As promised the pictures of Ronnie's Disc Front replica. An interesting detail is that the guitar body is shaped.












Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-12-22 11:38 by Wizzard.

Looks great Wizzard. Thanks for posting the pics.

As I said before, I still love playing my original Zemaitis Metalfront that was
built for me by Tony Zemaitis back in 1992.
I still remember well when I received it on Dec. 6th.
Gawd, that's 22 years ago now.

Wizzard! Wow!

Any idea what who manufactured the boost circuit?

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nankerphlege
Wizzard! Wow!

Any idea what who manufactured the boost circuit?

Kent Armstrong?

Are those 1 meg pots? Obviously alpha but what does 3h1 mean?

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Wizzard
As promised the pictures of Ronnie's Disc Front replica. An interesting detail is that the guitar body is shaped.

Go Dawgs!

A Metal Top I never seen before with Wood, 1978.



Mathijs

Isn't he posing with that one in the other SG promo pics from that session (sure it's not 1977?) as well?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-01-05 11:53 by DandelionPowderman.

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DandelionPowderman
Isn't he posing with that one in the other SG promo pics from that session (sure it's not 1977?) as well?

I thought 1978. I know the pics, just never noticed the Zemaitis. I believe he also poses with it on a 1985/1986 guitar magazine cover.

Mathijs

Thanks DP, the first one Ive never seen i think. Love those guitars.

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Redhotcarpet
Thanks DP, the first one Ive never seen i think. Love those guitars.

The first one is a black and white photo, included as a stand alone pic in the SG Super Deluxe box set. I have it on my wall at home.

Zemaitis Guitars = No Rockguitars! Snobbish shite...

2 1 2 0

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Come On
Zemaitis Guitars = No Rockguitars! Snobbish shite...

Blasphemy!

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DandelionPowderman

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Come On
Zemaitis Guitars = No Rockguitars! Snobbish shite...

Blasphemy!

You got one yourself? The day you buy one you stopped play Rock n Roll (I Heard Chuck Berry said that)..

2 1 2 0

Unfortunately not, but they are easily among the coolest guitars there is..

I too thought that photo session was in 78, but in any case Helmut Newton took those fine shots.

Could very well be early 78.

What is the total number of Zemaitis guitars that Ronnie and Keith own(ed)?

[uk.askmen.com]

I'm very surprised there's no Zeimaitis among these 50 different guitars...

Was possibly Keith and Ronnie with and sponsored this guitar and therefore used it?

2 1 2 0

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Come On
[uk.askmen.com]

I'm very surprised there's no Zeimaitis among these 50 different guitars...

Was possibly Keith and Ronnie with and sponsored this guitar and therefore used it?

Zemaitis are expensive, custom-made guitars.

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DandelionPowderman
Unfortunately not, but they are easily among the coolest guitars there is..

i remember 9/20/06 at Foxboro mass. Gillette stadium Keith played the Zemaitis guitar in your photo on Sway wow i was like it's been awile since i had seen Keith use a Zemaitis guitar and Ronnie played a black Gibson SG which he totally rocked out on the solo

Hi all

I'm hoping some of you who know a lot more about these guitars could help us with tracking down some info. First, the story!

About 20 years or so ago, a good friend and I happened to wonder into a pawn shop in London. We spotted a beautiful looking, unusual guitar that was being sold there and after some debate we considered it was a) probably being sold for less than it was worth and b) a totally awesome guitar, so my mate bought it. I have to point out here that I did lend him half the money required to buy it, though foolishly didn't insist on a half share of the guitar.

We had both very vaguely heard of Zemaitis guitars though didn't know much about them, but that night, while doing an inspection of the guitar, we did notice that it had the initials 'R W' scratched on the inside of the control plate, and I made a joke that maybe it had belonged to Roy Wood or Roger Waters, my mate added Ronnie Wood into the list of possibilities and we had a laugh about it.

Anyway, after doing a bit more research (this was the days before the internet) we found out about Ronnie Wood's links with Zemaitis and got quite excited. Seeing as we weren't that far from where Tony Z lived, and being as he was that sort of bloke, we gave him a ring and he said to pop round. We showed him the guitar and he indeed remembered making it for Ronnie Wood for the Stones's first US tour(?), he said he never saw that much of it and was under the impression it had either been stolen from or 'given away' by Ronnie. The guitar features an inlay of a biplane, and Tony told us how this was inspired by the Biplane that he was building at the time. We had a fascinating afternoon with Tony, who had a totally amazing collection of stories and pictures, and was such a genuine, warm, humble guy - I don't know how anyone can be that 'normal' when most of your stories contain the line 'and then Jimi said...'!!

