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Location: south east Michigan | What would be the pros and cons of a zero fret Ovation? You would think that it could only improve the action. Especially on cowboy chords. |
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December 2004
Posts: 370
Location: Isle of Man, UK | I'd be interested... what are the pro's and cons of a zero fret in any case? I'm just curious, as I have a mix of guitars - my strats don't have a zero fret, but my Brian May Red Special does, my Ovations don't, but I'm looking after/slowly doing up a friend's EKO 12 string that does.
Never something I'd thought about until Slip mentioned it...
JB |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I did some research on the zero fret. It’s intriguing. The playability at the lower frets is appealing. From what I read it seems to complicate adjusting the action once the guitar is finished. For instance, if I wanted to raise or lower the action I would need to change the zero fret accordingly. |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| I'm a fan. Would improve most guitars, but its expensive (relatively) and time consuming. Computer Controlled machines cut frets more accurately these days, so there isn't the advantage intonation wise that there once was with a zero fret. But there is a distinct (IMHO) advantage on the action at the money frets. I vote for.
Has anybody ever played one of those Frank Gambale signature models from Yamaha that have that wave in the first fret? |
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November 2004
Posts: 286
Location: Idaho | I have a Gretsch with a zero fret and like it enough to have seriously pondered the possibility of retrofitting another guitar. Love the action and eliminates some intonation problems when switching string sizes. It would require manufacturers to take more care in initial setup. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I think you get better intonation with a nut. |
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Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | I see no advantage to the action on the cowboy frets and a zero fret was always a way to cheat placing the nut in the correct position.
My first guitar had a zero fret and many of the gretsch guitars I have owned. Have I ever mentioned that there has never been a gretsch I needed to keep? |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | posted by CWK
"I think you get better intonation with a nut."
...depends on how hard you squeeze |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| There is a difference between cheap guitars which used to use a zero fret and some seriously expensive current ones built by some of the best luthiers around. Some luthiers wouldn't use a zero fret if you paid them and others wouldn't make a guitar without one. It's one of those things where it's all a matter of opinion not a matter of fact.
"My first guitar had a zero fret and many of the gretsch guitars I have owned. Have I ever mentioned that there has never been a gretsch I needed to keep?"
So why (if you don't mind me asking) do you keep buying them? |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Re-Sale(I'd venture t'say). |
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November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | On the subject of nuts and stuff, I am curious about something. The nut on my Adamas has taken on a very distinct patina. It spent the better part of a year sitting out in a stand, and its as if something in the air colored the nut. It it more noticible on the tuner side than the fingerboard side.
We have a non-smoking house, and stopped cooking meth a few years before I got the guitar.
Is this common?
Jeff |
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Posts: 83
Location: Norman, OK | Sure is...Statistics show most non-smoking homes are no longer meth labs. :D
Sunlight maybe?
Mike O |
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January 2006
Posts: 208
Location: Illinois | My first guitar has a zero fret. Zero frets simplify, and therefore make fore less expensive, guitar building. A nut has to be precisely cut and polished to achieve good tone and intonation. For good tone the strings need to be able to move side to side at the saddle and nut (0-fret). If a string has poor tone or buzzes when open, but resolves itself when fretted, you probably have a nut slot problem. A zero fret acts like another saddle. With a zero fret, the nut is basically just a comb which seperates the strings and looks pretty.
Intonation is neither better nor worse than a good nut installation. As long as all the other frets are the correct distance with respect to the scale length (nut to saddle, or in this case 0-fret to saddle) intonation is nearly assured. String selection can affect intonation, but that is whole other discussion.
Originally my Epiphone with a factory 0-fret had, IMnsHO, the first 5 or 6 frets severely honed down. Most likely to aleviate buzzing. This was probably due to the fact that they used the same fret wire for the zero as the rest of the frets. But, it played well for many years. When I re-fretted her I chose frets I liked and also purchased a short length of fret wire that had a higher profile than the others. No honing was needed to prevent buzzing. All the other frets sit up tall and are easily fingered. Barring is almost effortless now.
Retrofitting is expensive as a 0-fret needs to be placed at the top end of the fret board where the nut is... then where do you put the nut? This necessitates lengthening or replacing the fretboard with a longer one. But, if the truss rod adjustment is in the headstock, you have an accessability problem by placing the added fretboard over it. So... move it all down a ways.. However, then you'd have to replace the entire fretboard with a blank one. You'd have to calculate and cut all the fret slots based on the new scale length.... or move the bridge down. Moving the bridge is not a good idea because you disrupt the bracing dynamics under the sound board. With an Ovation, that would be next to impossible due to their penchant for using epoxy, unless they use hide glue for the bridge.
Suffice it to say retro-fitting a zero fret is doable, but not feasible unless you're installing a new fretboard anyway.
If I were king of the world I'd decree all guitars have zero frets. |
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February 2003
Posts: 2177
Location: the BIG Metropolis of TR | A zero fret has the same affect as using a capo.
The nut in this case is the capo....
(or as Paul T. says: "cappo" ;) ) |
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February 2006
Posts: 140
| posted by CWK "I think you get better intonation with a nut" What kind of nut, walnut, pecan ? KG |
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May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | Considering where you're asking that question, I'd be surprised if someone doesn't answer:
Pee
Oh, wait... |
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Zero Fret
