Zemaitis Guitar Owners Club

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Zemaitis News

December 2008 - Amongst other guitars, Keith Smart's Ronnie Lane Zemaitis resonator and Tony McPhee's Zemaitis Metal Front (the very first ever made) are on display at THE HUB in Sleaford.

December 2008 - Have a look at Gilby Clark (Guns n Roses) at his home studio.

November 2008 - The new Zemaitis Tribal Tattoo Guitar earned a PG Premier Gear Award in Premier Guitar's December issue. The front was designed by Danny O'Brien's son David!

November 2008 - Metallica's James Hetfield has a new Zemaitis Flying V. You can find more details and photos at these sites www.allmusicisfree.com and www.guitarnoize.com

October 2008 - Tony is of Lithuanian decent. This caught the eye of the Lithuanian newspaper - see the front cover of Vakaru Ekspresas and the main feature on Tony.

September 2008 - You can see some short videos of the Zemaitis Museum on YouTube.

June 2008 - Rave review of the new Zemaitis GZA300-Heart (Greco-Zemaitis) acoustic in US magazine Acoustic Guitar. You can read the review online. There's also a video demo.

May 2008 - The news in Nov 07 about Sir Cliff Richard seen playing a Zemaitis acoustic goes on.. the imae has been used on a greetings card!

February 2008 - The latest edition of Japan's Guitar Player Magazine has a few pages on the Zemaitis 12 string that Jimi Hendrix played in his film. It features a full page colour photo, plus copy of a letter from Tony. The guitar is now owned by TALACREST who are/were Ferrari dealers but appeared to have branched out into rock memorabilia.

January 2008 - In Guitarist (UK magazine) Stevie Salas was interviewed. When asked what vintage guitar he'd like to own and keep he replied "An original Zemaitis. I don't know much about re-issues, but the old Zemaitis, they sound insane! I played one in Japan recently and it was like $150,000 or something crazy." You can see this on Youtube

November 2007 - Sir Cliff Richard seen playing a Zemaitis acoustic! On British TV there was a tribute to comedian Kenny Everett which showed Cliff doing one of the guest spots on one of Kenny's old TV programmes.

November 2007 - Danny O'Brien on YouTube! You can see Danny's engraving demo on the Zemaitis stand at the Yokohama music show.

2007 October - There is a new book out on Zemaitis Guitars. It’s published in Japan but is totally unofficial and unauthorised.

Tony Junior said “This book has been written by Taddy Mitsui, Atsushi Matsuzaki, Hiroshi Suzuki and Naoki Washida – a bunch of Zemaitis enthusiasts in Japan.

“The book is impressive but is totally unofficial and unauthorised and has many inaccuracies and includes many photographs used without permission.

“To top it all, they call themselves fans but none of them even had the decency to let the Zemaitis family know about the project or to send us a copy of the completed book! They showed the same contempt for Kanda Shokai, the manufacturers of Zemaitis International. (Thankfully a true Zemaitis fan did send me a copy.)

“But what can you expect when Taddy set up the Japanese Zemaitis Fan Club against the express wishes of my father. And Atsushi makes guitars that are more or less copies of Zemaitis?

“Danny O’Brien has asked me to add his name to this because he feels equally unimpressed – they even featured some of his photos without permission!

“Buyer Beware!”

2007 May - BBC Radio One's Big Weekend concert had Kasabian playing a metal front on “Shoot the Runner”. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/bigweekend/2007/artists/kasabian/ and click “watch the whole show” - it’s the 1st song.

On the same weekend BBC2's TV show "The Seven Ages of Rock" had Hendrix playing the Zemaitis 12.

2007 February - Guitarist Magazine (UK) features Z-Club Chairman Keith Smart's ex Ronnie Lane Zemaitis Resonator in ''My Guitar Is..." in the March issue.

