Official Luthiers Forum!

Yes, the zero fret is at the typical nut position, and is in effect the nut.
No, the break angle is over the zero fret and the nut is the string spacer. I usually slot the nut deeply enough so that the string isn't tight against the bottom of the slot.

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A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon

Beth, I thought of you in the shop tonight and snapped this pic for you. This is an uke not a guitar so don't let the little fret wire throw you off. You can get a better idea of the proximity of the "nut" to the zero fret. I'm still refining this neck, the nut will certainly end up lower. I like to install it before I carve the neck to keep everything flush. It is hard to tell from the pic but I put the nut on the fretboard side of the neck angle and the veneers create a nut slot. I suppose you could put it on the other surface and do the same but the corner that's hits the FB edge wouldn't be 90 degrees.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I like a zero fret, easy to set up, even tone on open chords, tiny bit more space for my hand.

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B7 is the only chord that gets me in that position, I play a lot in open D and seem to pull my hand back sometimes. It is subtle and really does not matter that much. The other little thing is the space from a volute to the first fret. I think on this one I have to give a pure players response, it's all in my head and I like it that way.

Thanks for the reminder, I was trying to think what song I play with b7's, and have been trying to remember what JJ Cale songs I know, Drifter's Wife.

RIP JJ

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A bit backwards Filippo, if you listen to JJ Cale while building, you will then have the urge to build with a zero fret, and learn some of his songs to play. Following me is like following the old woman who swallowed a fly, I don't know why . . . . . .

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Thanks, Bryan! The math of fretboards makes me nervous because it has to be so precise, but now that I have Andy B for FBs, maybe I'll start doing the zero fret thing on the next build...which probably won't be until 2014 given how slowly the J 45 is going!

Beth:
I use the fret board calculator on the Stumac site. I convert inches to millimeters and round to the nearest five. Using a jeweller's lupe , I can reliably place a fret-slot within half a millimeter (20 thou). Anybody who demands better precision than that is kidding himself or maybe I have a tin ear.

Bob