Guitar tuning - who woulda thunk? idea

[lawajava]

I came across this clip and guitar tuning suggestion.  Give the guy a min or two to get through his intro.  It's interesting.  I'm going to try it.

 

 

[Glenn Stanton]

you can buy "zero fret" nuts. i have one installed on my strat. once installed and set intonation and action, unbelievable. nearly perfect intonation (as much as straight frets and equal temperament tuning get you) and easy playing even when i switched to 12's on the high E. https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/materials/nuts-and-saddles/zero-glide-nuts/

Edited July 26 by Glenn Stanton

[lawajava]

Thanks - will look at that!  Interesting to see these techniques.

 

[Glenn Stanton]

just after i installed it and before going back to 12s on the E. also, while you have the strings off - i recommend giving your frets a nice polishing and clean the fretboard 🙂 

Edited July 30 by Glenn Stanton

[Starship Krupa]

On 7/30/2025 at 9:54 AM, Glenn Stanton said:

just after i installed it

Hmm. While I am quite interested in zero fret nuts, the photo looks as if the zero fret is closer to the 1st fret than if you just used a regular nut. Seems like that would mess up intonation rather than improving it, but since you've actually done it and like it, I guess it's not a problem.

Or is the way that it works the plastic part of the nut gets narrower to accommodate the zero fret being moved further toward the headstock?

Can you post where you bought the nut?

[mettelus]

11 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

While I am quite interested in zero fret nuts, the photo looks as if the zero fret is closer to the 1st fret than if you just used a regular nut.

The apex of the zero nut is in line with the tang of the fret, so if it is constructed properly it should be exactly on the end of the fretboard (no change). The StewMac link @Glenn Stanton posted above was the reference where he got it, but in that pic the tang is rolled forward slightly from back pressure by the nut (so is sort of a hybrid between perfectly vertical and the video in the OP). The zero fret has no barbs on the tang, so you can still fiddle with the shelf on the nut to adjust as needed. With softer fretboards, be careful cycling a nut in and out though... you can reinforce it some with superglue just to harden the nut face (I wouldn't glue that fret in, maybe a couple small drops on the nut; the strings do the grunt work holding a nut in place).

[Glenn Stanton]

yes, i got it from stwmac. and the metal fret lines up where the original nut edge would have been. basically it's a fret wire backed by the nut to keep the strings aligned, and the kit comes with a few different size wires. i picked the very narrow one. but it's easy to swap them (which i did before settling on the narrow one).

as noted, intonation is better, action is better. makes you wonder why the guitar companies don't do this out of the box... lol. probably the extra 5¢ per guitar cuts into the shareholder dividends...

Edited August 3 by Glenn Stanton

[Pathfinder]

On 8/3/2025 at 8:37 AM, Glenn Stanton said:

yes, i got it from stwmac. and the metal fret lines up where the original nut edge would have been. basically it's a fret wire backed by the nut to keep the strings aligned, and the kit comes with a few different size wires. i picked the very narrow one. but it's easy to swap them (which i did before settling on the narrow one).

as noted, intonation is better, action is better. makes you wonder why the guitar companies don't do this out of the box... lol. probably the extra 5¢ per guitar cuts into the shareholder dividends...

Hey Glenn

di you install it yourself? Is it a big deal and is it EASY ENOUGH to undo if not happy.

Thanks

[Glenn Stanton]

for me? i do a lot of guitar repair / customization and maintenance, so for me, it's really easy.

if you have not ever replaced a guitar nut, it should still be fairly easy - some key things - CAREFULLY remove the existing nut and GENTLY clean up any glue on the neck. you might need to use an fingernail shaper board to CAREFULLY make sure the surface is even, and then placing the new zero fret nut (the string spacer and fret wire) is easy. you might need to try a few different wires to find which in the set make sense for your instrument and playing style.

once you have the right combination, you might need to CAREFULLY file the edges of the fret wire and possible the spacer to get them to sit flush with the edge of the neck. for me - i take them off, file and polish, check fit. if not yet ok, repeat.

a final check with the strings under tension and you can either go and CAREFULLY glue it or not. I did not glue mine. the string tension is holding it in place, and because it's fit properly, even changing all the strings at once, it's no effort to readjust, the fret wire once in place does the work.

Edited October 7 by Glenn Stanton

[JnTuneTech]

I need to say thanks @Glenn Stanton - I read your info about this in another thread a while back, and that got me going to do the Zero-fret mods. Using some funds I had available at the time, I actually got 2 kits, 1 for Strat, and one for Les Paul. -They aren't exactly cheap, but to me were well worth it. The intonation on both guitars became so much easier to adjust, though it actually brightened the sound of the guitar, which makes sense, since now the nut actually has less direct resonance effectively, and some folks may not like that I suppose.

I can also note that, for me, it seems to be something that really is needed on any guitar with a whammy bar, probably even B-benders, etc. and on that note , I would agree that those types of guitars should come that way from the factory. Since the strings slide a bit more through the nut slots when you bend heavily, such as with a whammy bar, those standard bone nuts start to wear, and wear unevenly for me, after lots of playing. The Zero-fret setup fixed that, and stops almost all the "string grab" that happens with older guitars, between the tuners and the nut. I retune very little now, after the strings settle in of course.

When I had the cash, I also bought a neck replacement, for a cheap China made Tele I had that seemed to have hopeless intonation issues. It came with a plastic nut which many recent builds do now, and as such, doesn't seem to "grab" or have intonation issues, so I just stuck with that, and that really fixed the problems for me on that guitar in a big way. Only a fixed bridge on that one, so I don't plan on doing the Zero-fret on that one.

 

-All this work does take some tools & materials, to be clear. I had to get in the mood and get messy! Sanding to fit the Zero-fret kit is a must, and I developed a blister doing the Les Paul. I had to have a drill to mount the replacement Tele neck. Otherwise though, it can be done without super-specialized tools.

 

I have only seen a few custom guitar builds that offer Zero-fret options. -One was on a Rickenbacker 4003 bass, which I found interesting! But there are plenty of builds nowadays that will put locking tuners in place of the old standard wind-cut-and-pray pegs. I really like locking tuners along with the Zero-fret setup. -Funny, I had one salesman ask me what the heck do locking tuners do for you? And I say, well, if you don't know, it probably won't matter to you, I guess. But, it does also take cash, and/or some tools & work, to be clear.   I sure like the results I have though. I would have done it or ordered it years ago had I known then.