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My Zemaitis reissue

rockabilly69

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
I've got a few of the new Zemaitis reissues which are really well made Japanese built instruments. All of them are fun guitars, and I've personalized each with cool pickups (also VIP pots and PIO caps), but of all of them, I really love this SUJ100 LTD13. It's confusing with all the different model numbers of the reissues, but this was very limited edition they came up with a few years ago. What makes this guitar my favorite is two things, I love the way that it plays, the neck shape is the perfect medium C, and the fretwork is stellar! And I love the sound I get with it from the Gabojo MR2000SB pickups. These pickups are designed to replicate the tone of 1950's DeArmond 2000s. It's kind of like a blinged out Tele now with big fat single coils. I also put Gotoh 21:1 tuners on which I did because I love accurate tuning! Check it out on this fuzz box demo I did (the acoustic guitar is my custom shop J45).

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-weldon-1/hawthorn-treble-boost-fuzz-demo

nYsGUt7.jpg



Here's my other ones...

ix39Zzk.jpg

Here it is my with 22 fret A22MF.



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Here again with my Disctop and A24MF
 

J.D.

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Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
I recall seeing Keith Nelson play these live with Buckcherry and he got a real good sound out of them.
 

rockabilly69

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Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
I recall seeing Keith Nelson play these live with Buckcherry and he got a real good sound out of them.

Yeah I think he was the first modern player I've seen using them. They seem to have caught on with heavier players. The pickups they ship with are hotter, too hot for me, that's why I changed mine. But with vintage style pickups I love the way that they ring. The aluminum hardware (bridge/tailpiece) is ridiculously well made, and they lock down, which really helps these already resonant guitars to ring out loud!
 

AA00475Bassman

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Joined
Apr 26, 2016
Messages
3,769
I forgot to mention a friend had a shell top & metal top in the mid 90's very nicely crafted guitars !
 

rockabilly69

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Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
No they were Japanese he sells & brokers hi end cars at this time he did a lot of business in Japan He bought 2 , very nice quality !

The reissues didn't come out till after 2010 so your timing is off a bit:) Couldn't have been the 90's
 

GreenBurst

Active member
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
748
The reissues didn't come out till after 2010 so your timing is off a bit:) Couldn't have been the 90's

Zemaitis reissues stated in 2005. They were all made in Japan. There were high end Zemaitis and Greco versions both were labelled Zemaitis. They all used the same Dimarzio PAF pickups. Danny O'Brien designed the engravings, his name was on the metal tops. An interesting anecdote was that the truss rod cover, Z headstock emblem, and the jackplate were all made of 925 Sterling Silver. Cool.
 

jb_abides

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,274
Timely.

I just picked up a A24MF LH for the New Year!

I have nothing but praise for these... In fact I was delighted at the quality and tone here. The neck has a bit different feel for a mid/slim-C, more Fendery or PRS than Gibson, but this MIJ Zemaitis is a tone monster....
:yah

PRODUCT ALERT: We are now SOLD OUT of ALL A24MF Left Handed Natural Guitars.


79803053_2611837035702952_1391963017720830186_n.jpg
<script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
 

rockabilly69

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
Timely.

I just picked up a A24MF LH for the New Year!

I have nothing but praise for these... In fact I was delighted at the quality and tone here. The neck has a bit different feel for a mid/slim-C, more Fendery or PRS than Gibson, but this MIJ Zemaitis is a tone monster....
:yah

PRODUCT ALERT: We are now SOLD OUT of ALL A24MF Left Handed Natural Guitars.


79803053_2611837035702952_1391963017720830186_n.jpg
<script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

I own three variations on that guitar, if you think yours sound good stock, put a set of nice PAF style pickups (low output slightly microphonic) in it, and you'll be blown away. And you've got to change the pots and caps too. I tried all three of mine with the stock harness and all benefited from the swap. The Zemaitis pots have a weird taper! Another thing, the three way switch in these is a bit cheap. I've had problems with two of mine. And very close friend had problems with both of his. That's the bad news, the good news is, besides looking cool as hell, these guitars ring like a tuning fork when setup properly, have killer fretwork, have a very comfortable neck shape, are generally lightweight, and the grounding setup makes these very quiet guitars noise wise. I love mine, but I think the stock electronics are boring at best. I think think they really cheaped out on the electronics.

Here's the stock pots and caps...
wWAOYmP.jpg


Here's what I used...
Ikgt7nS.jpg
 
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rockabilly69

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
Zemaitis reissues stated in 2005. They were all made in Japan. There were high end Zemaitis and Greco versions both were labelled Zemaitis. They all used the same Dimarzio PAF pickups. Danny O'Brien designed the engravings, his name was on the metal tops. An interesting anecdote was that the truss rod cover, Z headstock emblem, and the jackplate were all made of 925 Sterling Silver. Cool.

