I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and will have a safe and pleasant New Year. This was my first Christmas alone, as mom passed away last January and I was not in the mood to spend the day with anyone. I basically sat home, did a little writing, and watched some football games.
I did, however, buy myself a Christmas present. Since I had no one to spend some money on, I decided to spend it on myself. I didn’t want to break the bank, but I did want to get myself something that I would enjoy. About two weeks before Christmas, Fender had an online sale for a few of its guitars at 40% off. I looked at the list, and saw that there was a Squier Affinity Stratocaster, regularly $249.99, going on sale for $149.99!
Now, I haven’t played much electric guitar in the past 10 years or so, and have been selling off a lot of my unused equipment, including guitar amplifiers. I have two electric guitars left in my collection (a 70s-era Guild Starfire hollowbody and a 90s-era made-in-Mexico Fender Strat that was my workhorse during my final electric band days). The Affinity series for Squier/Fender used to be the low-budget line back in the 90s. I had an Affinity Telecaster from that period that was OK at best, as the tuners and bridge/saddles were cheap and the body was cheap plywood with hollowed out cavities that were filled with styrofoam. I paid about $100.00 new for it and junked/modified it for a few years until I sold it off with my house cleaning. However, the Affinity series seems to have been upgraded by Fender, with its Sonic series being the new lower-cost series.
The Affinity Strat looked to be a bargain for the price, and they had it available in a cool Surf Green color. Total cost was $158.99, and it came via US Postal to my PO Box in a little over a week.
I have to say that I am really impressed with the workmanship. Yeah, it’s made in China, so that probably has a lot to do with the lower cost. The body is solid and has some heft to it. The hardware is good, and the pickups are typical Strat sounding — not hot but not weak either. The neck has a matte finish to the back of it, which needs a buffing with some OOOO steel wool to smooth it out a bit. The fingerboard looks like rosewood, but is Indian Laurel, most likely a cheaper wood that the Asian market uses on mass-produced guitars.
I have always loved the sound of a Stratocaster, especially that switch position of neck/middle or middle/bridge pickup selection. It’s a glassy tone that Stevie Ray Vaughan used so well (although he had some hot-rodded pickups). Plus, I always enjoyed playing around with surf instrumentals by The Ventures and Dick Dale. I haven’t tried out the tremolo bar yet. The bridge looks a bit different from other Strat whammy bar systems, so I hope that it doesn’t crap out after a few bends.
All in all, it is a really good guitar for the price. Checking the Fender website, this guitar is on sale again at 20% off, or $199.99, until supplies last (https://www.fender.com/en-US/8-days-deals/affinity-series-stratocaster/0378000557.html). That leads me to believe that they may be getting rid of either this model or the Affinity series completely. So I would recommend that, if you are looking for a solid beginner electric guitar, or a reliable backup, you order this model while you can. It is backed by Fender, so it does have some good reputation.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 