January Birthdays 
Well I was curious about this guitar and thought I would give it a try.
I watched a lot of videos, and in particular Ryan at 60 cycle Hum always has honest opinions and especially how gear relates to surf music.
I shopped for a while and considered buying a new one from GC with some trade-ins.
But searching the aftermarket sites, I found a decent listing on Reverb for nearly half-off full retail, and it was only initially bought in December 23'.
I had also searched this site for information, were a few posts but no real topic specific info.
So I began a thread, and wanted to share my humble amateur opinion.
I am totally thrilled with it!
It SURFS
It ROCKS
It JAZZes
That pretty much sums it up, simply put. 
So here is my take on it further, and I will make direct comparisons to Fender Jazzmaster and Jaguar setups, and maybe a bit of Stratocaster, because it actually has all 3 tied into it, one way or another.
NECK & FRETBOARD:
Its one of the best parts of the whole guitar, perhaps.
25 1/2" long scale, so it fits a Jazzmaster feel.
The specs say its a 10" radius, but as compared to my Fender standards for a 9.5", I would say its much more noticeably flatter.
The width and thickness is comparable to Fender, just ever slightly wider at nut, 1.6875"
Narrow jumbo frets, not 'jumbo', and not 'narrow tall'. I have not really played these before and I am liking the feel. I normally play jumbo.
23 frets! OK, can explore some high end A stuff. Its easy to reach with body cut-away.
The frets did need dressing at a couple places at the 9th and 12th to level off, but its was as close as any MIM Fender, and how I would expect for this level of quality. I made it perfect. The fret ends were rounded pretty good and I did not feel the need to improve, like I usually do on a MIM.
The neck workmanship is excellent, better than a MIM Fender.
The roasted maple makes it quite firm and with a brushed finish, not glossy.
The binding is also quite good, and inlay markers as well.
The fretboard is walnut (?) Never had that, not sure what I can say about it. Its like rosewood. Does it sound different? I don't know.
Overall, its the type of neck I don't feel I want to put down and just keep playing for hours! Its perhaps why I say this a top feature of the guitar.
PICKUPS:
Here is where things can stray from being SURF to all other genres.
NECK: Its all SURF, its nearly the same as my Jazzmaster, but not as powerful as my Jaguar. And its too far away from Strat.
No. 2 position we get a STRAT #2, combined Neck and Middle, we get the expected 'quack' of a Strat. Its strangely quite different than I expected. I thought it might be like a Jaguar combined, but no, its definitely Strat. And that's all you are going to get for Strat out if this, it starts and ends there.
MIDDLE #3: This is tough to describe, its got a lot of character. If I roll the tone (and I will talk about that, its got decent tone bleed range)
the middle PU will deliver everything from sharp twang to sweet mellow jazzy tone. The sharp tone is very SURF, but not like a Bridge PU you would expect. No, its now like the Jazzmaster or Jag combined set, but its ONE PU, with a huge tone range.
I think this is perhaps the best SURF sound for it, better than the Neck alone. But I am back and forth on these single coils alone for the surf.
No. 4 Middle & Bridge humbucker:
Here we kind of get into a real jazzy tone, surprisingly, the tone dulls up, almost to the point of being the Rhythm circuit of Jazz-Jags, but with a huge range of tonal sweep. I like it! We are definitely into a rhythm mode for sure, great strumming without anything trebly harsh.
The humbucker must be delivering some kind tone reduction with possibly a capacitor, I don't know....but..Next we got to...
BRIDGE PU:
What happened? Its back to full on twang! Nah, its not a humbucker?, not like I know. And its powerful! But for whatever reason the tone jumps back up to 'almost SURF', but with more power. I actually have to roll back the tone here to tame it a bit. What else can I say? Its not like a single or a true humbucker, its something in-between, starts the amp breakup, and its ALL good!
It strays from being SURF, traditional anyways, and entering ROCK-dom!
Using any overdrives is quite good.
I watched Ryan's review and he mentions this, and then made another video of splitting the coil on the humbucker, which can be done, but honestly don't think its worth it. Nor is it worth replacing, IMO.
I did check for size, maybe considering a TV Jones Magnatron, but the size shape is same in width, but front to back dimension is off. The Surfliner humbucker is a lot wider front to back. I would have to use a ring to cover the opening in pickguard for appearance.
