ive got an old '70's cheapo tele rip-off made by a company called Jedson. it has a zero fret and some very weird hardware. the zero fret has a notch in it where the high E goes over it, and it catches whenever you play the string and 'pings'.

this guitar has so little value im not going to get the fret sorted, but it did get me thinking why it has one ?

You need to get that fret filed/stoned/leveled.

The zero fret was basically a very easy albeit expensive way of improving low fret intonation as it eliminates a sharp break angle from the nut to the first fret.

I'm a big fan of the zero fret.

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No no and no

i might get it out of the attic tomorrow. im afraid it does have a very dodgy union jack paintjob on it now though, a product of my indie kid upbringing in mid '90's britain

I think that the idea of the zero fret originally was for allowing for more accurate intonation and to allow for easier chording.

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+1 My Supro Martinique has one. The intonation is still amazing and plays like a Fretless Wonder.

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Someone who likes zero frets and has lamented that more guitars don't have them is Brian May. He built his Red Special with a zero fret: the replica his company offers has one and so does their acoustic guitar.

Brian's thinking is this. If the zero fret is levelled exactly the same as all the others then low position string height issues associated with badly cut nuts are non-existent. Also, if you feel that open strings ring with a slightly different sound to fretted ones due to the bone or plastic of the nut being different to the metal of the frets, then using a zero fret instead of a nut removes that issue. Fretted and open strings will sound the same.

Some of us don't think that matters much: you pays your money, you takes your choice.

On the other hand, since both (non-Feitenized) nuts and frets ring from a breaking point which is a straight line there can be no impact on intonation. (Except in as much as you won't have the low position problems caused by a nut that is cut too high, as previously mentioned.)

Cheers - C

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(Bump - five days later.)

Just to revive this thread, I was reminded whilst watching this vid that Hofners also have a zero fret:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=69945&p=829047#p829047

And if I'm seeing it right the zero fret on the bass the gentleman is building at around 9.35 in the video is of a different wire than the rest of the frets. That's an odd idea: presumably it will be a higher wire to lift the zero position breaking point a little above the others. Hmm...

Cheers - C

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That won't work on a zero fret if it's a true zero fret.

It has to be replaced. This is the primary problem with zero frets, that they quickly wear out and have to be replaced very often, as the OP notices.

A lot of zero frets aren't true zero frets -- i.e, they are larger than the other frets. This totally defeats their intended purpose. The so-called zero fret on my Gretsch "Tennessee Rose" is like that. Dumb, on a guitar that expensive.

I can see nickel frets wearing fast, do they use stainless steel? Seems like that would last or brass for that matter.

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My Kramer had one, loved the zero fret.


Anyway to get it installed on a guitar that wasn't built with it?

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Hi Floyd: I guess if a guy just HAD to have a zero fret then it is do-able but it would be a niggly little bit of carpentry and it would never look quite right, because the angle down to the face of the peghead starts too near the fingerboard on a guitar that was built for a normal nut. I like pulling off odd little challenges like that, but I'm certain I wouldn't bother with this one. Even if you're convinced by the argument for zero frets the difference isn't significant enough to make it worth this sort of hassle.

However, if you like the idea of the strings travelling over metal at the breaking point you could always install a brass nut. That's an easy retro-fit, comparatively.

I'm neither recommending brass nuts nor the opposite - that's your own decision. For some reason brass nuts is a topic that sometimes leads to angry tempers amongst guitarists... Yikes, I'm outta here!

Cheers - C

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I rip the zero fret out of any guitar I get that has one.
What a waste of metal, if you ask me.



just joking

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My other guitar is a Strat.

Nick turned me on to compensated nuts and nowadays I expect I'd always use one of those on a new-build guitar. However, I have a longtime plan on the backburner to build a Brian-May-Red-Special-meets-Stratocaster project, incorporating elements of both instruments. I guess I could put a zero-fret on that, just for the heck of it.

The Red Special also has an oak fingerboard, which is the only example of oak in an electric guitar I can think of. I'd also do that - so it would be a fairly off-beam project from the outset. On the other hand, I think he also used particle board in the middle of the body. That's where I draw the line. Particle board does not belong in a musical instrument.

There's probably someone who's now itching to tell me that particle board guitars sound great. Hands up, anyone...?



Cheers - C

EDIT: typos. D'uh.

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im pretty sure the guitar i started this thread about is made from plywood.

Mosrites sound nice. And use a zero fret.

They use a cardboard like substance for the body for the Venture II model.
For what it's worth, well... we all know my feelings on the subject. If it's solid, it'll do.


Could be new guitar day in another hour! Yippee, I missed the Fedex man. So I'm off to the depot to demand my guitar!

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No no and no