Fender Squier Affinity Stratocaster - Limited Edition Black

I am thoroughly pleased, if blown away, by the quality of this Affordable guitar. The finish on this guitar is impeccable. The guitar is in fact made of solid construction out of the materials it is specified to have. The Maple neck is a very nicely selected piece of wood with a pretty grain structure while the Laurel fretboard turned out to be a gorgeous slab of wood with a bit of curly figuring and looks fantastic with a little fingerboard oil. The big headstock was one of the main reasons for selecting this model and it has a gloss finish on the top side with a satin finish on the entire backside of the headstock and neck. The neck, after a truss rod adjustment, was just as flat and true as one could hope for and the frets were also just as level and true. The fretwork on this guitar is way above average for a budget friendly guitar. The fret ends were very nicely done and really had no offensive or sharp feeling areas anywhere which is very rare with budget guitars. The well crafted plastic nut needed no filing in the slots to lower the action at the first fret. After the truss rod adjustment and lowering of the tailpiece the action at the nut just fell right into spec with a nice medium low action which blew my mind. This guitar was absolutely playable right out of the box but with a neck adjustment, a slight fret dressing and polishing, and some tailpiece adjustments this guitar transformed into a guitar that you would expect to be from a much higher price range. I also removed the neck to check the neck pocket fit and function and was very pleased to find that it was clean bare wood inside there without any paint or finish buildup all all. The neck to pocket fit was pretty good as well, not super tight but just a tiny bit of wiggle which was very acceptable. What a difference after I did these few improvements. This guitar now vibrates much longer and with much more volume than it did first out of the box. The electronics all worked as intended with the guitar and the amplifier. The tone was decent and was very versatile but I will most likely be doing some modifications to the guitar's electronics in the future. I really did get the impression that a qualified inspector/set-up tech did the quality control on this guitar and the boxing and packaging had never been previously opened until I received it. My hat is off to Fender Squire and to the seller Austin Bazaar down in Texas for a great product. A breathe of fresh air to get a guitar that made my job as the tech so much easier. The guitar responded in a positive manner with every adjustment and just got better and better at each phase of the setup. Had to draw the line and call perfect as good enough, LOL! Yes, I recommend this Guitar and bundle as a very good value for your money. Plan on doing a standard set up on this guitar as it is slightly unrefined in some areas of the fretwork, fingerboard, and tremolo adjustments. Happy Independence Day everyone. Be safe and sane out there!

For the price this is a very good guitar for beginners to start their musical journey. It has a comfortable sturdy build and is easy to handle. It is "not" a generic cheapo piece of junk. As for the rest of the items that came with the guitar I'm not even going to rate that stuff I'm just focused on the guitar.

Great to start up your musical career decent quality

I like the color and the sort of tiger's eye look to it, though this individual one isn't as tiger's eyed on the back, just the front and top of the back. I sort of wanted to buy one through another music place so I could be picky about it, but this was less money with more goodies. I got a heavier one, which makes me happy, it weighs in at about 7 1/2 pounds, while some of the ones I saw were only about 6 pounds. It does have a color mark on the front finish, not a defect, it's part of the wood grain, but it would have made me choose a different one. I only made minor adjustments to the bridge and pickup heights, which didn't need to be made, it sounded great right out of the box even with it's original strings. It holds its tuning well, and the tuner it came with is easy to use. The strap is good enough for me. It came with 3 picks, but I bought a mustang amp thing from Austin Bazaar, too, and that came with a big pile o' picks. The disc wasn't really useful to me, but I watched it all the way through, just in case. I read and watched many reviews before my purchase and I am thrilled. I'm not so happy with the delivery company, which took 13 days even though I bought it with prime. It was not Austin Bazaar's fault, though, they are great. And the product is great. Excellent sustain on this thing. Oh, the humbucker wasn't installed perfectly straight, the brown stripe of wood on the back of the neck isn't flush, you can feel it, and the tremolo bar is wobbly until you modify it with a piece of thread or something, but it's no deal-breaker. The neck is straight, the satin finish feels lovely, the action's good, and the frets don't buzz. I might never need the gig bag, but it does fit in there, a bit snug perhaps, but it closes. It's an excellent package deal, great quality for the price.