Squier Affinity Strat or Yamaha Pacifica 112V ???

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baldybaldy Frets: 195
Given the choice & with both costing around the the same price new which would you buy & why ?
Or for similar money would you buy something different & why ?
BTW I am just starting & have a LP copy that I am struggling with but have tried a couple of "strat style" guitars & found them more comfortable.
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Comments

  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    Personally I'd go for a Tele in that price range.  I'm wary of cheap tremolo (vibrato for the pedants) systems.  You can get tuning problems and sustain might not be great on cheap Strat style guitars.
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  • HAL9000HAL9000 Frets: 9551
    edited January 2018
    crunchman said:
    Personally I'd go for a Tele in that price range.  I'm wary of cheap tremolo (vibrato for the pedants) systems.  You can get tuning problems and sustain might not be great on cheap Strat style guitars.
    ^This. Affinity Teles are one of the best bang for your buck guitars out there. Nothing wrong with Pacificas though, but they seem to lack a little something in the personality department.

    See...

    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/122087/a-squier-affinity-sounded-mega-at-rehearsal-tonight/p1
    I play guitar because I enjoy it rather than because I’m any good at it
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  • carloscarlos Frets: 3426
    Squier is easier to sell later, but Pacifica might be a better instrument. The Yamaha has a nut that's a bit smaller than standard at 41mm. Some people find this unbearable for some reason. Both guitars have okay tremolos if you know how to set them up. If you have no intentions of using them ever, then yes go for a Tele copy.
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  • mikeyrob73mikeyrob73 Frets: 4663
    I have a Bullet Strat at home that the childerbeast uses. added 2 extra springs to the trem, rock solid. 
    Decent instrument, also look at the Vintage Strats, really good value 
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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782
    edited January 2018
    Yamaha 112V gets my vote, I had one as my first guitar and it was great, didn't even need setting up out of the box. Call me biased but I still don't trust Squiers, especially the cheapest range of Squiers.
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  • WazmeisterWazmeister Frets: 9445
    HAL9000 said:
    crunchman said:
    Personally I'd go for a Tele in that price range.  I'm wary of cheap tremolo (vibrato for the pedants) systems.  You can get tuning problems and sustain might not be great on cheap Strat style guitars.
    ^This. Affinity Teles are one of the best bang for your buck guitars out there. Nothing wrong with Pacificas though, but they seem to lack a little something in the personality department.

    See...

    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/122087/a-squier-affinity-sounded-mega-at-rehearsal-tonight/p1
    I was just about to sadly, quote this thread too... ;)
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  • baldybaldy Frets: 195
    Thanks for the comments so far.
    If i was to up the budget a little to say £250-£300 or buy second hand there would obviously be choice.
    Is there anything that you guys would recommend in a "strat style" that represents good value for money, that is including used guitars.
    Maybe a Vintage V6 for example ?
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  • BRISTOL86BRISTOL86 Frets: 1920
    baldy said:
    Thanks for the comments so far.
    If i was to up the budget a little to say £250-£300 or buy second hand there would obviously be choice.
    Is there anything that you guys would recommend in a "strat style" that represents good value for money, that is including used guitars.
    Maybe a Vintage V6 for example ?
    You can get a Fender Standard Stratocaster used for that money. That’s the way I went and found it a big uogeade on the Pacifica 112 I had before it. 
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  • MayneheadMaynehead Frets: 1782
    You can get a used Mexican Fender strat for around the £300 mark or just below.

    Vintage strats are good quality but obviously if it's between a brand new Vintage or a used Fender I'd go for the Fender.
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  • SparkySparky Frets: 90
    I recently bought a 1 year old Squier Vintage Modified Strat and it is lovely. Had it setup for around £40.00 and its now a real solid player.
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  • BucketBucket Frets: 7751
    Avoid the Squier Affinity - the higher-up Squiers aren't bad at all but the low-end ones are fairly shit. A Pacifica 112 will be streets ahead of an Affinity series.