2006 November - The Rolling Stones played at the Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles California and Zemaitis International took the opportunity to deliver some custom made prototype guitars to Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. Keith and Ronnie met up with Zemaitis International to design their new guitars when the Stones toured Japan in April, . Ronnie liked his Metal Front so much he took it on-stage that night! See It’s Only Rock’n Roll

2006 November - Guitar & Bass magazine (UK) has an article on Kris Dollimore which shows his lovely Zemaitis pearl front. You can read more about Kris & see another pic of his Zemaitis at www.krisdollimore.com

2006 October - Guitarist magazine (UK) have included their 2007 calendar in their November issue. It shows 12 highly desirable guitars photographed for previous editions. April features the new Zemaitis Pearl Front.

2006 September - Uncut magazine (UK) runs a feature on the new Stones book TOTA '75 - all about the Stones 1975 US tour. It has loads of great pics of the band including many with Keef and his Zemaitis Macabre. Mind you, it has a hefty price tag of £295 for the Commander issue!

2006 August - A bit closer to home, the Kent Messenger runs a piece on Tony Junior's band Spitfire 4. It talks about having a guitar maker for a dad and runs with the title It's Chord Family Pride .

2006 August - Player (JP) magazine has a Zemaitis guitars popping up everywhere! From Ronnie Wood on the front cover, to a feature on the Stones and well as a review of the new Metal Front bass.

2006 August - Guitar Player (US) magazine reviews one of the new Zemaitis acoustics. Apart from a great review, it was nice to see the author (Art Thompson) refers to one of Tony's Guitar Player interviews in 1988

2006 July - Zemaitis & noodles on TV? Yes it's true! Japanese rock band Earth Shaker are seen playing a Zemaitis on a soup noodle advert that is appearing on Japanese TV. See http://www.acecook.co.jp/k_tv/tv.html and click CH 13.

2006 July - US Magazine Musicians Hotline features Zemaitis.

2006 July - Japan's Guitar Magazine has Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood with new Zemaitis guitars on the front cover:

2006 June - Zemaitis player Gilby Clarke will be on the TV show Rock Star this summer with Tommy Lee and Jason Newsted. CBS has announced that for its second season, the show will be searching for a lead singer for Supernova –a new band made up of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, Metallica's Jason Newsted, and Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses. After the rockers select a new lead singer on the show, Supernova will record their first album. They will also embark on a world tour in early 2007. Watch out for those Zemaitis guitars...

2006 June - GUITARIST magazine (UK) run a two page feature called FRONT END on the new Zemaitis International heart hole acoustic. The April edition had a small photograph of the guitar, the July edition (out in June) shows the guitar over two pages and it looks stunning!.

2006 May - Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes is on tour with the band in the US. He has just taken delivery of a new Zemaitis Disc Front although his one is custom engraved with a black crow on the front!. The Zemaitis S22 BP III S TerZetto™ is another of his favorite guitars and Rich is using both of these Zemaitis guitars on tour.

2006 May - See Ronnie Wood using his Zemaitis S22 BP 3S TerZetto guitar on The Rolling Stones Japanese tour on MSN video

2006 April - GUITARIST magazine (UK) feature a photograph of a new Zemaitis International heart hole acoustic.

2006 April - Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood are spotted using new Zemaitis guitars at Rolling Stones concerts in Australia & Japan.

2006 March - WARNING on eBay there was a fraudulent attempt to sell someone's Zemaitis 6-string acoustic! There was a genuine entry by the owner in England and someone in Holland copied the details and set up a bogus sale. Because Zemaitis guitars are so rare it is always a good idea to contact the club before buying. Fortunately this time the bogus sale was spotted by a club member; Keith Smart contacted the owner who got eBay to remove it.

2006 March - Q Classic The Rolling Stones Ultimate Collectors Edition has some great shots of Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood with their Zs.

2006 March - Guitar and bass (U.K.) feature Ronnie Wood's son Jesse in their "Private collection" pages. A Zemaitis International Metal Front is pictured (though it is incorrectly captioned as a Greco)

.

