This guitar is amazing. I've had it about a week and have really played the heck out of it. First off, it's gorgeous. The photos don't do it justice, the metallic flake paint brings to mind classic cars from the early 60s and the design is just so super super surfy! In fact, as the name suggests, this guitar can surf! It basically begs for it. The best thing about wailing on the whammy bar while crunching out some plucky beachy tunes is that this guitar still holds its tuning-well done Guild! Another excellent feature is the tremolo bar-rather than having a threaded bar (like the strat), this one has a small Allen screw on the base of the bar where it connects to the guitar. This is genius as it allows for complete customization-I can totally turn the tremolo bar to hang a little lower/closer to the volume knob/wherever I want, and lock it into place with a small Allen key(included with the guitar of course:))
As for tone m, it's bright. The humbucker really brings sports a retro vibe and can give you some decent crunchy tones but it's not really a metal/slayer guitar. It's better than a strat, brighter/twangier than a Les Paul, and more versatile than a telecaster. If you're considering this guitar, stop considering and click 'buy'. You'll be well pleased. Oh one more thing, I read some reviews which mentioned some design flaw with the Tremelo bar interfering with the B and E strings. Perhaps this was something addressed by the company, because I could find no issues with that whatsoever.

all around good guitar

Haven't played it much yet, but looks great and seems well built.

Feels great to play too

Great Versatile Guitar

This guitars tone is awesome and its really easy to play in, and looks really hot!!

Beautiful guitar in sunset evergreen metallic. Lots of tonal options with HSS. configuration. Beautiful jangly cleans and it can handle the dirt too. Quickly became my favorite go to guitar. Ed Needler and the team at Sweetwater did a great setup and it plays like a dream.

I love this guitar! Was looking for something with bright, chime-y tones so it was either this or a Fender Jaguar Player II - so I got both, both great in a side by side comparison! The Guild comes with a really comfortable roasted neck, (bound) , locking tuners, three great sounding pickups and a 5 position switch! Great playability and tone! It's one of those guitars ya wanna pick up & play a lot! I wondered if the made in Indonesia might mean off quality, but nope! Guild did a great job on fit & finish! Love it! For $ more I also Love The made in Mexico Jag II - two pickups, three position switch with more classic Fender tones, great playability, perhaps a slight bit better between it's neck and 24" scale vice the Guild's 25.5"(?) BUT they are BOTH Great, vibratos & all, glad I got 'em both! For me, if I had to pick only ONE of these two head to head competitors, TOUGH CALL, a matter of taste (…but I'm leaning towards the Guild). Also, the Vintera II Jags for twice as much were considered as was the Johnny Marr Jag for three times as much- which I also liked- but not this time around.

Arrived super quickly, just a couple days after ordering. Arrived with a broken high e string, some scratches on the panel on the back and the plate under the bridge was scuffed up. But paint is beautiful, neck is sound and it looks amazing.

If you're looking for something splits the difference between a Jazzmaster and Stratocaster, this is your axe. Light and comfortable, great variety in tone from the HSS combinations, good sustain even with the tremolo (and the adjustable locking collet for the trem arm is a brilliant bit of tech). The roasted maple neck is fast and has a nice flattened-out back without feeling flimsy - your preferences might vary, but for me it's just about perfect.

Coming from a MiM telecaster this thing feels great in my hands - The neck finish, ease of moving around and clarity are just perfect. I pretty quickly took it into the shop for a couple modifications: I added a roller bridge for tuning stability and durability and a tone knob push-pull coil split on the existing humbucker. The roller bridge feels like the only really necessary change to the stock configuration.

Personally this is my first time with locking tuners and I'm not a fan - considering swapping for vintage but since these are 'nicer' I want to give them a chance. I considered adding knob pointers but decided they weren't adding much and the guitar is already very slick.

Minor complaints:
- Some folks have said the humbucker output - 7.6k - is low. For me the balance with the middle pickup is good in both split and humbucking mode so I'm not complaining yet, I'm keeping my eye on a Surf90 for it if this ever really feels like an issue.
- The metallic housing around the single coils has a rough inner edge which my fingernails sometimes brush against. Maybe a technique issue that will solve itself but it doesn't feel good.
- Many reviews point out that the tremolo arm collet that the arm mounts in tends to lightly press against the B string. In my case the roller bridge seems to have slightly helped this. In any case it hasn't actually bothered me or my playing yet.
- It's big, around 41" long (maybe more with the strap button) and 13-5/8" wide at the lower bout. I'm going to have to completely reconsider my case options for this, as the guild website doesn't mention the surfliner fitting any of their gig bags.

I've always been a primary user of Jackson and/or Ibanez guitars, since their instruments generally have thin necks that prevent my hands from cramping. When I saw this instrument, I was not optimistic, given I always thought Guild was an import brand that I've not heard about much. I'm 100% surprised by the quality of this guitar.

