How Much Does A Squier Stratocaster Weigh? [An Experiment]

Considering the Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster are easily in the top 5 of the most popular guitars ever made, there have been a ton of models released. And by models, I mean reissues and all kinds of variations of the same thing.

As a result, how each guitar is built and what they sound like can vary quite a bit, with the appearance really being the only constant between all of them. For example, even the Squire Bullet and Affinity Strats are different. One weighs more than the other.

Typically, a Squier Affinity Stratocaster weighs 7.8 pounds, while its lighter Bullet counterpart weighs around 7 pounds. The Affinity model weighs more because Squier reportedly slimmed down the Bullet versions, making them not only cheaper but also lighter and more accessible for beginners.

While I can only speculate on the reason for Squier to slim down the Bullet version of their Stratocaster model, I know for a fact that the Affinity Strats weigh 7.8 pounds approximately because I own one. I’ll show you how I weighed the guitar and we’ll also talk a bit more about the Squier guitars and what’s different – and similar – about them.

The Squier Stratocaster – Bullet vs Affinity

I got the Squier Affinity Series Stratocaster from an auction not that long ago for just $117CA and I’m pretty happy with the result.

With some new hardware, electronics, and possibly even a new neck, the guitar will be top-of-the-line. Plus, it’s a great guitar for me to mess around with and practice my luthier skills.

If you’ve ever checked the Affinity and Bullet models of the Stratocasters and Telecasters, you probably noticed that the Affinity guitars tend to cost just a bit more than their Bullet counterparts. Additionally, these guitars don’t have the same weight either.

I talked about this in my guide on how much Squier Telecasters weigh, but the long and short of it is that the Affinity and Bullet Series are designed for different sections of the beginner/low-cost guitar market.

A consequence of this is that the Bullet Series have been slimmed down a little more to reduce the amount of material used. This makes the guitar lighter and also decreases the cost for the consumer.

And contrary to what’s stated on the internet, the Bullet and Affinity Series are nearly identical, including their poplar bodies, maple necks, and Indian Laurel fingerboards (shout out to Guitar World for the info).

Reportedly, another big reason why guitars tend to cost less than others is due to quality control. Companies with a lot of quality control take a lot of time and man hours to ensure every guitar that’s produced leaves the factory up to their standards.

However, a guitar that’s only $150 is more likely to be quickly produced by the manufacturer and sent out the door with no real quality control. Apparently, this is the main reason why some Squier (and other cheap guitars) are awesome, and others are not.

But anyway, this makes sense to me because I own a Squier Bullet Telecaster and a Squier Affinity Stratocaster, and the Bullet Tele is significantly lighter than the Affinity Strat.

My Alpine White Bullet Tele is 6.6 pounds, compared to the Affinity Strat’s 7.8 pounds. Let me show you how I came to these numbers.

Weighing The Squier Stratocaster – Affinity

To weigh the guitar, I used a trick that I learned from figuring out the weight of large packages and sending them in the mail. Essentially, you just weigh yourself without the item and then weigh yourself holding it, and you deduct one number from the other.

This will give you a fairly accurate measurement of how heavy your item is. I also weighed myself with and without the guitar a few times to ensure that I got the right number.

For the math, you just take 185.4 (with guitar) and subtract it by 177.6 (without guitar), and you get the number 7.8 pounds. In other words, I can tell you with certainty that a Squier Affinity Stratocaster is 7.8 pounds approximately.

At least so far as my scale is accurate. Maybe there can be some slight variations in models, especially if you’ve swapped out parts, or maybe there are signature models out there that use slightly different materials.

But I think you can reasonably expect your Affinity Strat to weigh between 7.5 and 8 pounds. As I explained to your earlier, this is about 1.2 pounds heavier than my Telecaster, and even though it’s just 1 pound, it’s noticeable.

Weighing The Squier Stratocaster – Bullet

But what about the Squier Bullet Stratocaster? For this guitar, I had to rely on outside sources. If you take a look at some of the other sites online, you usually get figures between 7 and 8 pounds for the Squier Stratocaster.

Differentiating between the Affinity and Bullet Strat is something they almost never do though. Most online sources state that the Squier Bullet Strat is 7 pounds, which makes sense if you consider the difference between the Bullet and Affinity Telecaster.

Explained using different words, the idea that the Bullet Strat would be around 1 pound lighter than its Affinity counterpart is logically consistent with what I discovered to be the case with the Bullet and Affinity Telecasters.

Why Does the Squier Affinity Stratocaster Weigh More Than The Bullet?

The Guitar World I linked to earlier explains that the Bullet and Affinity models use, essentially, the same parts, hardware, and pick-ups, so the material that they’re made of isn’t the issue.

The reason the Squier Affinity Stratocaster weighs slightly more than the Squier Bullet Stratocaster is that Squier slimmed down the Bullet Series guitars to make them lighter and more affordable.

Although, as I’ve explained before, I can only speculate on their reasoning for making the Affinity heavier than the Bullet. Most people think that guitars that have a bit more body and weight to them have more sustain and better tone.

Personally, it’s my opinion that a lot of guitar players really get caught up in tiny details that probably don’t make as much of a difference as they think. But hey, that’s just me. Anyway, I’ve got a few more articles that are experiment-based down below.

Other Articles You May Be Interested In

• How Much Does An Epiphone Les Paul Custom Weigh? [ANSWERED]
• How to Set Up a Squier Telecaster (Step-By-Step)
• How Long Do 9V Batteries Last in a Guitar Pedal? [Experiment]
• How Long Does A Battery Last In The BOSS RC-1? [ANSWERED]
• How Long Does The Battery Last in the Boss RC-5 [ANSWERED]

Important Things to Note About the Weight of Guitars

1) Weight Variations Exist Within the Same Model

I think something that’s important to understand about guitars is that even though they’re made by the same people, in the same factory, and using the same parts, they still might come out different for reasons I talked about earlier, ie, quality control, etc.

It’s not uncommon for people to report their guitars to be half a pound lighter or heavier than other people’s guitars that are the same model type.