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Zero fret


Mickthemiller

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I would have some intonation problems with some of the chords and chord changes. But I guess I would get use to it. Fender use to make a fretless bass.

This is not about no frets but a fret at the zero position aka zero fret like shown here:

 

800px-Zero-fret.jpg

 

Picture taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_fret

 

A true zero fret that is dressed like all the other frets, too, is best for guitar and bass performance. Unfortunately none of my instruments has it. I guess I will have to buy a Brian May Red Special guitar to own one at least.

 

The zero fret nut is no substitute for the real thing.

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Zero frets have something of a bad rep due to the number of manufacturers who have used it as a way of bypassing cutting the nut accurately.

 

Fylde are a good example of a high quality guitar maker who use zero frets. On Fyldes the nut itself is cut as accurately as a conventional nut, supporting the string from underneath and guiding it towards the tuner post. They play extremely well - I have two and rate them as highly as my pre war Gibsons - but how much the zero fret contributes is arguable.

 

From a manufacturing point of view fitting a zero fret properly with the nut cut accurately is more work than just doing a traditional nut so without a general consensus that it improves the tone or playability it's understandable that not many makers are keen.

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Yes I have them on my Burns Marvin and Burns Drifter electrics . Truth is they work beautifully when they are dressed correctly but with wear from the Rezotube trem creating a sawing action over the zero fret they need dressing quite often , otherwise the strings can ping when catching the grooves under the strings created on the zero fret. Never tried one on an acoustic since my old Eko Ranger .

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Why don't guitars have zero frets? Surely it makes better sense than filing nuts accurately. The only acoustic I've seen in recent years is the Martin, Martin Carthy model.

 

I have a Martin 000-18MC Martin Carthy with the zero fret. Bought it new. Sounded great from day one and it sounds even better now. I was just playing it. Does the zero fret make it sound great? No idea but I do know it's the best of my bunch (sorry to my Gibby's).

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Some Gibson classicals back in the 1960's had a zero fret. Can't remember which models or years.

 

Nick- the forum's Duane V recent addition is one of those 1960's Gibson classicals sporting a zero fret : Gibson C-O link

 

 

Zero frets have something of a bad rep due to the number of manufacturers who have used it as a way of bypassing cutting the nut accurately.

 

Fylde are a good example of a high quality guitar maker who use zero frets. On Fyldes the nut itself is cut as accurately as a conventional nut, supporting the string from underneath and guiding it towards the tuner post. They play extremely well - I have two and rate them as highly as my pre war Gibsons - but how much the zero fret contributes is arguable.

 

From a manufacturing point of view fitting a zero fret properly with the nut cut accurately is more work than just doing a traditional nut so without a general consensus that it improves the tone or playability it's understandable that not many makers are keen.

 

Good info there, Jay.

 

 

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Yes I have them on my Burns Marvin and Burns Drifter electrics . Truth is they work beautifully when they are dressed correctly but with wear from the Rezotube trem creating a sawing action over the zero fret they need dressing quite often , otherwise the strings can ping when catching the grooves under the strings created on the zero fret. Never tried one on an acoustic since my old Eko Ranger .

 

This is one of the reasons a properly cut nut on a zero fret system makes a difference: if the nut is supporting the string from below then there is just enough downward pressure on the zero fret to let the note ring out so the sawing effect when you alter string tension is far less. If the nut simply has deep slots to set the string spacing then there's a lot of downward pressure on the zero fret so it wears much quicker. Granted if you throw a vibrato into the mix it makes the situation worse!

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I had a Japanese knock off Les Paul way back in the 70's that had a zero fret.

 

The guitar was kind of junk all in all, and zero fret guitars have left me with a bad taste. The zero tends to wear quickly and will need to be replaced.

 

I have 2 Gretsch (FMI distributed) and one of the criteria I had when buying the Tenny Rose and mt Power Jet is they not have a zero fret. Many Gretsch's have them and some don't.

 

Both guitars I love and they sit somewhere between a Tele and a Les Paul with P90's tone wise. Both play like a charm too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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