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Post subject: Squier Affinity Strat vs Affinity Strat Special plus misc ?s
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:44 pm
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Hey guys,

I'm in the research stage of purchasing my first guitar. No musical background whatsoever, but I love the sound of a guitar and figured it was about time I do something about it. :)

I thought I had decided on the Squier "Stop Dreaming, Start Playing Set". As trivial as this may sound though, I noticed at the last moment that the included Affinity Start Special didn't have the maple neck (love the look of the maple) so I started considering just buying the Affinity Strat straight up (not in the kit). When I got to comparing the specs a bit more closely, it actually appears that the guitar included with the starter kit is not the same as the "off-the-shelf" normal Affinity Strat.

The differences I've noted:
- Number of frets (21 on Affinity Strat, 22 on Affinity Strat Special)
- Body type (Alder on the Affinity Strat, Agathis on the Affinity Strat Special, no "C-Shape")

So what do these mean? Are they irrelevant? Is the "off-the-shelf" Affinity Strat slightly better?

Now, assuming I decide against the kit, I'll need to pick up an amp. I'm eying a Fender Starcaster 15W amp at Amazon for $42. How does this compare to the Fender Frontman amp included with the Squier kit? Are they comparable? I'd rather save the coin for a guitar cable, but will spend the extra if there really is a significant difference.

And one last question. I've gotten the impression that these guitars are somewhat similar to the Fender Starcaster line of guitars, which seem to suffer from some pretty crappy strings out of the box. Do these Affinity guitars suffer from the same?

Really appreciate any help and insight anyone can offer. Thanks!


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:52 am
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the as you say, "off the shelf" affinity is alot better than the starter pack.
alder is a lot better wood that agathis and 22 frets give you more playing options as you will be able to play 1 fret farther down the neck.


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 11:31 am
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Tanner1994 wrote:
the as you say, "off the shelf" affinity is alot better than the starter pack.
alder is a lot better wood that agathis and 22 frets give you more playing options as you will be able to play 1 fret farther down the neck.

Cool, so the wood on the stand-alone Affinity is better.

But the standalone actually has less frets than the one in the kit (21 in the standalone, 22 in the kit). Is one fret difference really going to make a huge difference?


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:24 pm
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pcguru83 wrote:
Tanner1994 wrote:
the as you say, "off the shelf" affinity is alot better than the starter pack.
alder is a lot better wood that agathis and 22 frets give you more playing options as you will be able to play 1 fret farther down the neck.

Cool, so the wood on the stand-alone Affinity is better.

But the standalone actually has less frets than the one in the kit (21 in the standalone, 22 in the kit). Is one fret difference really going to make a huge difference?


not that much of a difference. for that aspect i really dont think the number frets matter that much becasue it is your first guitar.


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:39 pm
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Tanner1994 wrote:
not that much of a difference. for that aspect i really dont think the number frets matter that much becasue it is your first guitar.

Cool, that's what I figured.

Can anyone comment on the difference between the two amps I'm considering? That's pretty much the only other unknown before I pull the trigger. Maybe that'd be better suited for one of the other forums...


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 10:07 pm
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hi there, welcome to the most exciting adventure of your life! :D

i would strongly recommend you to look for the Affinity with the maple neck and fretboard. they will give you brighter sound and faster attack. the starter pack may not be as good as what you will be hoping for, even the amp is not very good. my suggestion, get the Roland Micro Cube amp. it is superb and will bring out the best sound from your guitar. it will even save you some cash because it is built in with quite a lot of effects and amp simulators.

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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:39 pm
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Okay, here goes. Hope this might help you out.

As to the number of frets and overall differences between an off-the-shelf Affinity and the one included in the Start Playing Set... forget whatever you find on the Fender/Squier website. I took one out of the box this afternoon and compared it to a stand-alone off-the-shelf Affinity. Except for the body (Alder vs Agathis... and that's only a maybe, couldn't be sure) there is no difference at all. They both have 21 frets. Yes, I know, the website says the Start Playing version has 22 frets. Well, guess what? The website is wrong. Sorry. They had the same tuners, headstock, logos, decals, trem, neck, frets, nut. Everything was the same. Sounded the same. Played the same. Felt the same (which is why I'm not sure about the wood).

And as an added point of interest, no where on the Start Playing box, does it refer to the guitar as "Special". It simply says, "Squier Affinity Series Strat". Which is exactly what the off-the-shelf Affinity is called. And the guitar in the photo on the box has 21 frets, not 22. I am not really sure why Fender's website calls it the "Affinity Strat Special" or why their specs state that it has 22 frets (when it most definitely has 21).

Only difference I could come up with is that the stand-alone Affinity can be had with either a maple fingerboard or rosewood, whereas the one included in the Start Playing Set only comes rosewood. Even the color options are the same (Black, Blue, Red). Anyway, just thought I'd add to the confusion. Hope it helps...

And as to the Special Edition... that's simply an Affinity with a special finish (2-tone sunburst) and a maple fingerboard.

Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong, your mileage may vary, proceed with caution.


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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:12 pm
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I just got the Squier SE Special Strat package for Christmas. Im a total beginner, and I have no previous experience. The one I got is the 199 dollar model. It doesn't say affinity anywhere on the package or on the guitar, which confused me, but anyway...

The guitar is just fine for the price. I haven't had any signifigant problems with it yet. The amplifier that I have is about as basic as amplifiers get. As a beginner you will find effects useless, and it doesn't have any, so w/e. At high volumes and overdrive, it gets fuzzy, and anoying, but its a good practice amp for the house because it sounds good at low volumes, which are apropriate for the home. ( Dad can still hear his football game, Mom can make phone calls, Sister can nap ) xD

The E string buzzes a little bit, but its not a problem because I think any string would buzz when you pluck it as hard as I did.

The machine heads (tuning knobs) are easy to turn, which is a problem because the string tension will cause them to turn and they will literally pull themselves out of tune. This doesn't happen very fast though.

Don't use the tremolo. Its useless if you are barely learning how to play in the first place, and using it puts the guitar out of tune very fast.

Id say its great for the price.


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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:02 am
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Thanks everyone for the information, very helpful.

The difference in cost is minimal, so I'm just going to buy the off-the-shelf Affinity the way I want it (with the maple neck and fretboard).

I'd still love to hear some thoughts on the two amps I was looking at. Any suggestions for a low-cost amp that has acceptable tone?


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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 9:01 pm
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Well, I did it, I pulled the trigger tonight. This guy should be arriving shortly:

Image

I erred on the side of "too much" and went with the Fender II Frontman 15G since the difference in price was minimal.

Wish me luck!


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