FIRST PLAY GUILD SURFLINER
GUILD SURFLINER £395
WHAT IS IT?
Original-design retro-style solidbody bolt-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
