Official Luthiers Forum!

A friend of mine has a guitar with a zero fret that he has played down to the nubs. It is badly in need of a refret. So my question is: Is the zero fret leveled with the rest of the frets? Is it the same height as the rest of the frets?

I'm a newbie. I've built a couple of guitars and the fretwork has turned out seemingly very playable, so I am confident in my ability in that regard, and he is aware of my limited experience. I told him I would ask about the zero fret and if there were any special considerations. Are there?

I have searched the archives and found a few discussions on the perceived benefits of zero frets, but no information regarding the building or refretting.

Thank you in advance.

Darrin

Some folks just use the next fret size up for the zero fret.

There's no need to do anything different for the zero fret than any of the other frets.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I use zero frets and treat them all the same. It doesn't need to be any higher than the others.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

BTW, I have a question for you: How is the wear on the zero fret compared to the others?

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

The zero fret looks like it has no wear, whereas the areas under the 1st through 3rd strings on frets 1-7 or 8 are worn flat and very close to the fretboard.

Thank you for your answers.

Darrin