Yes I mistakenly said 2010, but it was 2005, and those guitars made in the first gen of reissues were of really high quality. And the Greco versions although much cheaper, actually had some advantages over the custom shop models. For one, only the Grecos had the silver badges, and many of them had one piece bodies and necks, whereas the custom shop models were built with three piece bodies and necks with aluminum badges, as they were built in the way Tony's originals were. Also the Grecos used the same exact electronics as the custom shop models (CTS 500k pots, Dimarzio PAF DP103 F-spaced pickups for the humbucker models, Switchcraft jacks and switches, and Spraque orange drop caps). Both the custom shop and the Greco models used Schaller tuners, The custom shop models (aside from one Greco model), were the ones that used real Honduran Mahogany, whereas the Grecos just used locally sourced "mahogany" which I'm assuming was African Mahogany from what I've seen of them. Also all the Grecos used a poly finish and the custom shops got the lacquer which was hand applied the way Tony did it. The custom shop models also got hand engraved top plates and hand crafted bridge and tailpiece, whereas the Grecos got mostly laser etched metal tops and less hand crafted bridge and tailpiece. The first Grecos, and the custom shop Zemaitis guitars, were extremely well made guitars, and I would love to get my hands on one of the custom shop first generation models as they were really close to the real deal Zemaitis. They are pretty expensive, even used, and they are getting hard to find!

My Disctop is a generation one Greco, and it's a fantastic guitar, although I had Tom Short rewire it while he hand wound some custom pickups for it.

The second generations are still nice guitars, but both the the Greco line (which is now the Japanese built Antanus and Superior line), and the custom shop guitars have really taken a hit on features. The custom shop guitars dropped the original build style, the honduran mahogany, the dimarzio pickups and the original CTS/Switchcraft component in favor of Greco built stuff. Really the only thing separating them from the Antanus line is their lacquer finish and the ebony fingerboards, and maybe slightly higher quality wood. That said, all of the Japanese built Zemaitis guitars are built with precision that is quite remarkable, and at the blow out prices they were going for this Christmas season, they were some killer deals.
 
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rockabilly69

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
Finally got the new guitar modded the way I like it.

1. Puretone Output Jack (double contact on the tip for better contact)

2. Switchcraft 3-way switch (the stock switch was flimsy)

3. Armadillo Machineworks 3-way switch tip (heavier better feel with the new 3-way switch and hand turned aluminum)

4. Gotoh 21:1 Luxury engraved tuners (hands down the best tuners of any I've tried, and engraved, so looks good with the Zemaitis)

5. Russian PIO caps .022 bridge, .015 neck (just some extras I had lying around that sounded good with the pickups)

6. VIP 500K pots (hands down the best pots I've ever used, very tight tolerances and smooth as silk to turn)

7. Tyson Tone Lab Precious and Grace pickups (Absolutely killer PAF style pickups)

FEHBzC7.jpg


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DgGZRQF.jpg
 
Last edited:

GreenBurst

Active member
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Messages
748
Yes I mistakenly said 2010, but it was 2005, and those guitars made in the first gen of reissues were of really high quality. And the Greco versions although much cheaper, actually had some advantages over the custom shop models. For one, only the Grecos had the silver badges, and many of them had one piece bodies and necks, whereas the custom shop models were built with three piece bodies and necks with aluminum badges, as they were built in the way Tony's originals were. Also the Grecos used the same exact electronics as the custom shop models (CTS 500k pots, Dimarzio PAF DP103 F-spaced pickups for the humbucker models, Switchcraft jacks and switches, and Spraque orange drop caps). Both the custom shop and the Greco models used Schaller tuners, The sustom shop models (aside from one Greco model), were the ones that used real Honduran Mahogany, whereas the Grecos just used locally sourced "mahogany" which I'm assuming was African Mahogany from what I've seen of them. Also all the Grecos used a poly finish and the custom shops got the lacquer which was hand applied the way Tony did it. The custom shop models also got hand engraved top plates and hand crafter bridge and tailpiec, whereas the Grecos got mostly laser etched metal tops and less hand crafted bridge and tailpiece. The first Grecos, and the custom shop Zemaitis guitars, were extremely well made guitars, and I would love to get my hands on one of the custom shop first generation models as they were really close to the real deal Zemaitis. They are pretty expensive, even used, and they are getting hard to find!

My Disctop is a generation one Greco, and it's a fantastic guitar, although I had Tom Short rewire it while he handwound some custom pickups for it.

The second generations are still nice guitars, but both the the Greco line (which is now the Japanese built Antanus and Superior line), and the custom shop guitars have really taken a hit on features. The custom shop guitars dropped the original build style, the honduran mahogany, the dimarzio pickups and the original CTS/Switchcraft component in favor of Greco built stuff. Really the only thing separating them from the Antanus line is their lacquer finish and the ebony fingerboards, and maybe slightly higher quality wood. That said, all of the Japanese built Zemaitis guitars are built with precision that is quite remarkable, and at the blow out prices they were going for this Christmas season, they were some killer deals.

Yes, they are awesome guitars. I have an '05 Greco GZ3500MF/22 like this.

https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/775252523337973256/?

Has been heavily gigged for the past 13 years. A great guitar. I'm surprised more people from the LPF aren't into or aware of these.
 
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