    If you can up the budget though, do it - go on eBay and you can find great guitars for £300 all day.
    - "I'm going to write a very stiff letter. A VERY stiff letter. On cardboard."
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  • mikeyrob73mikeyrob73 Frets: 4663
    edited January 2018
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  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    At that price you could get this

    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/122262/fs-fret-king-blue-label-super-60-hb-inc-generic-hardcase-275

    Which is a a lot of guitar for the money. The trem alone used to retail for £100 ish iirc ! 
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  • NeilMcGNeilMcG Frets: 62
    Bucket said:
    Avoid the Squier Affinity - the higher-up Squiers aren't bad at all but the low-end ones are fairly shit. A Pacifica 112 will be streets ahead of an Affinity series.

    If you can up the budget though, do it - go on eBay and you can find great guitars for £300 all day.
    Agreed on that - I have both an Affinity and a Yam 112V that I bought as cheapos on Ebay to mod and practice fretwork on and the Yam is miles ahead on quality.

    The Affinity has very cheap and nasty pickups and is generally a bit crappy. The Yam has nice Alnico 5 pickups with a coil-tappable h/b and is better built all round. No contest.
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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    Never played a Pacifica 112V but every low-priced Yamaha product I've experienced has been good for the money so I would be tempted to go for that. I've got a 200 quid Yamaha acoustic and it's great quality for the money.

    My only real experience of Squier is a model from the mid 90s which is terrible but can't really judge today's models by that.
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  • rossyamaharossyamaha Frets: 2439
    edited January 2018
    Maybe a tad outdated but still...

    https://i.imgur.com/UguLvZs.jpg

    Nothing wrong with the affinity stuff but as I have always said right back from when they first came out, the Pacifica 112v is THE best value for money guitar you can buy, I would say at almost any price point. The good thing about them as has already been mentioned is you wouldn't actually need to sell it on. You can keep it forever and use it as a modding platform guitar.

    I play guitar and take photos of stuff. I also like beans on toast.

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  • carloscarlos Frets: 3426
    Nothing wrong with using plywood for a guitar's body as long as it can handle string tension. Here we go again... but before replying please bear in mind the OP is asking about a beginner guitar.
    FWIW, my advice would be to up your budget to £250 and try to negotiate a Mexican Strat.
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    If you are near Dorchester then there is a Pacifica in the music shop window with a £79 tag, and I bet that’s negotiable. I was tempted to buy it for the neck and tuners, and part the rest out.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • NeilMcG said:
    Bucket said:
    Avoid the Squier Affinity - the higher-up Squiers aren't bad at all but the low-end ones are fairly shit. A Pacifica 112 will be streets ahead of an Affinity series.

    If you can up the budget though, do it - go on eBay and you can find great guitars for £300 all day.
    Agreed on that - I have both an Affinity and a Yam 112V that I bought as cheapos on Ebay to mod and practice fretwork on and the Yam is miles ahead on quality.

    The Affinity has very cheap and nasty pickups and is generally a bit crappy. The Yam has nice Alnico 5 pickups with a coil-tappable h/b and is better built all round. No contest.
    So, buy a used Pacifica. They go very cheap secondhand and you'll be able to sell it at a later stage for at least the money you paid for it if necessary: )
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  • baldybaldy Frets: 195
    Roland said:
    If you are near Dorchester then there is a Pacifica in the music shop window with a £79 tag, and I bet that’s negotiable. I was tempted to buy it for the neck and tuners, and part the rest out.
    I wonder if that is a 012 or a 112v, guessing the former at that price.
    Also unfortunately Dorchester is the best part of 3 hours away from me assuming the traffic is OK.
    I mentioned the 112V Pacifica originally as I had read that they were well made, consistent from guitar to guitar & pretty playable.
    They vary in price in my nearest PMT from £209 - £237, depending on colour with free next day delivery.
    The cheapest that I have seen one second hand is £180 plus p&p so not worth it when I can get a new one for basically the same price.
    This thread has given me food for thought though so thanks very much to all who have posted.
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