Zero Fret Nut position

I'm motivated by the customer who has gone over an instrument with a Peterson tuner and complains about how many cents the intonation is out by...

I suppose some customers loose sight of what really has value and what they are actually paying for. Surely the Uke’s a simple instrument, based on a broad traditional and pragmatic design, that has brought joy to many. You expertly interpreted and build to that design; IMHO it’s just silly to expect even the best of Luthier built instruments to be perfectly in tune everywhere - Luthiers work hard to achieve the best of what is practically possible. Such customers, with their extreme demands, remind me of the Hi-FI ‘Buffs’ who used to listen out for the scratches in records rather than enjoy the music.
 
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Some customers though... I suspect I am looking for ways to improve and am getting to the end of the list. I'm gonna try this just to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks for all of the input. A valuable contribution to my improving skills most gratefully received. Now I just got to program my CNC... (and that is another story :) )
 
Such customers, with their extreme demands, remind me of the Hi-FI ‘Buffs’ who used to listen out for the scratches in records rather than enjoy the music.

You are playing my music Graham. Right on... Still, as a player I don't really like funky sounding notes at certain positions. As a builder all I strive for is minimal funk and I'm happy. My two cents worth as in two cents worth of error is 2 cents worth good enough. But gosh darnit, it could be better. I'd take right on or 1 cent but the ukulele is what it is and maybe that is part of the charm.
 
A 2 cent error in intonation isn't that bad. I can live with a 2 cent error on some strings and some frets however I've played new ukuleles that had a 5 cent error at the 2nd fret and even worse up the neck. That kind of error is terrible and puts new players off.
 
A 2 cent error in intonation isn't that bad. I can live with a 2 cent error on some strings and some frets however I've played new ukuleles that had a 5 cent error at the 2nd fret and even worse up the neck. That kind of error is terrible and puts new players off.

Yup, dreadful for a new player because they think it's their error not the instrument. Mostly the reason is a dreadful nut, and this could have been avoided by using a zero fret :)

I build with zero frets but I don't sell my ukes (if you own one it is genuinely priceless!) and so can't say how the market perceives them. My guess would be that on a non-factory instrument there would be no negativity, because it's clearly not a cost cutting device.

But don't leave a big gap between the zero fret and the string spacer (nut) as that always looks cheap.
 
Here's a photo of how you make sure every string is properly intonated (to the extreme) by working on the nut position..

View attachment 103423

I just don't think half a fret slot is the answer. Even though it might help for one set of strings, it's unlikely to work the same for another set of different material/composition.

I meant to reply to this earlier. The instrument pictured is a 6, steel string guitar. Nylon string ukuleles don't need ANYTHING that extreme yet a LITTLE nut compensation is good. My two bobs worth. 1 mm compensation is plenty and then file back if the intonation has gone flat on the first few frets. Make a test instrument and figure out how much you need yourself. It won't be as radical as this example.
 
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Hello,

Funny to see how such a mundane matter can become so controversial...

From my own experience, and after a totally intuitive idea, I saved a cheap Mahilele soprano with terrible intonation issue just by putting a piece of metal cut off from a paperclip as a poor man's zero fret, which keeps in place only by the pressure of the strings. The intonation is still not spot-on, but really tolerable so, yes, I do think that zero fret affects strongly the intonation — for the better in my case.

just my 2 cents,
regards,

Gilles

They must have had the same idea, as my Mahilele has a zero fret and good intonation!
 
Any idea how much just pushing down on the strings too hard while fretting the instrument can throw off intonation?
 
Any idea how much just pushing down on the strings too hard while fretting the instrument can throw off intonation?
I press down on the strings hard or soft while playing depending on the melody purposely just to affect the intonation.It's part of creating music ..its called vibrato..sometimes I bend em sideways for another musical effect :D
 
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