Guild Surfliner Solidbody Electric Guitar - Sunset Orange Reviews
A wallet-friendly offset for the masses! Guild’s Surfliner takes the sleek '60s style of a traditional offset guitar and hot rods it with performance-minded features for guitarists who require an instrument with rock-solid stability. The Surfliner’s lightweight poplar body and offset-waist body shape provide an unmatched comfort — both sitting and standing. The smooth maple-on-maple neck’s Narrow Jumbo frets and 10-inch radius ensure smooth playability for players of all stripes. What about versatility? The Surfliner has it in spades, boasting an HSS configuration comprised of two Aersonic single coils and an LB-1 mini humbucker in the bridge, taking you everywhere from surfy drip to all-out crunch. Finally, the string-through body and the Tune-o-matic bridge are ideal for players who love the offset look, but prefer a more streamlined hardware setup.
Earn $25 back in Bonus Bucks† OR pay $21/month with 24 month financing*
$25 Earn $25.00 back in Bonus Bucks† on this purchase when you use your Sweetwater Credit Card without financing. Select your offer in checkout. Terms
As low as $21/month
with 24 month financing*
See all payment options
We expect more from Guild in just a few days. Order today to reserve yours now, risk-free.
Customer Reviews
Customer Added Media
Share Your Thoughts
Help other music gear aficionados by sharing your opinions of gear you've purchased.
Questions about the SurfSO?
Or call us at (800) 222-4700
Sweetwater's Sales Engineers are regarded as the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the music industry, with extensive music backgrounds and intense training on the latest products and technologies. They are available to offer you personalized product advice any time you need it.
Highest Rated Reviews
Awesome Purchase!
I had my eye on this guitar for a while. I'm typically a LP guy, but this is just a great looking guitar and the toggle rockers really caught my eye. After reading reviews on SW and other sites online I finally pulled the trigger. So glad I did! At this price point it's a really great guitar. I love the tonal variations I'm able to get out of it. It's light and is easy to play sitting down. If you're contemplating getting one, I'd recommend just doing it.
Every now and then you pick a winner!
When you mix a company looking for a comeback
designing a killer axe
and the same company needing a home run
with customers by having a low price point
Then you can find a guitar that is worth
much more than you pay for it
The 'Surfrider' is quality and classy
enough to be a $ guitar easy
Get yours while they are on sale
You will not regret it
Guild Surfliner Sunset Orange is the best way to get back in the game!!!
I have been playing for 35 years and for the last 5 years I have really laid off. Use to own an American Telecaster in the 90's that I sold to buy an acoustic. Should have never done it. I wanted to find a real way back into the world of electric without spending a ton of money as I transition from 15 years in folk bands. This was a great price entry point and the reviews were all good. I took a chance. BOY AM I GLAD I DID!!!!! This guitar plays well above it's price point. Attenuation is smooth, and neck is fast. The humbucker has such a cool tone.. reminds me a lot of the telecaster. I can't get enough of the wood grain being seen under the finish. It really pops while on the wall with it's new friends. The rocker switches are so easy to tackle and give you 7 combinations of sounds to choose from. I did not know how this guitar would do with distortion... and it nailed that too. I am very pleased with this purchase. For the $500 price point, it lets me decide if I really want to get back in the electric game and without suffering quality. I can see just making this the stage guitar without any doubt. You will not go wrong here... what are you waiting for... BUY ONE BEFORE THEY ARE GONE!!!!
Great player for a good price
Guitar bought as a B stock but other than a few dark specks under the clear I cannot find any issues. Frets are level and finished well with no sharp ends. Setup was good right out of the box. With multiple pickup settings this is one versatile guitar. This was my first Guild electric will definitely start looking into a hallow body.
Great guitar at a great value.
Probably the best guitar you can get for under $. Pickup combinations work for any style of music. Set up was very nice out of the box, and the neck is very comfortable, I love the satin finish on the back of the neck. I got the orange finish, it looks amazing. A great guitar for the money.
Cool look and sound
Great guitar. As a 40 + year player(mainly Fender) was looking for a modified sound. The mini-humbucker does it. 7 configurations makes it a wonderfully versatile guitar. Always wanted a Guild and now I've got one. A keeper for sure. Thanks to Luke at Sweetwater. Great job.
Clean tone
I love it ! Very light , easy to just pick up and play effortlessly. The pickups have very clean tone. Neck feels great.
Simply Awesome
What can I say? This is one heck of a guitar. It's absolutely beautiful. The finish, the neck and the hardware are all top notch. I only had to tune it once since I've had it, and that was out of the box. The pickups are terrific. The variety of tones to be had are limitless. You won't be disappointed. Kudos to Guild for creating such a well-made quality instrument and making it available at such an excellent price.
Those pickups though!
