Tony Zemaitis (1935 – 17 August 2002) was a British

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was mostly known for his "metal top"

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

s, which were used by notable rock musicians. After his death in 2002,

Zemaitis Guitars Zemaitis Guitar is a guitar brand owned by Japanese Kanda Shokai Corporation, Zemaitis (birth name Antanas Kazimeras Žemaitis) was born 1935 in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

ancestry. He left school at the age of sixteen to help with family finances and took up a five-year

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

ship as a cabinet maker. When he found an old, damaged guitar in his family attic he found his real passion in life. In 1957, after completing national service, Zemaitis began building a few basic guitars in order to learn about construction, soundhole shapes,

tonewood Tonewood refers to specific wood varieties used for woodwind or acoustic stringed instruments. The word implies that certain species exhibit qualities that enhance acoustic properties of the instruments, but other properties of the wood such as ae ...

s, and string length. He also experimented with building other multi-stringed instruments, and some of these found their way to the folk scene. In 1960, having realized that musicians needed simple and light instruments, he began selling his guitars at prices which covered the cost of materials, and by 1961, after being mentioned in the music press, Zemaitis started to be approached by leading players.

1970s: Fame

In 1970 Zemaitis began experimenting with placing a metal shield on the top of the guitar body to eliminate microphonic noise through the pickups. His first metal-top guitar prototype was purchased by

Tony McPhee Anthony Charles McPhee (23 March 1944 – 6 June 2023) was an English guitarist and singer. He was the founder of the British blues and rock band the Groundhogs. Career McPhee was given the name "T.S." — standing for "Tough Shit" — whe ...

; the second was built for

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

of the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

(who was in

The Faces Faces are an English rock band formed in London in 1969. They were formed by members of Small Faces after lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces; Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane (bass, ...

at the time). Wood played the instrument on The Faces' ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' appearance in 1971, and the shiny appearance of the guitar raised much interest from other guitar players. Zemaitis asked gun engraver Danny O'Brien to create artistic images on the top and other metal parts of the guitar, and he started building custom-order guitars for rich and famous musicians. His most famous guitars were Ronnie Wood's 24-fret metal-top guitars. Zemaitis built four of these for Wood, which he used from 1971 until 1995. He also built Ronnie Wood's "Desert Island" (or "Slide on This") metal-disc top guitar,

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

' 5-string "Skull & Bones" guitar,

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

's "Ivan the Terrible" 12-string acoustic guitar, various acoustic guitars and resonator guitars for

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

, and bass guitars and a resonator guitar for

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

. In 1978, he made a unique acoustic bass for

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

. From the mid-70s, Zemaitis started decorating the tops of his guitars, other than the metal-tops, with elaborate pearl inlay, using figures such as dragons and skulls and bones, or with a mosaic-style inlay. These Zemaitis guitars command the highest second-hand prices.

Later career and death

In the 1980s Zemaitis launched a "student model" guitar that could be upgraded when the player could afford it, but this proved to be too popular and time-consuming. This model threatened to overshadow all other guitar production and was discontinued. By the 1980s Zemaitis was taking more orders for guitars than he could produce and he was having to turn down work. Zemaitis Ron Wood Disc model

In the 1990s, Zemaitis guitars became very collectable and forgeries began to appear. These forgeries in both new and second hand guise, while looking genuine, used poorer-quality materials and did not sound like a genuine Zemaitis. During his 39 years of production, Zemaitis had a policy of never making two guitars the same, and he limited himself to making only ten guitars a year to ensure the quality of each instrument. Zemaitis retired in 2000 and died two years later. His guitar-making style was carried on by

Zemaitis Guitars Zemaitis Guitar is a guitar brand owned by Japanese Kanda Shokai Corporation,Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

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. Led by his son, Tony Zemaitis Jr., the company continued to employ Danny O'Brien as an engraver. In 2007, American economist-turned-fraudster Al Parish bought an acoustic guitar made by Zemaitis and owned by George Harrison for $150,000.

1970s: Fame

Later career and death

See also