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Vintage threads from the first ten years

"Zero" Frets

8/21/2003 7:24 PM
Jim Cooper	"Zero" Frets Why don't more guitar manufacturers use a "zero" fret in front of the nut like the old Mosrite's did? It seems to me it would put the nut tuning position right on the mark and also set the string height right down where it would be the lightest touch. Maybe that last part is a players choice of feel, but I like it "close to the deck" myself.

8/22/2003 3:17 PM
Chris B	Re: "Zero" Frets I would think that a zero fret would be less expensive too, because the nut is just cut down deep enough to allow the strings to pass through with the string resting on the zero fret. The nut just keeps every string evenly spaced. Chris B

8/22/2003 4:41 PM
Jim Cooper	That's what I mean. I've heard of guys working like dogs to get a replacement nut "just right" only to make a last little cut with the needle file and ruin the whole job! If the zero fret sets the string height, there probably wouldn't be a need to ever change a nut cause there wouldn't be any real load on it other than just guiding the string. I could see a future aftermarket company here that would make me the millionare I deserve to be.... more likely my financial doom. You can't be young forever, but you can always be immature.

8/22/2003 4:41 PM

Jim Cooper

That's what I mean. I've heard of guys working like dogs to get a replacement nut "just right" only to make a last little cut with the needle file and ruin the whole job! If the zero fret sets the string height, there probably wouldn't be a need to ever change a nut cause there wouldn't be any real load on it other than just guiding the string.
I could see a future aftermarket company here that would make me the millionare I deserve to be.... more likely my financial doom.
You can't be young forever, but you can always be immature.

8/23/2003 6:24 PM
soapbarstrat	You also have to work hard to get a zero fret "just right". Some say it can be the same height as the other frets, but I find you end up getting buzzing with it like that.You have to put extra relief into the neck to get rid of the buzzing, which is out of the question for me, cuz I like no more that .004" relief. Plus, "just right" for the Low E is much higher than "just right" for the high E, so, when I deal with zero frets, I have to use a fret at least .015" higher than the other frets, then file the fret down, more as I go toward the high E side. But if I "blow it", a new piece of fret-wire is usually cheaper than some of the nut materials. On my own guitar with a zero fret, I used several short pieces of cut-off frets from re-fret jobs, that are not good for anything else. About 3/8" ?? long each, they are big enough for 2 strings to sit on, with a little room on each side. I use about 3 pieces like that, to build the whole zero fret. I even used a higher fret piece under the A and low E, and a lower piece under the high E and B. I like the way a zero fret sounds, I like that the strings seem to bend a LITTLE easier at the first few frets, since they are able to move from side to side a little on the zero fret. You can also do what I did, and buy a 25.5" scale neck with a trashed fret-board (maybe a poorly scalloped one--I saw a schecter one on ebay a few days ago). Take off the fret-board and make a new 25" scale (Paul reed smith) fret-board. Where the old nut was, you now have your string spacer there and the zero fret is about 3/8" ?? closer to the body. Maybe 1/2", not exactly sure, the guitar is a million miles away from me right now. And I just remember that I recently got an acoustic with a zero fret, that I haven't messed with yet. I also have some funky old neck with a zero fret. They are not extremely rare, but it just so happens that most people think that the way of Gibson and Fender is the only way to go. Leo might have been very tempted to use a zero fret. Steinberger and Gretsch are a couple of well known zero fret users.

8/23/2003 6:24 PM

soapbarstrat

You also have to work hard to get a zero fret "just right". Some say it can be the same height as the other frets, but I find you end up getting buzzing with it like that.You have to put extra relief into the neck to get rid of the buzzing, which is out of the question for me, cuz I like no more that .004" relief. Plus, "just right" for the Low E is much higher than "just right" for the high E, so, when I deal with zero frets, I have to use a fret at least .015" higher than the other frets, then file the fret down, more as I go toward the high E side.
But if I "blow it", a new piece of fret-wire is usually cheaper than some of the nut materials. On my own guitar with a zero fret, I used several short pieces of cut-off frets from re-fret jobs, that are not good for anything else. About 3/8" ?? long each, they are big enough for 2 strings to sit on, with a little room on each side. I use about 3 pieces like that, to build the whole zero fret. I even used a higher fret piece under the A and low E, and a lower piece under the high E and B.
I like the way a zero fret sounds, I like that the strings seem to bend a LITTLE easier at the first few frets, since they are able to move from side to side a little on the zero fret.
You can also do what I did, and buy a 25.5" scale neck with a trashed fret-board (maybe a poorly scalloped one--I saw a schecter one on ebay a few days ago). Take off the fret-board and make a new 25" scale (Paul reed smith) fret-board. Where the old nut was, you now have your string spacer there and the zero fret is about 3/8" ?? closer to the body. Maybe 1/2", not exactly sure, the guitar is a million miles away from me right now.
And I just remember that I recently got an acoustic with a zero fret, that I haven't messed with yet. I also have some funky old neck with a zero fret. They are not extremely rare, but it just so happens that most people think that the way of Gibson and Fender is the only way to go. Leo might have been very tempted to use a zero fret.
Steinberger and Gretsch are a couple of well known zero fret users.

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