Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Almost every new bass/guitar/ukulele I have bought, has had to have the nut adjusted before it was properly playable. One notable exception was the hohner B2A 'licensed by steinberger' cricket bat bass which I bought new in 1986. This has a zero fret, so the height of the nut does not need adjustment. Just wondering why more instruments don't have a zero fret. Is it because most of the popular brands traditionally don't have zero frets? does it make the fabrication of the neck more hassle? or is there likely to be some other reason? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I think there's a perception that a zero fret is the mark of a 'cheaper' instrument, but since Fylde use it on their stuff that seems to be inaccurate reasoning. Dunno really, seems practical to me. Just get a fretless - no zero fret either way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I feel your pain. I'm totally OCD about nuts being cut too high which has been the case on every bass or guitar I've ever played except my zero-fretted status. Even on a fretless you see high cut nuts which is just bizzare since cutting the nut on a fretless is dead easy - you just bring it down to where the string just touches the fingerboard. I dont know of any technical reason why it isnt more popular, probably down to players being perceived as too conservative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 [quote name='hubrad' timestamp='1436115963' post='2815094'] Dunno really, seems practical to me. Just get a fretless - no zero fret either way! [/quote] I do have a fretless - a 'bitzer' precision I put together many years ago. The maple/ebony neck didn't come with a nut fitted so I made one by cutting/filing a 'synthetic ivory' chopstick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Zero fret always struck me as a good idea and I've never associated it with 'cheaper' instruments. Ned Steinberger, Joe Veillette and Rob Green are three renowned luthiers to have gone the zero fret route at various times and on various instruments. I'm sure there's more. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byo Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 (edited) In the late 60's and 70's many inexpensive guitars had a zero fret fitted, this allowed the nuts to be cut without taking much into consideration as the fret would dictate the height over the fretboard. This saved time and unfortunately it was associated to cheap instruments. We have many high quality zero fret instruments in the market today therefore the idea of "cheap and zero fret" is slowly fading away. I have never had a zero fret instrument, so not sure what difference it can make if the whole thing is setup properly. Just to add another option to the main topic, what about adjustable nuts? (i.e. Warwick just-a-nut) I think that having the ability of adjusting the bridge, truss rod and nut makes much sense. Edited July 5, 2015 by Byo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musashimonkey Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I'm happy with zero frets, and I agree, the Warwick adjustable nut is great, it means you can really tweak the full set up and go back on any adjustments you make - a little difficult to do if you've filed the nut down too much on a standard one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Zero-frets make absolute sense regading open-string height. I've had to adjust the nut on pretty much ever bass & guitar I've owned. Apart from those with zero-frets. The other positive is that open strings resonate on the same material as fretted notes, meaning there's no tonal difference - which is likely when the open string's terminating at a bit of plastic or dead animal! Adjustable nuts are a great idea - albeit irrelevant witha zero-fret. Thomann do very affordable alternatives to the Just-A-Nut: [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/abm_6240_webster_nut_bass.htm"]http://www.thomann.d...er_nut_bass.htm[/url] Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manton Customs Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 There aren't any real disadvantages to a zero fret other than they can wear surprisingly quickly and replacing one is a little more tricky than replacing a nut. However that still takes a long time to become an issue and getting guaranteed perfect height at the nut is a big advantage for mass produced instruments. If it's from a luthier it's not really an issue as the nut slots will (or should!) be cut to perfect depth anyway. I can see the appeal of adjustable nuts for the person who likes to play about with their setup a lot, but in reality they have no advantage over a non adjustable nut as once a nut is cut correctly you shouldn't need to ever make adjustments other than perhaps width if you change string gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRichards Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Zero fret started as a "boutique" high end item. Most notable was Mosrite all the way back in the early '60s. Definitely done for ease of manufacture and for even tonality across the strings when played open. High end and custom Kramers all had them as well. Also guarantees near perfect intonation as you are no longer slave to the nut cut and height for the early fretted notes. I've had both, and actually prefer zero fret, as then the nut is really just a string holder and spacer. When nuts go bad, you don't have to really worry about much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 All Sandberg basses have Zero Frets. That must count for something? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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