is it.....

No

At that price, if you don't like it you can sell it on without losing much.

munckee

I think even moving up to a squier standard second hand you would get better wood, finish and alnico pickups, I paid £100 for one on gumtree.

HAL9000

crunchman said:

Squier Affinity Tele can be really good.  Not so sure about the Strat though.  Cheap Strat style trems will have poor sustain, and probably won't help the tuning a lot either.

^This. The Affinity Tele is a surprisingly good instrument, probably because it is quite a simple beast. The only Affinity Strat I've played was really quite poor in comparison.