FIRST PLAY
While Guild’s Newark St Collection features numerous repros of past models, the latest bolt-on Surf liner is an all-new creation. What’s going on?
Presumably named after the Pacific Surfliner train service that runs down the California coast from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, this new electric is quite a departure for Guild. First off, it undercuts the previous Newark St start-up model, the Jetstar, and is nearly half the price of the long-running S-100 Polara. It shares the Jetstar’s longer 648mm (25.5-inch) scale length but is the only bolt-on in the current range. Guild did produce various bolt-ons to try to stay current in the 80s, but those were more ‘SuperStrat’-like; the style here seems more retro. And while technically an offset, as in its waist and curved bass-side base, the Surfliner doesn’t look – or feel – like any Guild guitar this writer has ever seen or played before.
“[It’s ]an entirely new solidbody platform that crosses subtle offset styling with the vintage lines of 1960s and 1970s Guilds,” we’re told. Those horns look like they’ve come from the Jetstar, likewise the light chamfering on the top edges, plus we have a regular ribcage cut-out on the back. Through the translucent blue gloss finish (one of three offered) you can easily see the four pieces of poplar that make up the body spread, and there’s a little striped grain poking through, too.
The neat little on/ off ‘rocker’ pickup selector switches throw a curveball
The distinctive back-angled headstock is spliced on at the 2nd fret and is already featured on the Jetstar, along with the Starfire I Jet 90 – the only other threepickup Guild electric in the current range – and apparently the Guild logo here is resurrected from the 1980s. To be honest, the head looks a bit oversized, and that logo a little lonely on the expanse of plain maple, not helped by the bright white truss rod cover. Another oddity is that we have 23 frets – pretty unusual for any electric, old or new.
While the actual name might come from a train, the surf bit suggests a vibrato, which is missing here in favour of a tune-o-matic bridge and strings that pass through the body and are anchored in recessed ferrules on the back. It’s the sort of setup you see on much more p
