Has Anyone Here Had a Zero Fret Installed?

[nickv6]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

A quick internet search yields contradictory opinions. Some say it is more difficult to properly install a zero fret.

Genuine question (as I'm not a luthier)..
How can it be difficult to use a zero fret. Isn't all levelling etc done before fitting the spacer nut so it should be really straightforward?
Whereas the nut is a really skilled task isn't it?
(I can see how retro fitting one could be very hard obviously.)

I also forgot to mention one drawback of a zero fret. If bending the string on lower frets, particularly the high e and b, if the distance between the zero fret and the nut is too great, you can hear a scraping from the zero fret as the string moves across it. It doesn't come through loud or amped playing but it can be there as an annoyance.
Nick

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by nickv6

How can it be difficult to use a zero fret.

This article suggests it is difficult to do well:
https://fyldeguitars.com/zero-frets.html

Whereas the nut is a really skilled task isn't it?

For me, the skilled part is getting the slots cut in exactly the right place and of the right size/shape for the strings so that there is no binding in the slots. I expect that would be the same regardless of a regular nut or a zero fret. Cutting the depth of the slots isn't particularly difficult, though irrelevant with a zero fret. The zero fret would save me time/effort on the least difficult part of making a nut, cutting the depth.

I'm neither for nor against a zero fret but have not a made a guitar with a zero fret.

[nickv6]

Thanks for the link Charles. I found it very interesting...not least because I spend my life working on pianos.....though lots of things about pianos do not carry over to guitars. The strings are massively stiffer on a piano for one thing.
Ta again,
Nick

[Don Grimm]

I have installed Zero Glide nuts on three of my acoustics. I often retune to G and D and I think the zero fret helps a lot, with no pinging or hanging. As for sound, I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference, but it probably depends on the guitar. It definitely is easy to install and if you don't like it just put your old nut back on!

[Russ C]

If the nut comes off with no risk or regret then a zero fret is easy to level perfectly and may be the better system.
If the nut is not just surface mounted and could chip lacquer or wood getting it off then a zero fret is harder to adjust (and unlikely to remain as well adjusted) as a nut.

[hess]

Interesting. My voyage air has a zero nut mainly because it also has a captive nut, i.e., holes instead of slots. I always thought the zero nut made sense for several reasons. Never thought about cutting a nut blank to accommodate a zero fret and didn’t know the zero glide nut product existed ... so learned something new here. Thanks!

[Talldad]

Help me out here, there’s something I don’t quite understand.

I understand the idea of a zero fret, I get that it makes intonation at the nut end much easier, I can even buy up to the idea that it means all notes are fretted rather than some being open so a more consistent tone, not sold on it mind!

The disadvantages seem to outweigh the advantages in my mind. Fret wire is soft, it scratches very easily and it will create a notch which will affect tuning if there’s is the slightest play in the bone string spacer.

Why not just reduce the levels on the nut lower to make it more playable? It seems obvious to me that if you put a capo on fret 1 you can measure the clearance over fret 2, simply transfer this to your nut setup.

Advantages are that you will have a bone but much less prone to wear. Or am I missing something!

[Don Grimm]

I have used stainless steel fret wire in my Zero Glide installations and after several years use there is no perceptible wear on the fret. The fret itself is easy to replace, so wear is not really a concern even if you use regular fret wire. I don't see them as some kind of magic solution to everything, but if you retune a lot they work wonderfully!