2006 February - DVD of JIMI (film about Hendrix) is out now. It features Jimi playing a Zemaitis 12 string on the cover.

2006 January - Zemaitis International show at NAMM.

2005 November – Guitar Buyer (UK) New Zemaitis on front cover, 5 page review and a poster of a Pearl Front

2005 November – Tony Zemaitis Junior and Danny O'Brien visit the major Japanese Music Fair at Yokohama. Zemaitis International have a major stand at the show. Tony and Danny report that there were also a few original Zemaitis guitars in the Vintage section. Tony and Danny also spend some time helping Zemaitis International 'fine tune' the new range of guitars which as they say "Are looking, playing and sounding really good"

2005 November - Hard Rock Treasures DVD released. It features a look at the memorabilia owned by the world famous restaurant chain. One of the scenes filmed involves Peter Frampton getting back his Zemaitis metal front, he said he always regretted swapping it. The Hard Rock Cafe display a number of Zemaitis instruments, but this was the only one to be featured in the DVD.

2005 October - Guitarist (US) run major feature on the new Zemaitis guitars giving a very favourable review

2005 October - Guitar & Bass (UK) magazines Private Collection features Keith Smart’s collection including his Zemaitis guitars

2005 September – Guitar Player (US) Vintage Vaults has great article on Tony Zemaitis and shows copies of some of his letters to the magazine. It also has a good review of a new Zemaitis Disc Front

2005 September – Young Guitar (Japan) cover DVD has Zakk Wylde playing his new Zemaitis

2005 May - James Honeyman-Scott's (The Pretenders) Zemaitis guitar was auctioned by Bonham & Butterfields

2005 January – Vintage Guitar (US) review new Zemaitis Metal Front

2004 November Crossroads DVD released by Eric Clapton (raising money for The Crossroads Centre). The front cover features Ivan the Terrible his Zemaitis 12 string. There is also a huge photographic enlargement of the guitar on stage. The music is great too!

2004 June - Eric Clapton Guitar Auction at Christies - Zemaitis 12 String Sold for £130,000

2003 January - Zemaitis Family Announce Agreement for Continuation of Zemaitis Guitars

1995 March -Guitar World (U.S.A) Feature Ron Wood on the cover with a Zemaitis Heart Hole. Also in the magazine is a one page article "Ron's Luthier" about Tony.

1993 March - Guitarist magazine (UK) ran a 7 page article on Tony, "Pearly King".

1992 December - Guitar magazine (UK) Volume 2 no 12 run a 5 page special on Tony Zemaitis. The article focuses on the Pearl front that Tony made for Gilby Clarke. It was considered expensive at £4000!

1985 June Rod Stewart appears on the front cover of BBC Radio Times (U.K.) clutching his Zemaitis 12 string acoustic.

1982 October - Sounds (U.K) Run a 2 page feature on Tony's guitars.

1982 July - Guitar World (U.S.A.) run a 5 page artivcle on Tony.

1975 April - Guitar Player (U.S.A.) run a 5 page article on Tony.

1975 December - International Musician (U.K.) run a 2 page article on Tony.

1973 March - Beat Instrumental (U.K.) run a 2 page article on Tony.

1972 April - Have a look at this old cutting from Melody Maker (from Tony's scrapbook).

.

1972 March - on the 4th of March 1972 an advert appeared in the Melody Maker that gave Tony Zemaitis a most pleasant surprise. The Faces had placed a great bid ad in MM that read 'Tony Zemaitis - we thank you for our guitars, The Faces'. How about that! This is from Tony's scrapbook and you can see wrote 'Bless them".

1970 October - Guitar Player (U.S.A.) run an article on "Ivan the Terrible" the 12 string built for Eric Clapton.

1970 October - Sounds (UK weekly magazine, now out of publication) ran an article about Tony on 24th October 1970. This was part of their Guitar Survey series.

1960's - A really early write up when Tony was working from a Chelsea studio. Headline: 'The Former Busker Who Makes Guitars For 100 Guineas'. This is undated but was probably from a local Chelsea paper.