NOPE! I'll keep it just the way it is and enjoy it! (watch me change this is a year LOL)
HARDWARE:
Machine heads are locking, maybe not the best, wish they had nurled locking knobs, so its slippery to lock.
But, the tuners STAY IN TUNE! Yea, I was pretty harsh breaking in with the Tremelo.
Negative points for assembly! yea, the machine heads were mounted crooked. To the degree that you could not tighten one without your fingers getting squashed to the next one. It was one really bad one that I had to re-set the small screw, used an awl to make a new pilot hole.
The others were just so-so. This one defect should have been caught in QC.
I'll let it go because at this point, because so much other stuff is so darn good!
NUT:
This is actually pretty good, its sized right, smooth and I think is a specified Graph Tech.
BRIDGE/Tail:
Tune-O-Matic ..and me..don't really mix. I will tolerate it at best. The quality is really low, the saddles need work or you're going to break strings, its that simple. I used 600 grit to polish the grooves.
Most likely this will be the thing that gets replaced first, before I start loosing expensive strings. But I will say it works with trem, rocks, and has perfect intonation. I set the action super low, how I like it, and there were no fret buzz.
TREMELO:
OK folks, listen up! Here is a first in engineered Trems for off-the shelf goodness!
There is a nylon lined collet with an adjustment screw to keep your tram arm in position..to whatever you like. Make it floppy, make it stick.
Easy adjustment from exterior on the side of the collet.
I don't own a StayTrem, but from what I understand, its quite similar.
But is STOCK! Needs a metric allen wrench, which I was not provided.
The action of the Tremelo is excellent. As I said earlier, it stays in tune! There was a funny 'knock' when I first strung it up, but it went away on its own. Maybe next string change I'll take a look at the fulcrum for burs.
But the action is excellent and smooth. There is an adjustment to spring tension, but not needed for this setup.
I like the chrome tip too, different and blingy.
The appearance of plates is great, with the unique "G" cut into both the Tremelo plate and the back neck plate. Its the kind of details that get noticed.
CONTROLS:
5 Way switch as described earlier, it work smooth.
Master Volume and Master Tone. Simple.
But truthfully, this guitar and its 3 pickups, 5 way could possibly benefit from more individual controls for each pickup, or least neck to bridge.
I don't know exactly why I say that, because Jazzmaster & jags don't have that. But my Gretsch does...and I like it.
The Surfliner has so many PU switching options, maybe its just another element that would compliment this already nice wide range of tone. (?)
PAINT:
I have the sparkle green! Its really quite nice. I was considering getting the rose quartz pink, but I chickened out.
And Black is not really anything I adore.
But the metallic green really is quite flashy!
BODY:
Ok, I was quite surprised that the poplar body would be so..light.
I was thinking it would be more dense, heavier. Its OK, but something makes me wonder what if it were more substantial, for more sustain?
Its the lightest guitar I own now, 7.4#
The offset shape is pretty natural to a Jazzmaster, more so than a Jag, because of the long scale. I was comfy.
The 'shapes' cut into the body are no where like a Fender tho. They are scooped, with pretty basic wood cutting operation, kind of leaving a 'squared - bevel' appearance.
Hey its NOT a Fender, remember that.
HEADSTOCK:
This has style points for sure! Its similar to a Gibson T-Bird, or maybe even a copy of a custom BiLT. Either way, you just can't complain about a painted matching headstock! With chrome Guild lettering!
One thing that does thro me, its got a deep tilt back angle. While I can more easily adjust the tuners, I can't see its 'color coolness' while playing.
Sorry I don't have sound clips to explore, my tech is not there yet.
But I played thru a Princeton with my Surfybear reverb and Blossom Point, and yea this thing really does SURF!
..I kind of stray-off into a twisted 'Surf-Jazz-Chill' thing tho!
ANYWAYS, that's my take on the new Guild Surfliner Deluxe!
I have numerous dedicated SURF guitars, Jazzmasters and Jags, and then decent Stratocaster, a hollow Gretsch, and a couples Teles.
But this Surfliner can make sounds of ALL those guitars, but not one of them as so dedicated. its a hybrid SURF ROCK JAZZ.
And its super fun to play!
60 Cycle Hum video review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inzMD4aJzX4
Last edited: Feb 01, 2024 20:06:09
