I got a good deal from MF and got this Surfliner Deluxe in Emerald green. Out of the box the fit and finish of the guitar is very good. The metallic finish is beautiful, not too thick, the matching headstock, pearloid pickguard and truss rod cover and nickel hardware look great. It's a cool looking axe with a definite retro attitude. I estimate it weighs about 8lbs, not bad for an offset w/ trem.
No finish flaws found, tight neck pocket, hardware seems good. It came with the trem arm, 2 Allen wrenches and a manual in a little cloth bag. It doesn't come with a gig bag or case.
The neck profile is a full "C" shape, not quick as full as a '59 but not slim. 25 1/2 scale, 43mm nut width. I have big hands (ha ha) so I like it. A 10" radius rosewood board feels pretty modern. The roasted maple neck is very smooth, the narrow jumbo frets are well done (no high frets) and once set up plays great. It has a scarf joint at the headstock, but it's hidden pretty well with the grain of the maple.
It sounds really good, not quite Strat, not quite offset, so it's a different beast than most. The single coil DeArmond Aerosonic pickups are bright, articulate not as fat as typical Strat pickups. They respond well to rolling off the tone control. The humbucker is very low output, 7.6k, so it's bright for a humbucker, sounds similar to a mini humbucker. The in between combination of the middle and bridge pickup is the least satisfying- kind of dark compared to the iconic Strat tone. But the neck/ middle combination is really good- bright and chimey, great for funk. And individually the pickups sound very good- bright like on the Jazzmaster spectrum.
The only issues I've had are the trem. The arm was difficult to insert into the collet, either the arm is too thick or the collet diameter too small. And the "B" string contacts the collet, so if you use the trem vigorously it makes a scraping noise. It's not usually noticeable, but it's something they need to address. I've contacted Guild about it. I've put a piece of electrical taper around the collet as a temporary fix. It works.
All in all, it's a great bargain for the $$ and is a quality guitar at any price. Considering for less than $600 (15% off) you get a well metallic finished, roasted maple neck, matching headstock, real rosewood board, pearloid block markers and pickguard/trussrod cover, offset trem, and 3 pickups. I think Guild has a winner.
No finish flaws found, tight neck pocket, hardware seems good. It came with the trem arm, 2 Allen wrenches and a manual in a little cloth bag. It doesn't come with a gig bag or case.
The neck profile is a full "C" shape, not quick as full as a '59 but not slim. 25 1/2 scale, 43mm nut width. I have big hands (ha ha) so I like it. A 10" radius rosewood board feels pretty modern. The roasted maple neck is very smooth, the narrow jumbo frets are well done (no high frets) and once set up plays great. It has a scarf joint at the headstock, but it's hidden pretty well with the grain of the maple.
It sounds really good, not quite Strat, not quite offset, so it's a different beast than most. The single coil DeArmond Aerosonic pickups are bright, articulate not as fat as typical Strat pickups. They respond well to rolling off the tone control. The humbucker is very low output, 7.6k, so it's bright for a humbucker, sounds similar to a mini humbucker. The in between combination of the middle and bridge pickup is the least satisfying- kind of dark compared to the iconic Strat tone. But the neck/ middle combination is really good- bright and chimey, great for funk. And individually the pickups sound very good- bright like on the Jazzmaster spectrum.
The only issues I've had are the trem. The arm was difficult to insert into the collet, either the arm is too thick or the collet diameter too small. And the "B" string contacts the collet, so if you use the trem vigorously it makes a scraping noise. It's not usually noticeable, but it's something they need to address. I've contacted Guild about it. I've put a piece of electrical taper around the collet as a temporary fix. It works.
All in all, it's a great bargain for the $$ and is a quality guitar at any price. Considering for less than $600 (15% off) you get a well metallic finished, roasted maple neck, matching headstock, real rosewood board, pearloid block markers and pickguard/trussrod cover, offset trem, and 3 pickups. I think Guild has a winner.
