NGD: NS Surfliner Deluxe

[krysh]

I love my surfliner. If only they would do a deluxe in sparkle orange….

 

[mwiggins]

Just got a shipping update, Friday by the end of the day.

 

[GGJaguar]

Just got a shipping update, Friday by the end of the day.

What color did you order?

 

[GGJaguar]

Some of the others I saw were quite obvious.

Yeah, some aren't as nicely color-matched as mine.

 

[chazmo]

'zackly, GG. ^^

 

[mwiggins]

What color did you order?

Black, I really like white or natural but black is fall back choice.

 

[GGJaguar]

A quick note that may set off OCD for some -- the alignment of the B and E strings over the pole pieces is not optimal. To be honest, the string-to-string response is pretty even and I'm not able to hear any tonal loss. I have a roller bridge on order and we'll see if that changes anything.

 

[chazmo]

Hey, good call on that, GG. However, what I'm seeing is a similar thing on my original Surfliner, and what I think is going is is that the pickup pole pieces are too narrowly set to align for all the strings. I mean, the pickups are too narrow for the string spacing. This would arguably be a design thing if we didn't know they were re-using pickups for various models that (presumably) have different string spacing.

 

[ChasingGuitars]

Nice review GG.

 

[GGJaguar]

My roller bridge arrived! It definitely made a difference in the smoothness of the vibrato and I don't have to worry about the string windings separating like they did with the tune-o-matic bridge. Unfortunately, the bridge is chrome and all the other hardware is nickle plated. It was the same deal when I put a roller bridge on my NS S-100 Deluxe (chrome vs nickel).

 

[GGJaguar]

The roller bridge maintains a good string angle, too. Now that the vibrato action is smoother, I can feel the roughness in the vibrato tailpiece itself. As I noted in my initial NGD post, this unit is about on par with the crappy floating vibrato Fender uses on their Asian imports. At least with the Fenders, you can drop in a US-made Fender vibrato, but not so with the Guild (I think it can be done with some tinkering, but one of the screw holes will be showing on the top).

 

[GGJaguar]

One more thing to note - if you are interested in the Surfliner Deluxe, but have no experience with playing a Jazzmaster or Jaguar, be prepared to hear some extraneous noise. It's normal and there's nothing wrong with the guitar. The long string length from the bridge to the tailpiece make for some harmonics, buzzes and other funkiness. It's just part of the deal and something I'm used to. Some players will stuff rubber grommets or cloth in the strings to help reduce or dampen the funkiness.

 

[chazmo]

Looks great, GG. Nickel vs. chrome wouldn't bother me at all. It's shiny!

Do you get strange harmonics from other trems, GG? I thought most of them left long string lengths behind the bridge.

 

[HeyMikey]

Outstanding review GG! Thanks for taking the time to do so and share it.

 

[GGJaguar]

Do you get strange harmonics from other trems, GG?

Always with the Fender floating vibrato, but I'd say only 30% of my Bigsby-equipped guitars experience string ringing. It's an idiosyncrasy that gives them their charm.

 

[Synchro]

The roller bridge maintains a good string angle, too. Now that the vibrato action is smoother, I can feel the roughness in the vibrato tailpiece itself. As I noted in my initial NGD post, this unit is about on par with the crappy floating vibrato Fender uses on their Asian imports. At least with the Fenders, you can drop in a US-made Fender vibrato, but not so with the Guild (I think it can be done with some tinkering, but one of the screw holes will be showing on the top).

If you disassemble the tailpiece and clean up any roughness in the area circled in this picture, you might be able to rehabilitate the OEM tremolo. I’ve seen examples where the flat surface on the end of the bent portion was slightly rounded to make the action smoother.

 

[matsickma]

Hey GG can you post a link to that roller bridge part?
I can use a few of those!
Tnx,
M

 

[GGJaguar]

Hey GG can you post a link to that roller bridge part?

This is a drop-in fit for the S-100 Deluxe and Surfliner Deluxe, but probably some other Newark Street models as well.

https://www.amazon.com/KAISH-Chrome-Guitar-Epiphone-Threaded/dp/B07LG2QKDV

 

[lungimsam]

Nice roller bridge!
Those Surfline's look delicious in LTG pictures moresothan on sellers' websites.
BTW, why do you think they decided to do the funky, but nice looking headstock to neck attachment the way they did, and not just a one piece neck?

 

[krysh]

Nice roller bridge!
Those Surfline's look delicious in LTG pictures moresothan on sellers' websites.
BTW, why do you think they decided to do the funky, but nice looking headstock to neck attachment the way they did, and not just a one piece neck?

to save wood.