Genuine 1992 Zemaitis Metal Front

[Phil 52]

Here some pics of my original Zemaitis Metal Front.
In 1992 Tony Zemaitis built this guitar for me to my specs.
Engraving - as on all original Z-Guitars - is by Danny O'Brien.
I ordered it in April 1992 and it arrived in December that year.
At the same time Gilby Clarke and Rich Robinson ordered their Z-Guitars.
So Tony told me to make decision because he might be very busy for quite
a long time.

 

[seafood]

wow!!! great.....i love those guitars!!!!

 

[Phil 52]

wow!!! great.....i love those guitars!!!!

Glad to see your reply, seafood.
Obviously not many here do like what I posted.

 

[seafood]

way back in the day...late 70s?? there was a guitar shop in Hollywood called Nadines...i would stop in all the time....and they had a metal top and a pearltop for sale.they had belonged to Jim Cregan or Gary Grainger...from Rod stewart's band....so i got to play both...and i was shocked by how,,,hand-made they were!!!! but really cool guitars...the look,feel,sound...and the vibe of them.they were asking big money for em,,,of course....but i was really hooked!!! over the years i've had a chance to buy one,,,,but i never did!!! too many old guitars out there!!! but it's still on my list....congrats on yours and have fun.....cheers!!!!!!!

 

[renderit]

Tons of folks here love them!

I'm thinkin' one of the best players here will post some of his maybeees?

Dr. Greezey, where are you?

Dr. Rockabilly, you are needed in ER Stat!

 

[Phil 52]

Mine is not one of Tony's High End Models.
He called this line "Superior".
Lots of letters and phone calls went forth and back.
Still have all these letters including a fullsize drawing and self painted seasons greetings.

When we noticed that we both are car enthusiasts Tony sent me a scratch of a Jaguar D Type
which he was restoring. Paul Stewart - son of former Formular 1 Champion Jackie Stewart -
showed him how to drive a race car.

Back to the guitar. It has a thin wide neck. Flat C with about 1,8 " width at the nut.
Very low action. It's a "fast" neck.

Some more pics

 

[charliechitlins]

Killer.

 

[jb_abides]

Thanks for sharing! Great guitar, thanks for relating the experience.

All I could do, given age and income at the time, was seek out a Greco copy, which I did.

 

[Phil 52]

I can say that the Grecos I played were all well made guitars.
Today I also coudn't afford an original Z-Guitar.
Regarding age - I'm 70 years old, turning 71 in July.
Back in 1992 I presented myself with it to my 40th birthday.
Oh well, time goes by.

 

[Wilko]

Wow! Actual O’Brien engraving! Amazing. The current models are acid etched and painted.

I notice yours has an ABR, and not the Zemaitis bridge.

I’ve got a fake.

 

[Phil 52]

I notice yours has an ABR, and not the Zemaitis bridge.

That's right.
As mentioned in post #6 mine is not one of Ton's 'High End Models'.
The Basic line and the Superior line did not have
the Z-tailpiece, the Z-bridge and the engraved p/up rings as the
Custom and Custom Deluxe models have.

No "Rockstar Money" here. So I'm really satisfied with my Superior.
It was an honor for me that Tony even built this guitar for me
and that with the neckshape I wanted.

 

[rockabilly69]

Wow! Actual O’Brien engraving! Amazing. The current models are acid etched and painted.

I notice yours has an ABR, and not the Zemaitis bridge.

I’ve got a fake.

On the newer models there are different levels of etching, check out my custom shop...

Funny thing about the originals they don't all sound the same, actually quite different because they all used different pickups, and some had boost and Eq circuits others didn't. I installed a Germanium Boost along with a G&L PTB circuit into one of my reissues thats sounds killer. But my favorite reissue is this one pictured here. It gets the sound...

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-weldon-1%2Fid-rather-go-blind-etta-james-cover-wolfetone-demo

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-weldon-1%2Fwhy-you-mess-around-take-2-with-my-zemaitis-guitar

 

[rockabilly69]

Mine is not one of Tony's High End Models.
He called this line "Superior".
Lots of letters and phone calls went forth and back.
Still have all these letters including a fullsize drawing and self painted seasons greetings.