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	Official Zemaitis Guitar Owners Club website
Home Zemaitis History Gallery News Zemaitis Club Zemaitis Players Tony's Notes Zemaitis Fakes Links Contact Us	Zemaitis News December 2008 - Amongst other guitars, Keith Smart's Ronnie Lane Zemaitis resonator and Tony McPhee's Zemaitis Metal Front (the very first ever made) are on display at THE HUB in Sleaford. December 2008 - Have a look at Gilby Clark (Guns n Roses) at his home studio. November 2008 - The new Zemaitis Tribal Tattoo Guitar earned a PG Premier Gear Award in Premier Guitar's December issue. The front was designed by Danny O'Brien's son David! November 2008 - Metallica's James Hetfield has a new Zemaitis Flying V. You can find more details and photos at these sites www.allmusicisfree.com and www.guitarnoize.com October 2008 - Tony is of Lithuanian decent. This caught the eye of the Lithuanian newspaper - see the front cover of Vakaru Ekspresas and the main feature on Tony. September 2008 - You can see some short videos of the Zemaitis Museum on YouTube. June 2008 - Rave review of the new Zemaitis GZA300-Heart (Greco-Zemaitis) acoustic in US magazine Acoustic Guitar. You can read the review online. There's also a video demo. May 2008 - The news in Nov 07 about Sir Cliff Richard seen playing a Zemaitis acoustic goes on.. the imae has been used on a greetings card! February 2008 - The latest edition of Japan's Guitar Player Magazine has a few pages on the Zemaitis 12 string that Jimi Hendrix played in his film. It features a full page colour photo, plus copy of a letter from Tony. The guitar is now owned by TALACREST who are/were Ferrari dealers but appeared to have branched out into rock memorabilia. January 2008 - In Guitarist (UK magazine) Stevie Salas was interviewed. When asked what vintage guitar he'd like to own and keep he replied "An original Zemaitis. I don't know much about re-issues, but the old Zemaitis, they sound insane! I played one in Japan recently and it was like $150,000 or something crazy." You can see this on Youtube November 2007 - Sir Cliff Richard seen playing a Zemaitis acoustic! On British TV there was a tribute to comedian Kenny Everett which showed Cliff doing one of the guest spots on one of Kenny's old TV programmes. November 2007 - Danny O'Brien on YouTube! You can see Danny's engraving demo on the Zemaitis stand at the Yokohama music show. 2007 October - There is a new book out on Zemaitis Guitars. It’s published in Japan but is totally unofficial and unauthorised. Tony Junior said “This book has been written by Taddy Mitsui, Atsushi Matsuzaki, Hiroshi Suzuki and Naoki Washida – a bunch of Zemaitis enthusiasts in Japan. “The book is impressive but is totally unofficial and unauthorised and has many inaccuracies and includes many photographs used without permission. “To top it all, they call themselves fans but none of them even had the decency to let the Zemaitis family know about the project or to send us a copy of the completed book! They showed the same contempt for Kanda Shokai, the manufacturers of Zemaitis International. (Thankfully a true Zemaitis fan did send me a copy.) “But what can you expect when Taddy set up the Japanese Zemaitis Fan Club against the express wishes of my father. And Atsushi makes guitars that are more or less copies of Zemaitis? “Danny O’Brien has asked me to add his name to this because he feels equally unimpressed – they even featured some of his photos without permission! “Buyer Beware!” 2007 May - BBC Radio One's Big Weekend concert had Kasabian playing a metal front on “Shoot the Runner”. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/bigweekend/2007/artists/kasabian/ and click “watch the whole show” - it’s the 1st song. On the same weekend BBC2's TV show "The Seven Ages of Rock" had Hendrix playing the Zemaitis 12. 2007 February - Guitarist Magazine (UK) features Z-Club Chairman Keith Smart's ex Ronnie Lane Zemaitis Resonator in ''My Guitar Is..." in the March issue. 