Show Full Spec Comparison
| Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green | Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic | |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Brand: | Guild | Guild |
| Year: | 2020 | 2023 |
| Configuration: | HH | HSS |
| Strings: | 6 | 6 |
| Made in: | Indonesia | Indonesia |
| Series: | Newark St. Collection | Newark St. Collection |
| Colors: | Blue, Green, Brown, Red | Black, Green, Pink |
| Left-Handed Version: | No | No |
| Body | ||
| Type: | Semi-Hollow | Solid Body |
| Body Material: | Maple | Poplar |
| Bridge: | Guild Tune-O-Matic Nickel | Tune-O-Matic |
| Neck | ||
| Neck Joint: | Set | Bolt-On |
| Tuners: | Guild Vintage 18 Open Gear | Guild Modern Style Closed-Gear Locking |
| Fretboard: | Indian Rosewood | Indian Rosewood |
| Neck Material: | Mahogany | Roasted Maple |
| Decoration: | 5mm Dots - Pearloid | Blocks - Pearloid |
| Scale Size: | 24.75" | 25.5" |
| Shape: | Modern Thin "U" | Guild Newark St. Collection |
| Thickness: | 1st Fret: 0.787'' (20mm) - 12th Fret: 0.886'' (22.5mm) | 1st Fret: 0.827'' (21mm) - 12th Fret: 0.925'' (23.5mm) |
| Frets: | 22 Narrow Tall Nickel Silver | 23 Jumbo Nickel Silver |
| Fretboard Radius: | 12.5" | 10" |
| Nut: | Bone | Other |
| Nut Width: | 42.8mm (1.687'') | 42.8mm (1.687'') |
| Electronics | ||
| Bridge Pickups: | Guild HB-2 Humbucker Nickel Bridge (Humbucker / Passive) | Guild HB-2 Humbucker Nickel Bridge (Humbucker / Passive) |
| Middle Pickup: | ||
| Neck Pickup: | Guild HB-2 Humbucker Nickel Neck (Humbucker / Passive) | DeArmond Aerosonic Single Coil Pickup Neck Nickel/Black (Single Coil / Passive) |
| Switch: | 3 Way | 5 Way |
| Knobs: | Bell | Bell |
| Pickup Mods: | Coil Split | None |
| Volume Controls: | 1 | 1 |
| Tone Controls: | 1 | 1 |
| Hardware | ||
| Strap Lock: | No | No |
| Hardware Color: | Nickel | Nickel |
Reasons to Get
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green over Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic
Reasons to Get
Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic over Starfire I DC Emerald Green
Other Key Differences
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green vs Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic
Shared Features
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green vs Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic
Common Strengths
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Luminescent Sidedots
- Strap Lock
- Top Pickup Brand
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both favor small hands .
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green:
Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic:
Beginner Friendliness
Both meet 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players. If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, you can't go wrong with either of them.
New Player Friendliness
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
New Player Friendliness
Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic- Easy-to-use bridge
- Locking tuners
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable shape
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Woods Used in the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green
Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Woods Used in the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic
Roasted Maple is just maple without a finish. It's technically cheaper than regular maple, but it doesn't have any extra disadvantages because of this. The color is darker, and it's lighter weight and very stable even when there's a lot of humidity.
Poplar is a cheaper and heavier alternative to Alder wood. It terms of tone, it emphasizes the low-end and has cutting mids. It's relatively soft compared to most body woods. Find out more about Poplar.
Winner: Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green.
Pickup Configuration
The Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green has an HH configuration while the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic has HSS pickups.
Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
On the other hand, HSS provides a great balance if you like to play with a lot of distortion, but also love to use clean tones. You'll get a lot of output at the bridge position, but you'll be able to play bright clean tones at the other positions.
Pickups Quality
None of these use a specialized pickup brand for their pickups. Some of the best guitars on the market come with pickups from brands like EMG, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, etc. You might want to replace your pickups eventually if you want to get the best sound out of any of these instruments.
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Tie.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
The Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic gives you 5 switch options while the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green gives you 3. This means that the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Only the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green comes with some kind of pickup modification: Coil Split.
Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green compares to the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in Indonesia.
Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green has a Bone nut. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.
On the other hand, the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic comes with a Other nut. It's an uncommon material that lacks more information.
Winner: Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
Both come with a similar bridge: Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
The Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic has the best tuners of the two because they are locking tuners. They'll help to keep your guitar in tune because they allow you to tune it without wrapping the strings around the posts. This avoids variations in the tuning due to the strings changing position at the post after a bend. They come at the disadvantage of being slightly heavier than regular tuners. Also, it makes it a lot easier to restring.
Winner: Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
The Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green has a Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.
On the other hand, the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic comes with Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
Winner: Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green
- Expensive Wood
- Bone Nut
- Coil Split Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Indonesia
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic
- Locking Tuners
- Expensive Wood
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- Made in Indonesia
- No High-Quality Nut
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 42.8mm (1.687'').
This is considered a narrow width for a 6-string guitar. This means that this guitar will have a narrower string separation at the nut, which will affect your fretting hand.
If you are a player with big hands, you might find it difficult to play chords without muting strings. However, this is good for players who have smaller hands, as it will allow them to reach each string more easily at the nut.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic has the longest scale: 25.5". The Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green is only 24.75" long. This is a 0.75'' (19.1mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
In this case, both have different neck shapes:
The Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green has a U type of neck. This is also referred to as ''baseball neck'' because of its shape. It's usually thick, which is why some people with big hands like it. However, they can also be thin, similar to a C shape, but with more shoulders for a better grip.
The Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic, on the other hand, has a C neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green.
Fret Size
Both have a Narrow Tall fret size. Their height is very similar to Jumbo frets, but they have a narrower crown. They won't let you feel the fretboard when playing, which will make it easier to get clean notes. However, if you press down too hard you might get the notes out of pitch.
