I have, first, to say that I think the Newark Street line is great. I genuinely wish these were US made. But we're they so, I'd be admiring them from afar instead of owning and playing five with plans to buy two more in the near future. So, that's my prejudice revealed up front. Now, to the review.
Love the look of this guitar. The figuring is excellent, though probably a veneer, (Anyone know for sure on that?). There is also just the hint of a bit of figuring in the mahogany on the back. The shading of the 'burst is pure Guild and quite to my taste. Fit and finish are first rate (OK, not AP first rate, but, definitely a well made guitar.) as have been ALL of my NS guitars. The top is carved, but, the dish is not so deep as some Les Paul guitars with which this guitar will inevitably be compared. The first thing I noticed when picking up the guitar is how light it is. How light is it? Sorry, I don't have scale upon which I can weigh it. But, you know that when you look at a guitar your mind forms an impression of what you expect the guitar to feel like when you pick it up. Sometimes they surprise you with their heft or lack thereof. This one surprised me. A couple of strums and some noodling before I plugged it in. The guitar is very resonant and has unexpected volume acoustically. This is probably due to the chambered body and the fact the tailpiece and bridge are Tonepros. Sustain for days. The guitar certainly passes the 10 second test.
I plugged the guitar into a '65 PRRI with a Celestion Gold sans effects. The guitar is bright! Not really unpleasantly so, but, certainly enough so that I backed off the amp treble a bit. I have to say I was somewhat uncertain about the pickups when I saw the specs. Especially the 16k in the bridge. But, I appreciate the way the guitar drives all of my dirt pedals. That, and the middle position sound with both pickups is just great. I can see that this guitar will probably cut through the mix in a band setting. I'll withhold final judgement on the pickups until I've played in a live setting with the band. I'd be surprised if it would be very difficult to put some HB1's in this.
There are a couple of things I didn't care for and one that is a home run. First the niggling did not care fors. I prefer a hard case over a bag. It's a good bag, I just prefer a case. Luckily the M75 case will probably fit and I have others in which the guitar fits great as well. The next is that the switch tip is an unpleasant mustard color which is, somehow, more objectionable than the cream I've seen on my other NS guitars. Finally, the cream pickguard...yeccch!!! IF I use a PG it will be the black one that comes on the black version of the guitar. The home run is the relocation of the strap button in relation to the neck. I can finally get my strap on the guitar without rubbing on the neck.
Pictures follow.