Valentine! - 2007 Squier Affinity Stratocaster HSS in Metallic Red

Meet Valentine

She may have started life as an Affinity, but after nearly two decades and a trip through our workshop, Valentine has developed rather expensive tastes.

Valentine is a 2007 Squier Affinity Stratocaster HSS in Metallic Red, Crafted in Indonesia and equipped with a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and versatile HSS pickup configuration.

Some guitars arrive needing major surgery.

Others simply need somebody to take them seriously.

Valentine belongs firmly in the second camp.

An Older Affinity With Plenty to Offer

Nearly twenty years later, Valentine has survived remarkably well.

Her Metallic Red finish still has a deep sparkle beneath the gloss, paired beautifully with cream-coloured plastics, a traditional rosewood fingerboard and the familiar large Stratocaster headstock.

She looks considerably more expensive than the word Affinity on the headstock might suggest.

Underneath is one of the most useful pickup arrangements available on a Strat-style guitar.

Valentine's HSS configuration combines two traditional single coils in the neck and middle positions with a bridge humbucker.

That means access to everything from clear cleans, blues and familiar Strat sparkle through to thicker rock sounds and considerably more convincing higher-gain tones.

The five-way selector makes moving between them straightforward.

One guitar. Quite a lot of musical personalities.

And thankfully, all of them are useful.

The Stray Chord Treatment

Affordable guitars often contain fundamentally good ingredients.

Where manufacturers frequently have to save money is in the amount of finishing time each individual instrument receives.

So we supplied the time.

Valentine's frets have been levelled, crowned and polished, with the fret ends carefully refined and the fingerboard edges rolled to remove the sharper production-guitar feel.

Her rosewood fingerboard was thoroughly cleaned and conditioned, restoring the richness and smooth feel of timber that has now seen nearly two decades of life.

Her electronics and hardware were inspected, the tremolo checked and adjusted, and the pickup heights carefully balanced.

Neck relief, action and intonation were then dialled in as part of a complete professional setup before she received a fresh set of strings.

The result is exactly why we enjoy working on guitars like this.

She still says Squier Affinity on the headstock.

She simply no longer feels like somebody's compromise.

Condition

For a guitar dating from 2007, Valentine is in genuinely lovely overall condition.

There are naturally some small signs of previous use and age, all of which are represented honestly in our photographs, but the Metallic Red finish has survived beautifully.

This isn't a new guitar pretending to have history.

She actually has some.

Why Valentine?

Because sometimes the badge on the headstock doesn't tell the whole story.

A properly prepared Affinity can make an excellent first guitar, dependable backup or everyday instrument.

Valentine has already received the fretwork and setup that can make the difference between an affordable guitar somebody struggles against and one that actively encourages them to keep playing.

She is approachable without feeling disposable.

Versatile without becoming complicated.

And thanks to that HSS layout, she can accompany somebody from their first clean chord right through to the moment they discover distortion and the neighbours begin reconsidering their life choices.

After nearly twenty years, Valentine is polished, rehabilitated, professionally set up and ready to fall hopelessly in love with somebody new.

Just try not to break her heart.

Specifications

Manufacturer: Squier
Model: Affinity Stratocaster HSS
Year: 2007
Country of Manufacture: Indonesia
Finish: Metallic Red
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Frets: 21
Pickup Configuration: HSS
Controls: Volume and tone controls with 5-way pickup selector
Bridge: Synchronised tremolo
Hardware: Chrome
Condition: Used, very well preserved for its age
Workshop: Full fretwork and professional setup completed

THE STRAY CHORD
RESCUE • RESTORE • REHOME