Anyway, we didn't do much else with the guitar, other than keeping it safe. My mate never wanted to gig the guitar, and we had some concerns that if it had been stolen, where would that leave us? We had, of course, discussed this with Tony and he had advised us not to worry about it.

Fast forward to now, real life has intervened in a number of ways, and my mate is in a position where he needs to sell the guitar. We have no documentary evidence of the guitar's history, and obviously Tony has sadly passed away. And no one from Zemaitis has found any documents to go with it. We have been in touch with Ronnie's agent but only received a vague message that he didn't really remember(!!). We can't find any photos or mention of it on the internet, but there must be something or someone out there that could explain what happened to this guitar, and how it ended up in a junk shop? We would be very grateful to anyone who can shed any light on this mystery!!

I have some photos and will post them as soon as I work out how!

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robgo
Hi all

I'm hoping some of you who know a lot more about these guitars could help us with tracking down some info. First, the story!

About 20 years or so ago, a good friend and I happened to wonder into a pawn shop in London. We spotted a beautiful looking, unusual guitar that was being sold there and after some debate we considered it was a) probably being sold for less than it was worth and b) a totally awesome guitar, so my mate bought it. I have to point out here that I did lend him half the money required to buy it, though foolishly didn't insist on a half share of the guitar.

We had both very vaguely heard of Zemaitis guitars though didn't know much about them, but that night, while doing an inspection of the guitar, we did notice that it had the initials 'R W' scratched on the inside of the control plate, and I made a joke that maybe it had belonged to Roy Wood or Roger Waters, my mate added Ronnie Wood into the list of possibilities and we had a laugh about it.

Anyway, after doing a bit more research (this was the days before the internet) we found out about Ronnie Wood's links with Zemaitis and got quite excited. Seeing as we weren't that far from where Tony Z lived, and being as he was that sort of bloke, we gave him a ring and he said to pop round. We showed him the guitar and he indeed remembered making it for Ronnie Wood for the Stones's first US tour(?), he said he never saw that much of it and was under the impression it had either been stolen from or 'given away' by Ronnie. The guitar features an inlay of a biplane, and Tony told us how this was inspired by the Biplane that he was building at the time. We had a fascinating afternoon with Tony, who had a totally amazing collection of stories and pictures, and was such a genuine, warm, humble guy - I don't know how anyone can be that 'normal' when most of your stories contain the line 'and then Jimi said...'!!

Anyway, we didn't do much else with the guitar, other than keeping it safe. My mate never wanted to gig the guitar, and we had some concerns that if it had been stolen, where would that leave us? We had, of course, discussed this with Tony and he had advised us not to worry about it.

Fast forward to now, real life has intervened in a number of ways, and my mate is in a position where he needs to sell the guitar. We have no documentary evidence of the guitar's history, and obviously Tony has sadly passed away. And no one from Zemaitis has found any documents to go with it. We have been in touch with Ronnie's agent but only received a vague message that he didn't really remember(!!). We can't find any photos or mention of it on the internet, but there must be something or someone out there that could explain what happened to this guitar, and how it ended up in a junk shop? We would be very grateful to anyone who can shed any light on this mystery!!

I have some photos and will post them as soon as I work out how!

Great story!

1. There are people here close to Ronnie, so maybe they'll catch up on this and let the man himself see pics and refresh his memory etc.?
2. Post a pic of it here!

Thanks Dandelion

It would be awesome to solve the mystery.

Apologies for the poor quality photos, but the guitar is currently not where either of us are!!

Great! I bet Ronnie indeed will remember that one, if he took the time..

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TheGreek

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DandelionPowderman
Unfortunately not, but they are easily among the coolest guitars there is..

i remember 9/20/06 at Foxboro mass. Gillette stadium Keith played the Zemaitis guitar in your photo on Sway wow i was like it's been awile since i had seen Keith use a Zemaitis guitar and Ronnie played a black Gibson SG which he totally rocked out on the solo

The one you seen was a replica of the first. The first was lost in a fire, or possibly stolen.

From official Zemaitis Guitar Owners Club website

Tony Zemaitis Junior's electric - made for his 18th birthday (lucky lad!)

This is good stuff. Thanks

Very interesting story, Robgo! Thanks for posting the photos -
I hope someone gets Ronnie to have a look.