The pickups are clean and versatile for any genre, the neck is a comfortable C shape that's between a Gibson and Fender in terms of thickness, and the craftsmanship is phenomenal. My main complaint is the G and B string buzz a little when you pick near the bridge, but it's not very noticeable.


Overall, highly recommend this instrument!

I was instantly attracted to this guitar visually, but after playing it I gotta say, it's more than just looks! The neck feels great, the pickups sound awesome, the body and neck have a great balance with eachother & the vibrato stays in tune! Pictures don't do this finish justice, it's beautiful!

I've had my G & L Doheny for 3 years or so which I love, but I developed chronic back pain and it became too heavy. So I called my superb gear rep. Bill and told about what I was looking for and he suggested the Guild surfliner. So I traveled to the Fenway guitar center and immediately when I picked it up I was blown away. The neck feels amazing for my enormous hands (this was a must) but it was also nice and lightweight so it didn't put too much strain on my body!

It was destined that I needed this beautiful guitar! So I ordered it from sweetwater and am now a happy owner! I love having 2 single coils and a humbucker; it gives a variety of sound. I like the mixture of the pick up selector, but then having just two simple knobs: a volume knob and tone knob (my smooth brain doesn't like when les pauls, etc. have too many confusing knobs). The clean tone is just unbeatable and I am blown away with how good it sounds. Also the dark green finish is just so pretty.

If I were to quibble, the one con is that the three pick up system gets in the way a bit of strumming, but I've adjusted to that faster than I thought and it's not as intrusive as you would be.

Love this guitar, it plays and sounds like a dream. The neck is very smooth and you have a lot of pickup options. You cannot beat this guitar if you are looking for a smooth sound and tremolo bar guitar at this point. An added bonus is that it comes with locking tuners.

It's a cool guitar, looks are great and it plays pretty nice. Mine was a return with some repairable damage that I got at a great price. But I'm not impressed with some of the QC issues I have encountered in a guitar of this price point (I've had none of these issues on Squier guitars that cost less than half as much). First, the pick guard was not aligned correctly, to the point that the strings were nearly centered between the pole pieces on the bridge humbucker. The 5 way switch has failed after about a month (it has one of the super-cheap pcb-style switches you see on budget guitars). And the rear control cavity cover was too big, so it was sort of jammed into its recess and buckling outward. Like I said, I bought it knowing it was going to be a project and I have fixed these problems myself, but I would be pretty disappointed if I'd paid full price and gotten a guitar with these sorts of factory issues. Oh, and a guitar with a tremolo like this should obviously not come with a regular tune o matic style bridge, the strings hang up on it. I swapped it out with a roller bridge, major improvement. Now that I've got it sorted out I really do like this guitar a lot, but I hope they've gotten it together over at the Guild factory.

Let me say the guitar is first and foremost just as gorgeous as you would expect. The setup came in nice, possibly thanks to Sweetwater, but I will say compared to Fender Player Jags it's night and day in terms of setup out of the box.

I really enjoy the pickups. I feel like there is a fairly wide range of tones and it plays nicely with my Studio 1 DAW and Boss Katana.

Overall, I am very happy with this guitar. It's definitely not the best guitar I've ever played nor the best sounding, but at this price point no other offset comes close.

This is my first offset guitar I've owned and it's really great. The build quality and finish are excellent, the neck feels amazing and roasted maple at this price point is a great value. The locking tuners aren't great quality and I think a roller bridge is a better choice than tone-o-matic for this type of vibrato, but otherwise I couldn't have asked for much more. The single-coils sound great, very clear and precise but also very full on the low end. The humbucker is a great inclusion, it's a nice lower output sound that keeps the vintage vibe. I also play a lot of heavier music and I played this in my metal band - the bridge pickup for riffs and such with the neck / middle for solos cuts so well and offers so many different tones at your fingertips. Great guitar for the money!

I have always favored Fender's offset guitars like the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, so when I saw a Guild Surfliner Deluxe model with similar features and some welcomed updates on the retro vibe, I decided to go for it. Wow! Not only does this guitar have great tone, but also nice features like the bound fretboard, large pearled fret markers, and a floating tremolo. The neck is neither too chunky or too small. Locking tuners is a big upgrade from the vintage type. The painted headstock is boss, especially with the cool Guild spaghetti logo. A very good guitar for the price! I couldn't be happier!

I will be honest, I thought this guitar just looked to good to be true but it has exceeded my highest expectations! First of all, the build quality is outstanding, better than a lot of my guitars costing 4 to 5 times as much. The tones it produces are a constant joy and the playability, once again, far outstrips it's selling price. If this is the new direction of Guild, bring it on!!!