2006 November - The Rolling Stones played at the Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles California and Zemaitis International took the opportunity to deliver some custom made prototype guitars to Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood. Keith and Ronnie met up with Zemaitis International to design their new guitars when the Stones toured Japan in April, . Ronnie liked his Metal Front so much he took it on-stage that night! See It’s Only Rock’n Roll 2006 November - Guitar & Bass magazine (UK) has an article on Kris Dollimore which shows his lovely Zemaitis pearl front. You can read more about Kris & see another pic of his Zemaitis at www.krisdollimore.com 2006 October - Guitarist magazine (UK) have included their 2007 calendar in their November issue. It shows 12 highly desirable guitars photographed for previous editions. April features the new Zemaitis Pearl Front. 2006 September - Uncut magazine (UK) runs a feature on the new Stones book TOTA '75 - all about the Stones 1975 US tour. It has loads of great pics of the band including many with Keef and his Zemaitis Macabre. Mind you, it has a hefty price tag of £295 for the Commander issue! 2006 August - A bit closer to home, the Kent Messenger runs a piece on Tony Junior's band Spitfire 4. It talks about having a guitar maker for a dad and runs with the title It's Chord Family Pride . 2006 August - Player (JP) magazine has a Zemaitis guitars popping up everywhere! From Ronnie Wood on the front cover, to a feature on the Stones and well as a review of the new Metal Front bass. 2006 August - Guitar Player (US) magazine reviews one of the new Zemaitis acoustics. Apart from a great review, it was nice to see the author (Art Thompson) refers to one of Tony's Guitar Player interviews in 1988 2006 July - Zemaitis & noodles on TV? Yes it's true! Japanese rock band Earth Shaker are seen playing a Zemaitis on a soup noodle advert that is appearing on Japanese TV. See http://www.acecook.co.jp/k_tv/tv.html and click CH 13. 2006 July - US Magazine Musicians Hotline features Zemaitis. 2006 July - Japan's Guitar Magazine has Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood with new Zemaitis guitars on the front cover: 2006 June - Zemaitis player Gilby Clarke will be on the TV show Rock Star this summer with Tommy Lee and Jason Newsted. CBS has announced that for its second season, the show will be searching for a lead singer for Supernova –a new band made up of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, Metallica's Jason Newsted, and Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses. After the rockers select a new lead singer on the show, Supernova will record their first album. They will also embark on a world tour in early 2007. Watch out for those Zemaitis guitars... 2006 June - GUITARIST magazine (UK) run a two page feature called FRONT END on the new Zemaitis International heart hole acoustic. The April edition had a small photograph of the guitar, the July edition (out in June) shows the guitar over two pages and it looks stunning!. 2006 May - Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes is on tour with the band in the US. He has just taken delivery of a new Zemaitis Disc Front although his one is custom engraved with a black crow on the front!. The Zemaitis S22 BP III S TerZetto™ is another of his favorite guitars and Rich is using both of these Zemaitis guitars on tour. 2006 May - See Ronnie Wood using his Zemaitis S22 BP 3S TerZetto guitar on The Rolling Stones Japanese tour on MSN video 2006 April - GUITARIST magazine (UK) feature a photograph of a new Zemaitis International heart hole acoustic. 2006 April - Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood are spotted using new Zemaitis guitars at Rolling Stones concerts in Australia & Japan. 2006 March - WARNING on eBay there was a fraudulent attempt to sell someone's Zemaitis 6-string acoustic! There was a genuine entry by the owner in England and someone in Holland copied the details and set up a bogus sale. Because Zemaitis guitars are so rare it is always a good idea to contact the club before buying. Fortunately this time the bogus sale was spotted by a club member; Keith Smart contacted the owner who got eBay to remove it. 2006 March - Q Classic The Rolling Stones Ultimate Collectors Edition has some great shots of Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood with their Zs. 2006 March - Guitar and bass (U.K.) feature Ronnie Wood's son Jesse in their "Private collection" pages. A Zemaitis International Metal Front is pictured (though it is incorrectly captioned as a Greco) . 