Product: Zemaitis Student electric
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted
08/25/2007
at
01:39pm
by
Dave Rotherham
Features
:
7
Mauve- brown stained mahogany with oiled finish.
LP based body - same outline but slightly thinner.
Tune-o-Matic type bridge with stop tailpiece
Unbranded tuners - basic
24 3/4 " scale Fenderish profile, but wider, jumbo frets ebony fingerboard
No accessories
1976, England
22 frets
mahogany veneer top on solid mahogany body
Volume & tone for each pickup and 3-way selector switch
H/H pickup configuration
Salvaged Gibson PAFs
Passive electronics
All mahogany, except ebony fingerboard
Sound
:
9
I play hard rock / Southern boogie / White-boy's blues (Think Stones etc.) The punchy fatness is ideal for this style.
A Peavey Companion 15w Studio amp is my usual amp, occasionally with a Cry-baby wah-wah pedal
It picks up mains hum when you let go of the strings, like most electric guitars that I have played.
The sound is rich, apart from a dead spot around high C; full and smooth on the neck pick-up and a bit spiky on the bridge pick-up.
DI-ed it makes a nice light, clean rhythm sound, dirty through an amp it does a fat Santana singing lead on the neck pick-up, a punchy Allen Collins heavy riff with both pickups and a Ron Wood fierce fiery lead on the bridge pickup
Like the general gutsiness, dislike the muddiness when turned down
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
Perfectly setup, as one would expect from the world's leading master luthier of his generation.
The only minor flaw was a slight clamp mark in the veneer of the top
Reliability/Durability
:
10
It has stood 30 years of daily use, including many sessions of street busking with a battery amp, with no problems except replacing a few worn frets. The finish has badly scuffed where jeans rivets have rubbed, but otherwise stood up well. The strap buttons are solid and the guitar is completely dependable.
I like to have a backup for string breakage, and a Strat for sound variety, but I don't worry about the guitar itself malfunctioning
Customer Support
:
10
The maker did a partial refret - fair wear and tear, not a warranty job, after 12 years, but is now deceased, and his heirs have sold the business to a Japanese firm, whom I have not contacted.
Overall Rating
:
9
I have been playing for 33 years, and used the Zemaitis as no.1 guitar for most of them.
My no.2 is a Squier Strat - grotty frets and plywood body, but that Strat sound, so who cares? My No 3 is an Antoria copy of an ES175D. Buzz and hum proof - the only guitar I have ever tried that is - very fast neck, and most responsive tone just where the Zemaitis's dead spot is. It was my first electric guitar and I still use it a little for its fiery tone, but the tuning is unstable.
If something did happen to the Zemaitis I would certainly consider one of the new Japanese ones.
I love the sound and the easy, positive touch. I don't care so much for the dullness of its gentle sounds, thus the Strat for no.2.
I was going to buy a Les Paul Custom, but the Zemaitis felt better.
I wonder if it would be less vulnerable to hum if the pickups had covers.
It is an instrument to treasure and a souvenir of one of the nicest men it has ever been my pleasure to mmet.
