Ronnie Lane - Zemaitis Black Electric Bass Guitar
This page is a work in progress
This page is a work in progress
Ronnie Lane - Zemaitis Black Electric Bass Guitar
Ronnie Lane - Zemaitis Black Electric Bass Guitar
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Bob Daisley Interview
FlyGuitars: And you have two basses by Zemaitis, including one formerly owned by Ronnie Lane
Bob Daisley: The Ronnie Lane Zemaitis, that's one I saw him use live in London in the early 70's when he was with Rod Stewart and The Faces and I remember trying to track Tony Zemaitis down to see if I could get one or how much they would be when I was in London but I never ever did. Eventually, it wasn't until about '90 that somebody phoned me and said I've got a number for Tony Zemaitis if you wanna contact him and I did. I went to his house and talked about The Faces and the sort of thing I want so he made me the single cutaway Les Paul sort of shape with the metal front engraved by Danny O'Brien.
I asked him about Ronnie Lane's bass and he said "oh that one's just a one off, I made that for Ronnie and he brought along his own pickups". They were vintage Fender bass pickups, the straight pole ones, the early 50's ones and he put those on there.
After that I became an honorary member of The Zemaitis Owners Club. They send me this newsletter thing and I noticed it must have been early 2005 that there was an ad for Ronnie Lane's bass and I thought God now there's one to have in your collection and a bloke in Australia had it.
I phoned the guy in England, Keith Smart at the Zemaitis owners club, and then he gave me the details of this bloke here and I ended up having a deal with him for it. There was only one of them in the world so it was a very rare one.
The value of Zemaitis have gone through the roof in the last few years since Tony died as well because he didn't make that many when he was alive, there aren't many around. I know there being reissued in Japan through the name Zemaitis and there's also a bloke in Newcastle in England. He just goes under the name of Dave Of England and he's got all the tooling and the patterns and jigs and things from Tony Zemaitis himself and he makes them. His have the real Danny O'Brien engraving on them which I think makes them more attractive than the ones in Japan which are just done from a machined template. I had an acoustic fretless bass made by Dave Of England last year and Danny O'Brien did the engraving on it.
Bob Daisley - Current owner of Ronnie Lane's Zemaitis electric black bass
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"I first saw Ronnie Lane using this Zemaitis bass with The Faces in around 1971. I loved that band, you couldn't get any more 'typically English' than ol' Rod the Mod and the lads. Kenney Jones (drums), Ian McLagan (keyboards) and Ronnie Lane (bass) came from the Small Faces when Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. Rod Stewart and Ron Wood had worked together with the Jeff Beck Group (Wood on bass) on two classic albums 'Truth' and Beck-ola' in the late '60s; Woody also played bass on Rod's first solo album 'An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down'. I was more influenced by Woody's bass playing with Jeff and Rod than I was by Ronnie Lane's, but the whole Faces thing fascinated me and I became an ardent fan."
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"In 2003, Ronnie Lane's Zemaitis bass came up for sale in the 'Zemaitis Owners' magazine 'The Z Gazette', and after a little bit of "Come on big nose, let's haggle', the RL Z bass was mine. It always fascinates me to see film clips of Ronnie Lane using it, and even more so when I play it myself. There's only one of these in the world, and the vibes held within are unique, I love this bass. By the way, the 'coffin-shaped' case that came with it was handmade by Tony Zemaitis, although I keep the bass in a hard-shell case that's more protective."
~Bob Daisley
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For more than thirty years now, bassist Bob Daisley has been laying down the foundation upon which some of the greatest rock and roll ever recorded has been built. From blues and metal to ballads and progressive rock, Bob has done it all with the biggest names in the music business. As an in-demand session player, his talents have taken him all over the world. https://bobdaisley.com/history/biography
From Facebook comments (follow up)
Q: What scale is it? I think his LP shaped 'torty' zemaitis bass was a 32". His harmonys were all 30". Apparently Tony used to measure your hand and span and build them accordingly. Often to unusual scale lengths.
A: That's interesting, I didn't know that he did that. This one's a 32", plays similar to a P bass. BD.
Find Zemaitis Club Article
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Ronnie Lane played a range of instruments during his career but is best known for using semi-acoustic Harmony H22s and H27s, and solid body Zemaitis basses during his time in Small Faces and Faces. Semi-acoustic basses were used by other bassists in the psychedelic era such as Jack Casady and Chris Hillman, and the instruments created a tone that was warm and deep, with flat-wound strings and the use of a pick help to create a very appropriate sound for the genre.
https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2017/12/08/bass-transcription-ronnie-lane-bass-line-on-itchycoo-park-by-the-small-faces/ |
Watch Ronnie Lane rock with Faces on his black Zemaitis electric bass at
The Paris Theater - London, England October 26, 1971
(45:07)
The Paris Theater - London, England October 26, 1971
(45:07)
From the Long Player Tour/BBC Crown Jewels
Set List: Three Button Hand Me Down, Maybe I'm Amazed (Paul McCartney cover),
Too Much Woman (Ike Turner cover), Street Fighting Man (The Rolling Stones cover),
Too Much Woman (Ike Turner cover) (reprise), Miss Judy's Farm, Love in Vain (Robert Johnson cover),
Stay With Me AND (I Know) I'm Losing You (The Temptations cover)
Too Much Woman (Ike Turner cover), Street Fighting Man (The Rolling Stones cover),
Too Much Woman (Ike Turner cover) (reprise), Miss Judy's Farm, Love in Vain (Robert Johnson cover),
Stay With Me AND (I Know) I'm Losing You (The Temptations cover)
See more Ronnie Lane and Faces at YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_JGehVbK7jcs-tef6qVP2g
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_JGehVbK7jcs-tef6qVP2g
All videos posted with permission of The Ronnie Lane Estate.
(Extensive comment section from YT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xHBjeiqzkQ
Most photos on this page are courtesy of Bob Daisley. Thanks, Bob!
https://www.facebook.com/pg/bobdaisley/photos
https://www.facebook.com/pg/bobdaisley/photos
Ronnie Lane - Bass, Guitars and Other Instruments
https://www.ronnielane.com/bass-guitars-and-other-instruments.html
https://www.ronnielane.com/bass-guitars-and-other-instruments.html
Ronnie Lane - Complete Album Discography
https://www.ronnielane.com/ronnie-lane-complete-album-discography.html
https://www.ronnielane.com/ronnie-lane-complete-album-discography.html