2006 February - DVD of JIMI (film about Hendrix) is out now. It features Jimi playing a Zemaitis 12 string on the cover. 2006 January - Zemaitis International show at NAMM. 2005 November – Guitar Buyer (UK) New Zemaitis on front cover, 5 page review and a poster of a Pearl Front 2005 November – Tony Zemaitis Junior and Danny O'Brien visit the major Japanese Music Fair at Yokohama. Zemaitis International have a major stand at the show. Tony and Danny report that there were also a few original Zemaitis guitars in the Vintage section. Tony and Danny also spend some time helping Zemaitis International 'fine tune' the new range of guitars which as they say "Are looking, playing and sounding really good" 2005 November - Hard Rock Treasures DVD released. It features a look at the memorabilia owned by the world famous restaurant chain. One of the scenes filmed involves Peter Frampton getting back his Zemaitis metal front, he said he always regretted swapping it. The Hard Rock Cafe display a number of Zemaitis instruments, but this was the only one to be featured in the DVD. 2005 October - Guitarist (US) run major feature on the new Zemaitis guitars giving a very favourable review 2005 October - Guitar & Bass (UK) magazines Private Collection features Keith Smart’s collection including his Zemaitis guitars 2005 September – Guitar Player (US) Vintage Vaults has great article on Tony Zemaitis and shows copies of some of his letters to the magazine. It also has a good review of a new Zemaitis Disc Front 2005 September – Young Guitar (Japan) cover DVD has Zakk Wylde playing his new Zemaitis 2005 May - James Honeyman-Scott's (The Pretenders) Zemaitis guitar was auctioned by Bonham & Butterfields 2005 January – Vintage Guitar (US) review new Zemaitis Metal Front 2004 November Crossroads DVD released by Eric Clapton (raising money for The Crossroads Centre). The front cover features Ivan the Terrible his Zemaitis 12 string. There is also a huge photographic enlargement of the guitar on stage. The music is great too! 2004 June - Eric Clapton Guitar Auction at Christies - Zemaitis 12 String Sold for £130,000 2003 January - Zemaitis Family Announce Agreement for Continuation of Zemaitis Guitars 1995 March -Guitar World (U.S.A) Feature Ron Wood on the cover with a Zemaitis Heart Hole. Also in the magazine is a one page article "Ron's Luthier" about Tony. 1993 March - Guitarist magazine (UK) ran a 7 page article on Tony, "Pearly King". 1992 December - Guitar magazine (UK) Volume 2 no 12 run a 5 page special on Tony Zemaitis. The article focuses on the Pearl front that Tony made for Gilby Clarke. It was considered expensive at £4000! 1985 June Rod Stewart appears on the front cover of BBC Radio Times (U.K.) clutching his Zemaitis 12 string acoustic. 1982 October - Sounds (U.K) Run a 2 page feature on Tony's guitars. 1982 July - Guitar World (U.S.A.) run a 5 page artivcle on Tony. 1975 April - Guitar Player (U.S.A.) run a 5 page article on Tony. 1975 December - International Musician (U.K.) run a 2 page article on Tony. 1973 March - Beat Instrumental (U.K.) run a 2 page article on Tony. 1972 April - Have a look at this old cutting from Melody Maker (from Tony's scrapbook). . 1972 March - on the 4th of March 1972 an advert appeared in the Melody Maker that gave Tony Zemaitis a most pleasant surprise. The Faces had placed a great bid ad in MM that read 'Tony Zemaitis - we thank you for our guitars, The Faces'. How about that! This is from Tony's scrapbook and you can see wrote 'Bless them". 1970 October - Guitar Player (U.S.A.) run an article on "Ivan the Terrible" the 12 string built for Eric Clapton. 1970 October - Sounds (UK weekly magazine, now out of publication) ran an article about Tony on 24th October 1970. This was part of their Guitar Survey series. 1960's - A really early write up when Tony was working from a Chelsea studio. Headline: 'The Former Busker Who Makes Guitars For 100 Guineas'. This is undated but was probably from a local Chelsea paper.
		site developed by Buzzin' Fly