Zero Fret Question

[deacon Mark]

I will explain later but I came across a carved top guitar with a zero fret nut. I did not even realize it when I pick it up to play. Then after looking over how wonderful the action and playing in the first position was in made sense. In fact it is tremendous and I just wondered if anyone else has this or has used a guitar with it. It is a very think fret/like material in fron the the tradition nut and unless you look close it is no even obvious.

Help never ran into this in all my repairs although I have seen guitars with zero frets just never installed one. This is way more impressive than any I have seen by far.

[mr. beaumont]

My "gypsy jazz" guitar has a zero fret.

I think they got a bad rap back in the 60's when a lot of cheap, imported stuff had zero frets. But they work great, and despite what detractors say, I think open strings still sound like open strings.

[garybaldy]

Yeah, my gypsy guitars have a zero fret as did my very first guitar in 1966 - a Futurama II !!

[John A.]

My Gypsy jazz guitar has one too. Many Gretsches have them.

[sgosnell]

ZerO Glide Nuts - StewMac

You can get the same thing cheaper on ebay.

[JSanta]

Zero frets are still the norm in the SelMac style world. No complaints from me, wouldn't have it any other way. There's still the traditional nut of course, but I like the way it helps the the playability of the instrument.

[ragman1]

I may have seen one and may have played one, but I don't remember. That aside, having read it up, I think the theory holds true. It would work, and beneficially. As far as my mind can tell, anyway.

Anyone know who uses one? Apparently Brian May does/did. There's no great list of zero fret players that I can see. Also, apparently they wear out quite rapidly. The fret, that is, not the players :-)

[JSanta]

I may have seen one and may have played one, but I don't remember. That aside, having read it up, I think the theory holds true. It would work, and beneficially. As far as my mind can tell, anyway.

Anyone know who uses one? Apparently Brian May does/did. There's no great list of zero fret players that I can see. Also, apparently they wear out quite rapidly. The fret that, that is, not the players :-)

If you want to go into the Django world, every single great player there uses a guitar with a zero fret. I play my Gaffiero around 2 hours a day, and the zero fret is not worn at all. Different hardness on the strings compared to many archtop users, to be fair, but nothing a stainless fret can't solve.

[Woody Sound]

Also, apparently they wear out quite rapidly. The fret that, that is, not the players :-)

I guess if you play a lot of open strings(?) If you think about it, it's sorta like having a capo on the open strings.

[Cunamara]

Zero frets make a tremendous amount of sense and I have liked the sound and feel of every guitar I have played that has one. The difference in timbre between fretted and open strings doesn't always sound good to me. Tuning with a zero fret also seems to be more stable. Oddly enough, none of my guitars have a zero fret.

While there is the extra expense of installing the fret, there is a concomitant reduction in cost in that the nut itself is much simpler to set up.

I have never seen a guitar with a nut that has a built-in zero fret. It is an interesting idea and maybe I'll get a chance to try one someday.

[RJVB]

ZerO Glide Nuts - StewMac

You can get the same thing cheaper on ebay.

Nice! The ones on eBay are really identical and sold under the same name?

My old German archtop had a zero fret (still has, I suppose). The nut behind it was a simple wooden affair (it and the fretboard looked a bit like boxwood) that was pretty worn. No problems with buzzing though, thanks to that 0 fret.

I don't know if it would be an ideal set-up if you play slide guitar but apart from that I see only advantages - and you shouldn't notice anything in the left hand. Bends on the lower frets might be a tad easier.

[Franz 1997]

I have an early 70s Ibanez; the over-spec'd, headstock-bound 1860 model, precursor to their 23** series 175 copies - with a zero fret. The zero fret gives all the advantages mentioned; no string binding, no nut replacement or fiddly filing, and perfect, super-low action.
And no, the zero fret hasn't worn out at all. The convention for the traditional nut is just that, convention; just like the inefficient " traditional" one-way Gibson truss rod.

If it was good enough for the black PG Trenier model....