When we noticed that we both are car enthusiasts Tony sent me a scratch of a Jaguar D Type
which he was restoring. Paul Stewart - son of former Formular 1 Champion Jackie Stewart -
showed him how to drive a race car.

Back to the guitar. It has a thin wide neck. Flat C with about 1,8 " width at the nut.
Very low action. It's a "fast" neck.

Some more pics

I love that guitar, thanks for posting Phil. Do you know pickups Tony used in yours? I've heard for many of the rockstar ones he made, the guitarists would ask for or provide what they wanted.

Tons of folks here love them!

I'm thinkin' one of the best players here will post some of his maybeees?

Dr. Greezey, where are you?

Dr. Rockabilly, you are needed in ER Stat!

Funny thing Ren one of my favorite Z style tones/songs with one of my Z reissue guitars is the one that I put DeArmond Style pickups in with NO metal top.

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-weldon-1%2Ftears-in-my-eyes

 

[seafood]

really cool guitars!!!!!!

 

[Phil 52]

Hi rockabilly,
your guitars look and sound gorgeous!
Congrats!

Regarding the pickups in mine,
alas, I don't know what brand they are.
I let Tony put in what he thought it fits.
IIRC back then there once was talk about Armstrong p/ups.
But maybe my memories are fooling me,

 

[jb_abides]

Apparently, I got the last MIJ A24MF-LH made a couple of years ago, they even posted it on their Instagram account:

 

[Phil 52]

Wow jb, that looks great.
SOLD OUT. Lucky guy!

 

[rockabilly69]

Apparently, I got the last MIJ A24MF-LH made a couple of years ago, they even posted it on their Instagram account:

View attachment 21596

Hey JB I have one of those in the right handed persuasion

It's the one that I modded with the a Germanium Boost and a G&L tone circuit. I love it...

naked under the metal top (nice piece of African Mahogany)

Chisels and Dremel tools can be fun

let's get the wiring party started

starting to come together

little mini switch added for kicking the boost on (New controls master vol, hi cut, low cut, and boost level)

Rangemaster OC44 circuit installed

tidy time

back together for quick test run

new custom knobs and, oh yeah, I replaced the Zemaitis pickups in this with some Dimarzio Anniversary PAFs

 

[rockabilly69]

Hi rockabilly,
your guitars look and sound gorgeous!
Congrats!

Regarding the pickups in mine,
alas, I don't know what brand they are.
I let Tony put in what he thought it fits.
IIRC back then there once was talk about Armstrong p/ups.
But maybe my memories are fooling me,

I remember that Armstrong was one of the choices he would provide. I think I also remember reading that Ron Wood's had some Gibson T-Tops and some PAFs installed in his. But he had the boost circuits installed in his, so he definitely wouldn't want high output pickups. But in the Superior models, I think he used ceramic magnet humbuckers to give the guitars a bit more output. By looking at your pickups, they look alot like early DiMarzio DP100 pickups, which I've read that he used. Knowing what I know about the tone of these guitars, I would use this very pickup if I was building one. I think the thick mids of a DP100 would work perfectly in any of the metal tops. I just used a DP100 in the bridge of a Tele Deluxe that was thin sounding and I loved the results...

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-weldon-1%2Fwhy-you-mess-around

They could also be Mighty Mite 1300 or 1400 pickups which he definitely used, and they also look like the ones in your Z! It would help to know the DC resistance of your pickups which you could get close enough to measuring through the jack.

 

[Wilko]

I think that the etched models filled with black paint looks a bit odd, and not like his handmade engraved guitars so I removed the paint and buffed it by hand for a more realistic look:

Here's an old thread from when I made a tribute Zemaitis for an annual x-mas gig that I used to do.

Fun zemaitis project

Every year I play a traditional christmas eve show at he Casbah in San Diego. It's all Stones covers all night by a whole mess of San Diego musicians. The show is called "Exile on Kettner" as the club is Kettner street. This year I bought a black Tele Custom like Keefers and to top it off I...

www.lespaulforum.com