Guild Starfire IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist vs Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic

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Guild Starfire IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist

Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic

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Playability

80

Sound

67

Build

62

Value

70

Score

70

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Playability

73

Sound

69

Build

59

Value

72

Score

67

FIND IT ON:

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Guild Starfire IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist Prices

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Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic Prices

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Hand Size Comfortability

And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Guild Starfire IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist favors large hands more than the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic.

Guild Starfire IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist:

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.

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 the Guild Starfire IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist

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.

Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.

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.

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.

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 IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist.

Pickup Configuration

The Guild Starfire IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist 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 IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist 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

Neither of them come with some kind of coil split or pickup mod option. This makes both lacking in terms of versatility.

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 IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist 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 IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist 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 IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist.

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 IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist 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:

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 12-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 IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist 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 IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist 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 Starfire IV-12 ST Shoreline Mist's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Guild Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic'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 Surfliner Deluxe Rose Quartz Metallic.

Still, both are closer to a Stratocaster radius than a Les Paul, so both of them will favor chord playing rather than soloing.

Fret Size

Both have a Jumbo fret size. This is one of the tallest frets you can get. You won't feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings. It will give you the best sustain and all types of chords will be easier to play. However, you can end up changing the pitch of your notes if you press too hard, which is something people used to feeling the fretboard do when trying Jumbo frets for the first time.

Final Playability Scores