Vintage Guitar Reviews The Zemaitis S22 Metal Top Cary Apr 29th
If you’re an old Zemaitis fiend like myself you’ll definitely want to check out Vintage Guitar Magazine’s review of the S22 Metal Top.
For nearly two years straight I’ve been trying to get my hands on one of the new Zemaitis models, but as with many boutique instruments, they are incredibly difficult to track down outside of the larger metropolitan areas.
Priced at $9,000, the S22 is a top-of-the-line heir to the classic “metal top” design that helped put Zemaitis on the map, and while luthier Antanus Zemaitis himself passed away in 2002, Tokyo-based Zemaitis International has apparently done an exemplary job of living up to their namesake in terms of quality and design.
Of course, the feature that stands out most on the S22 is its gorgeous hand-engraved top and hand-machined Duralumin hardware (yep, that’s aircraft aluminum,) including bridge, tailpiece, control cavity covers, jackplate, pickup rings, truss rod cover, and headstock logo.
That’s a helluva’ lot of aluminum, and according to Vintage Guitar the rather weighty mixture of mahogany (neck and body) and Duralumin means the S22 absolutely sings with sustain.
The guitar also sports an ebony fingerboard with 12“ radius, Schaller machine heads, and a pair of DiMarzio DP103 humbuckers––oh yeah, and it ships with a deluxe hard shell case with aluminum handle.
You can check out the full review over at Vintage Guitar Magazine.
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April 29th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Absolutely gorgeous guitar. My only question is: with all of that aircraft aluminum, does it fly as well?
April 29th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I always fancied Tony’s pearly-topped ones more than the engraved metal ones. But yep, my THE FACES fetish means I wouldn’t kick either out of bed.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Yeah, those Zemaitis guitars definitely had class.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
9k is hefty price!
I wonder what all that mass would feel like standing for 4 or 5 hours at a gig? Mohagany neck and body plus an aircraft aluminum top mus weigh quite a lot. I would probably end up in traction after a night of playing. The band would be rushing me to the ER!
Eddie
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Those things have collectible mojo! I just saw a real worn looking Z on eBay for well over $10K.