[EastwoodMike]

[QUOTE=Cunamara;1201010

I have never seen a guitar with a nut that has a built-in zero fret. It is an interesting idea and maybe I'll get a chance to try one someday.[/QUOTE]

Do the top end GB series Ibanez and Schofield models not have a brass/bone nut thing?

m

[jim777]

I've had guitars that had them and liked them a great deal. I don't have any now, though. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to buy a guitar with a zero fret.

[j4zz]

My "gypsy jazz" guitar has a zero fret.

I think they got a bad rap back in the 60's when a lot of cheap, imported stuff had zero frets. But they work great, and despite what detractors say, I think open strings still sound like open strings.

I had an Aria acoustic, late '60s early '70s with a zero fret. Never gave me any problems.

I don't think zero frets wear, because there is little movement, as you are not pressing the string down and moving it around grinding at the fret.

[sgosnell]

Nice! The ones on eBay are really identical and sold under the same name?
.

Yes, they are identical, same brand name, same packaging. Anything from StewMac is going to have a large markup. I buy from them only if something isn't available elsewhere, because of the price and the expensive shipping. StewMac is many things, but inexpensive is not one of them. I've bought several of the ZeroGlide nuts, one from StewMac and the others from ebay, and they're exactly the same. I like Arkansas Music Works on ebay, and I usually buy from them. They have a good selection of parts, good prices, and quick shipping. I don't know about shipping to Europe though, and you will probably be better served using one of the European ebay sites.

[sgosnell]

I have never seen a guitar with a nut that has a built-in zero fret. It is an interesting idea and maybe I'll get a chance to try one someday.

Guitars built with zero frets don't have it in the nut, but some distance forward. The ZeroGlide is an after-market product, designed to be installed on a guitar without a zero fret. Its actual value is debatable, because it requires labor to get it sized, fitted, and installed. It's not that much better than a well-fitted nut, but if I'm going to have to cut and install a new nut, it's worth the trouble, because there is no need to fiddle with nut slots. It goes in and the nut slots are ready to go, the height making no difference. It comes in standard string spacings and nut widths, although it's always necessary to sand the ends to fit the neck precisely. You can also get it without slots, and cut your own if the instrument is way off standard. It's a niche product, but it fills that niche nicely.

[Dave24309]

Gibson offered them for a while. Adjustable, too. The first ones were brass but they quickly offered titanium upgrades (at no charge). It seems the strings cut the fret and started "sitar-ing". People seem to like the adjustability. I don't believe they were offered on hollow bodies, mostly solid body electrics.

[Rhythmisking]

I really like zero frets, but only have a few guitars that have one. I honestly think every guitar should be built with a zero fret.

Guitars with a zero fret have a much more uniform tone; open strings have the same tonality as fretted strings. I do a lot of chords with open strings going way up then neck (not just first position) and I much prefer the string to string tonal consistency.

I could see how players who only play in first position "cowboy chords" might like the way a 'normal' open nut tone sounds, but I really prefer the tonal consistency of a zero fret.



No idea why this pic insists on loading sideways...

[rhl-ferndale]

Nigel Forster / NK Forster builds his guitars with zero frets.

I have a 2012 Forster Samois—part Django, part archtop. The neck extends over the bridge; strings are anchored in it, so their energy is communicated through the bridge without restricting the soundboard vibration.

Clarity of intonation is exquisite everywhere. The zero fret isn’t the only reason, but it takes magisterial care of tone and sustain at its end, and the neck/bridge innovation takes care of the other end.

Fabulous instrument. One of my best teachers.

[rhl-ferndale]

Two more pics of the bridge end of the Samois. Sorry not to have one of the zero fret, but I can tell you that Nigel Forster files and shapes each zero fret to perfection. Think of it as a partner to the saddle.

[geese_com]

I have has several Vigier electric guitars with zero frets and had no issues at all. Playability was great. Open strings sounded like I expected them to.

[RJVB]

So you don't get sound artefacts when plucking (fingerpicking) hard?

[Rhythmisking]

Two more pics of the bridge end of the Samois. Sorry not to have one of the zero fret, but I can tell you that Nigel Forster files and shapes each zero fret to perfection. Think of it as a partner to the saddle.

Wow, that's crazy. It's a neck-through archtop. Brilliant.

[sgosnell]

Is it neck through, or neck over the top? Hard to tell from just the pics.