Zemaitis GZ-2100WF

First production run Zemaitis Japan. Features covered below already

Smooth as butter to melt yer' face all our Rock N Roll tone

I set it up to my likin' great finish no flaws

I can and will use this baby to defend my self in a bar fight and I bet yah' it will still stay in tune even after hittin' someone in the noggin' full blow with it!

I traded my first wife for this...seriously. Along with other stuff!

All kidding aside, this guitar is great! I got this used and this Zemaitis have not failed me yet!

Details covered from past reviews already.

I run it through various tubes and solid state amps. in my studio. My main one is a cheap old Silvertone sears tube amp. No kidding! I always get that funny look until I plug it in and mike it direct. The sound is HUGE with this set-up! On stage, I plug it straight to my Marshall Blues Breaker. I don't use effects.

I get great sound with this guitar, no complaints here. Very versatile. A bit pricey, but it was worth it.

Factory set-up was great out of the case. Same with the finish and workmanship.

Built tough. I accidentally dropped the guitar on stage once, when my front strap broke loose and it landed on it's neck! OUCH! Luckily the stage had a thick area rug on the spot where it landed. Suprisingly, it stayed in tune and there was no visible damage. I lost' some cool points there but who cares! I just kept playing! LOL.

Very dependable. I wish I could say the same with my stupid leather strap.

Have not called them yet, so...no opinion on that.

Been playing for 15 plus years. This one is a keeper. I'm absolutely sure on that. I have a couple of old Fenders and a 25th anniversary Les Paul that I use but right now this has become my main guitar.

Body- Select Mahogany with
3pc figured Maple arch top
Neck - Mahogany, set neck
Fingerboard - Rosewood, 24 Frets
Scale - 24-3/4in / ??? mm
Bridge - ZEMAITIS original
Machine Head - Schaller
Controls - 2 Volume, 2 Tone, 3 way
Toggle switch
Pickups - Dimarzio DP103 front & rear
Tailpiece - ZEMAITIS original w/Greco logo
Color - Natural

There. Now we have it clearly stated. The Japanese Greco imitation Zemaitis guitar versus the real Tony Zemaitis guitar (see review):

Features: Greco: 10 - Tony Zemaitis: 8.0
Sound: Greco: 10 - Tony Zemaitis: 10
Action, fit and finish: Greco: 10 - Tony Zemaitis: 9.0
Reliability: Greco: 10 - Tony Zemaitis: 9.5
Customer Support: Greco: 10 - Tony Zemaitis: 8.5
Overall Rating: Greco: 10 - Tony Zemaitis: 9.3

This means either of two things: the Greco's are simply better than the real Tony Zemaitis guitars and we Tony Zemaitis guitar owners are fools for having plunked down the money, or the reviewer of the Greco has something to prove.

I have played a dozen of the Japanese Zemaitis guitars, some Greco, some Zemaitis International. I have played twice that on real Tony Zemaitis guitars, and am proud to say that Tony made me two. The Japanese guitars in my opinion are good guitars, and if they would have been priced a little friendlier I would certainly have purchased one to take over the stage duties of my real Zemaitisses.

But the Japanese guitars do not operate in the same universe as Tony's guitars! Of course, some of Tony's guitars are better than others, and this holds true also for the Japanese. But Tony's guitars have one thing that make them so desirable! Read any of the old 1970's articles (way before they became so expensive) and everybody says the same: they have SOUL. None of the newer articles ever question or challenge that fact.

Have you seen the amount of advertisement that Japanese Zemaitis International does? How many guitars must be sold to justify such an advertisement budget? These are no longer the hand made guitars that Tony would build.

Now the concept of mahogany with aluminium and aluminium hardware gives a great sounding guitar (believe me, I've built several) so I can easily imagine that the Greco of the review sounds good! And I'm thrilled that the name Zemaitis is now so widely known.

But the amount of confusion that is introduced by calling the Japanese guitars by the same name is in my opinion uncalled for. When now I say: 'my Zemaitis guitars', I have to add: 'Real Zemaitis guitars' and that feels as if I have to defend or justify myself. Weird.

For everybody who is contemplating buying a Greco/Zemaitis international, yes they are good guitars, but please do not confuse them with the superb creations of the Master himself. The reason why Tony's guitars are so highly regarded is because they were made one by one by a master craftsman. And if we Zemaitis owners look askew at the new offerings from Japan, well, maybe we DO have a reason.

GZ-2100WF

Body- Select Mahogany with
3pc figured Maple arch top
Neck - Mahogany, set neck
Fingerboard - Rosewood, 24 Frets
Scale - 24-3/4in / ??? mm
Bridge - ZEMAITIS original
Machine Head - Schaller
Controls - 2 Volume, 2 Tone, 3 way
Toggle switch
Pickups - Dimarzio DP103 front & rear
Tailpiece - ZEMAITIS original w/Greco logo
Color - Natural

Very versatile guitar. I mainly play blues, jazz and classic rock and I use a vintage Mesa Boogie MK IV, all original 1959 Fender Champ, 1995 Fender Hot rod Blues Deluxe and a 2006 Limited Edition Tweed NOS Fender Blues Junior. I normally do not use pedal effects but I do run my amps thru a THD Hotplate to get the full sound of the amps with this guitar.

The guitar was set up great out of the box. Satin finish with really nicely dressed fretwork and low action. The craftsmanship is definitely there. No sloppy work here.

I mainly work as a session player here in LA. We do lots of commecials, Movie soundtracks and TV mini series. The Zemaitis is my main guitar for this. For some reason the sound fits just right for most of my work. I have played live with this on a couple of gigs and it was and still is very dependable. I can gig with this without back-up but for those of us that have been doing this for a while knows that it is not a good idea to do so. Especially if you break a string in the middle of the gig.

I bought this straight from Japan late 03-04. In fact I have the 2nd one made with a serial number. The prototype and first production model is still in the Zemaitis museum near Tokyo, Japan. The shop in Tokyo was extremely helpful. Especially after they found out who I was and the type of work I do in LA.

Been playing for a good 35 years now. And if you must know......I currently have in my arsenal among a few, a beat up all original 1962 Stratocaster, all rosewood telecaster with an unsual french polish finish just like the one that was sent to George Harrison by Fender, 1967 Fender Tele with Bigsby, 1972 Tele deluxe, James Trussart Rusty caster, Rare early eighties reissue 62 Japanese Walnut Stratocaster, 1999 Trans Amber AAA Les Paul Classic, Orville by Gibson one' of Les Paul with Flamed walnut top and pick guard, 3 Taylor Acoustics, 2 D' angelico NYSS3 with bigsby, D'angelico NY2, Pre production D'aquisto Jazz line, Cashimira Flamenco guitar that I picked up in Spain last summer and a few more vintage guitars in storage for safe keeping including an early 50's Broadcaster.

As mentioned I have been using this as my main guitar for the past few years. No complaints at all. I know Original Zemaitis owners use to turn their cheeks on these guitars when they first came out but now that have changed. I know 2 of my friends that own original Zemaitis have switched to this guitar after finding out how great they sound. Plus, it makes more sense to use this guitars on gigs rather than the 30-40K Zemaitis.