I did this with a stainless steel bike spoke and added some intonation compensation by shaping the nut with a file and bending the spoke to fit. Once satisfied, I glued the spoke to the nut and the result was a compensated zero fret!
Good video. I just installed a Sintoms Zero Fret on my Tele. It’s asymmetrical and fits into the nut slot just barely. No need to make a shelf in the nut, it’s tight up against it. If you haven’t seen this one there’s a video on RUclips. But it’s in Russian! I think they’re made in Belarus. They’re much easier to install than the zero glide, and are under $10.
I was thinking of doing this for my Guild Starfire, but seeing the work (and tools) involved, I think I'll just go for a Zero Glide... if they have one that will fit my guitar, that is. And if not, this video will be very helpful!
Did you use a zero fret with an offset tang to compensate for the fact that a standard centered tang will not allow the peak of the fret crown to sit precisely where the end of the nut did previously or did you remove half the width of the fret tang from the end of the fingerboard to center the peak of the zero fret?
I tried something like this on a project guitar of mine that had a tusq nut already glued in. i used a slotting saw like you did when coming in from the top, but cutting at it from the side, it dawned on me the fret files i have are flexible and thin, so i masked off the fingerboard like you did, and then kind of sawed in sideways with the nut slotting file while making sure i was holding it down against the fingerboard so it would flex to match the fingerboard. It seems to have worked well.
Hi... Where did you get the zero fret? I would like to do this to my acoustic, there must be different profiles of fret, how do I determine the right fret for me?
They don’t make a lefty Zero Glide so my luthier at Blues Angel Music in Pensacola had to do this very thing. Only difference is started from scratch with the nut.
file has blunt edge means that one side of the file has the teeth filed down to the metal so it is shiny and flat..this is the side of the file that does not cut whereas the other side still has the teeth and does the cutting..
It seems to me that you are neglecting the half thickness of the fret. You don't remove any material from the fingerboard. Won't this create an intonation problem?
It shouldn't affect intonation. The top of the fret crown, where the string rests, is perpendicular to the tang. The tang is sandwiched between the end of the neck ans the nut. Normally, a guitar nut rests against the end of the neck, and the string rests against the nut slots that are perpendicular to the side of the nut that touches the end of the neck. Both are essentially the same, regarding where the strings are stopped. Fret tangs are typically 0.5 mm (0.020 inches) wide/thick, so that's the amount of difference, so maybe that could affect intonation.
@@Broken-Silencer Yes, you have the fret half the thikness of the tang too far back. That's not a lot, maybe not noticeable on a long scale like fenders.
@@danielbarbieri8199 Maybe I haven't given it enough thought. Half the thickness of the tang is approx .25mm. I'm doing a refret soon, so I might make a zero fret out of the same fret wire and see what happens.
I notice that you bought the nut down so the strings were touch first fret, is this so when you put the zero fret in the strings then sit on the zero fret and not the nut? Thanks
@@guitarriffsnlicks1399yes, otherwise the zero fret would be pointless. The point of a zero fret is so that it acts as the nut for a contact point, then the nut becomes used exclusively for string spacing.
I did this with a stainless steel bike spoke and added some intonation compensation by shaping the nut with a file and bending the spoke to fit. Once satisfied, I glued the spoke to the nut and the result was a compensated zero fret!
Great guitars came out of Japan in the 70s. Ibanez, Greco, Burny , Tokai to name a few.
Good video. I just installed a Sintoms Zero Fret on my Tele. It’s asymmetrical and fits into the nut slot just barely. No need to make a shelf in the nut, it’s tight up against it. If you haven’t seen this one there’s a video on RUclips. But it’s in Russian! I think they’re made in Belarus. They’re much easier to install than the zero glide, and are under $10.
I was thinking of doing this for my Guild Starfire, but seeing the work (and tools) involved, I think I'll just go for a Zero Glide... if they have one that will fit my guitar, that is. And if not, this video will be very helpful!
Did you use a zero fret with an offset tang to compensate for the fact that a standard centered tang will not allow the peak of the fret crown to sit precisely where the end of the nut did previously or did you remove half the width of the fret tang from the end of the fingerboard to center the peak of the zero fret?
I tried something like this on a project guitar of mine that had a tusq nut already glued in. i used a slotting saw like you did when coming in from the top, but cutting at it from the side, it dawned on me the fret files i have are flexible and thin, so i masked off the fingerboard like you did, and then kind of sawed in sideways with the nut slotting file while making sure i was holding it down against the fingerboard so it would flex to match the fingerboard. It seems to have worked well.
Very nicely done!!
Did you use an offset tang fret ? same as supplied with the Zero Glide? They say it is necessary so as not to mess with the fretboard scale length
Hi... Where did you get the zero fret? I would like to do this to my acoustic, there must be different profiles of fret, how do I determine the right fret for me?
They don’t make a lefty Zero Glide so my luthier at Blues Angel Music in Pensacola had to do this very thing. Only difference is started from scratch with the nut.
file has blunt edge means that one side of the file has the teeth filed down to the metal so it is shiny and flat..this is the side of the file that does not cut whereas the other side still has the teeth and does the cutting..
It seems to me that you are neglecting the half thickness of the fret. You don't remove any material from the fingerboard. Won't this create an intonation problem?
Yeah, I don't really understand. Wouldn't this method shorten your scale length? Very minimally I'm sure, but would it effect the intonation?
@@johnrogers2826
I think so
It shouldn't affect intonation. The top of the fret crown, where the string rests, is perpendicular to the tang. The tang is sandwiched between the end of the neck ans the nut. Normally, a guitar nut rests against the end of the neck, and the string rests against the nut slots that are perpendicular to the side of the nut that touches the end of the neck. Both are essentially the same, regarding where the strings are stopped. Fret tangs are typically 0.5 mm (0.020 inches) wide/thick, so that's the amount of difference, so maybe that could affect intonation.
@@Broken-Silencer
Yes, you have the fret half the thikness of the tang too far back. That's not a lot, maybe not noticeable on a long scale like fenders.
@@danielbarbieri8199 Maybe I haven't given it enough thought. Half the thickness of the tang is approx .25mm. I'm doing a refret soon, so I might make a zero fret out of the same fret wire and see what happens.
I use a cheep plastic nut and save the original if I want to reverse in the future
How does this improve the sound or functionality of the guitar?
In theory, all strings are now fretted and should have the same tone. Also this will give the best nut action possible.
Lots of hand work, what did you bill your customer for this? Nice Rolex.
This was for my own use. But same cost as a nut in essence
I notice that you bought the nut down so the strings were touch first fret, is this so when you put the zero fret in the strings then sit on the zero fret and not the nut? Thanks
@@guitarriffsnlicks1399yes, otherwise the zero fret would be pointless. The point of a zero fret is so that it acts as the nut for a contact point, then the nut becomes used exclusively for string spacing.
Its a great idea, but I rather have a perfectly slotted nut....