“There’s more grunge and garage attitude here. Things can get quite nasty – in a very good way”: Guild Surfliner Deluxe review

This new Deluxe version of Guild’s uber-cool offset format has been a long time coming. Worth the wait or has it gone off the boil? Let’s take a look…

Guild Surfliner Deluxe
(Image: © Future / Olly Curtis)

Guitar World Verdict

Fair play to the Guild team for taking the perfectly credible design of that original Surfliner and kicking it up a notch or two in style, vibe and sound. This Surfliner feels much more like a good offset with quite mean intent, and frankly something Guild actually could have come up with back in the day.

Pros

  • +

    Good build.

  • +

    More suited vibrato and locking tuners.

  • +

    Roasted maple neck and block inlaid ’board add style.

  • +

    Sounds are well balanced with a retro flavor.

Cons

  • -

    Little heavier than previous Surfliner.

  • -

    Only five sounds (as opposed to seven).

  • -

    A roller-saddle tune-o-matic would be nice.

You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Guild’s Surfliner popped onto our radar early in 2022, an original hardtail design for a brand that – up to that point – dealt in repros of its past glories. 

It was originally offered in HSS configuration, with Guild’s LB-1 mini-humbucker at the bridge, while another HH variant was added later that year, this time using a pair of the standard humbucking-sized Guild HB-2s. 

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