RVA
Ambassador
I never really bothered to learn much about the zero fret. I found this article informative.
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/String_Nut_or_Zero_Fret
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/String_Nut_or_Zero_Fret
Zero fret
- Thread starter RVA
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- string nut zero fret
I can take or leave the zero fret.
Most Asian imports in the 60's had one.
I suppose it's a labor saver.
Keeps assemblers from having to learn how to properly cut a nut & set action.
I can see where it would be more consistent on an assembly line as well.
Most Asian imports in the 60's had one.
I suppose it's a labor saver.
Keeps assemblers from having to learn how to properly cut a nut & set action.
I can see where it would be more consistent on an assembly line as well.
DonP
Guest
Nope, that is not a zero fret - it's a metal nut. The way the two are set up is entirely different.
gasket
Ambassador of the Guitarded
Please expand. I'm here for an education.
In short I see on the SG doing a similar thing as the Gretsch, except the SG is one piece. Both have the strings resting on the top fret replacing what would have been a nut. Behind each fret is a slotted string spacer.
DonP
Guest
OK, a zero fret is just another fret, exactly like all the other frets on the guitar. You set it up as just another part of the fret levelling process. You can't do that with a nut. You have to file down carefully and try to come somewhere close to the height of the rest of the frets, but because the penalty for an overshoot is a new nut, you have to stop short and leave the nut a little too high. The Gibson metal nut is in that second camp, and can't be levelled with a sanding beam along with the rest of the frets.
gasket
Ambassador of the Guitarded
How do I know you didn't keep the real one and send a Chibson, I don't, I also suspect I have a reproduced Peavy T60 sent express post from the swamp ;-)
How do I like it, you know one Chibson is just like another, HAAA haaa!
OP
RVA
Ambassador
What is different? It has a slightly higher metal bar, presumably at the proper scale position, in front of more deeply grooved string spacers. How does it vary other than being removable and requiring an unusually large nut slot?
DonP
Guest
That first one is a zero fret (not zero nut). To set it, you remove the nut and do a fret level. Every fret, including fret zero is at the correct height. The second one? Nope, not a chance. You have to file and hope.
That first picture does nicely illustrate a Gibson-style problem though - the stupidly large break angle. That sixth string carries on rising for quite a distance once it is over the fretboard. Eventually it will settle down with a sharp bend over the nut edge. Until then it will never be truly stable.
OP
RVA
Ambassador
How right you are. They are know for slipping out of the slot on the "zero nuts". They subsequently made a titanium nut with taller slots. In addition, the bronze bar develops grooves from the constant re-tuning of the G-force system. I just ordered a titanium nut from Gibson (they are providing them free of charge), as well as the Tusq drop in replacement (a regular, wide nut). I will try them both.
OP
RVA
Ambassador
I think Don P's point was that a significant benefit of the zero fret is lost if you cannot level it with the other frets. This would seem to suffer from that deficit.