Originally purchased the white sage color, however there were some cosmetic issues so I returned it for the sunset orange color. John and Ben at Sweetwater were amazing and I had no problem with the return process. Now for the guitar overall. First of the pickups are crazy good, at first I thought they were a little hot, but after spending some time with it, I'm super pleased with the overall sound. Love the vintage vibe of the rocker switches. It reminds me of an old Ibanez Jet King I used to own but much better quality. My favorite is the neck pickup, it's like a vintage Strat tone but on steroids, in the best way. The neck isn't too skinny or too fat, different from from anything that Fender of Gibson has to offer. I was looking for something different, seems like everyone (including myself) plays a Strat or a Les Paul, and the Surfliner definitely fit the bill. It's super comfortable to play, I haven't played any of my other electrics since I received my Surfliner. I highly recommend it if your looking for a different shape, sound, and overall feel. Thanks again to Sweetwater for the amazing customer service. Now to save up for the next one…
Fender's MIMs are beat!
I spent a few days recording and playing with this guitar. I got the blue, which is beautiful, same comment as another commenter that being able to see the wood grain underneath the paint is awesome!
Tone-wise: I had played a couple MIMs over the years and while they're a good bang for buck, I find them to be a little dull, this has them completely beat. The pickup selectors makes it real easy to dial in 6 different tonal options. I find the humbucker to be a bit too dark/dull to be useful but that's okay because the single coils, and any combination that uses them, are bright, and WILL cut through a mix. They twang, they roar, they SING. It should be known that I'm not a humbucker guy. It's P90's for me. So I'm biased there.
Add in some spring reverb and you're soaring through tone land. Playing through a Vox AC15, and have used a Fender Hot Rod. Both crushed
Playability: Sweetwater ships these with what feels like 9's? I'm not much a fan of that but I'm gonna give it some time to adjust to it before I just slap on some 10's on there. That said, solos handle fine, my frets came in good shape, no sharp ends, everything clean.
You will have no regrets getting this as a beginner on a budget or as a pro on a budget. Seriously!
Big Bang for the Buck!!
I've only had it for a few hours now but I can definitely say this guitar is a lot of fun!!
Cosmetically it's an eye popping throwback. I have the Sunset Orange & it's really beautiful. I really like that you can see the wood grain under the finish. It looks amazing!!
The pickups are surprisingly versatile due to this switch system Guild had put on these. I'm done I need to get back to ripping this thing!!
Guild Believer
I recently purchased this Beautiful Orange Surfliner after watching the reviews on Youtube.com. I ordered it immediately because there was only one left in stock here at Sweetwater. A day or so later, Bill Sears the sales Rep called and apologized because all they had was a demo with some light scratches and the Guild logo slightly faded on the headstock. He sent me photos and asked if I still wanted it he would give me a discount which he did. I authorized it and when it arrived nicely and safely packaged, I tore into it to check out the "defects." To my discovery the guitar was almost in perfect condition, you can't see the scratches and the discoloration is hardly visible. After plugging in and tuning up, she exploded with an amazing sound, almost better than the videos I watched. My only regret is that I never bought a Guild before and am now looking at purchasing a Guild electric acoustic guitar in the very near future.
Cool Offset with a Few Issues
Plays terribly right out of the box. You'll need to spend some time setting it up. Also, the rocker switches are very low quality and often cut out. If you don't mind a small project, it is pretty cool.
Sounds good, poorly built
I ordered this guitar and it arrived with cracking in the body and in the finish around the input jack that worsened with casual play. Sweetwater was very accommodating and sent me a new one, and it seemed like that one was better but after a few weeks it started to do the same thing with cracking around the bridge. I didn't bother sending it back again because I figured at this point it's just how the guitars are made. It also sounded great, the pickups were really nice and it played well. However, after about 2 months of playing it, the cracking got worse around the input jack again and one of the strap pegs broke straight through the guitar while I was on stage. At one show I bumped my guitar and the instrument cable went straight through the jack and essentially shattered the body of the guitar rendering it useless. I'm still shocked as to how fragile the guitar was, before that I had used a $200 Epiphone SG that was virtually indestructible so I expected a bit better build quality out of the Guild. Sonically, this guitar performed as I expected, but physically, it was much too fragile to play live with. Unless you're sitting down playing the blues, I wouldn't recommend it for a live setting.
Could have been A LOT better
If you are going to sell a $ solid body guitar these days, the LEAST you can do is make sure there is no finger rash included with the product. Sadly for the Surfliner series, Guild DID NOT pay any attention to the frets, and I will have to go in, and file down the ends on EVERY ONE OF THEM. Another pet peeve of mine with the solid body guitar manufactures, is when they put the jack on the front; come on man, how hard is it to put it on the bottom side WHERE IT BELONGS???
I bought the guitar because it was different, kind of like the SAD orange crush amplifiers that are kind of a joke. But I regress, and am showing my ORANGE envy. The toggle buttons instead of a slide are cute, and seam to function well with multiple combos. The pickguard seams a bit abrupt, but this happens on about half of the solid bodies. For you that think I am nit picking on the frets; I bought a Ibanez GIO GRX20W at the same time I bought this guitar, and the frets are FLAWLESS! You want to guess which one I will be playing today????
