Zero fret

[Uke-alot]

I would echo what John says above about Uke set-up. There are plenty of threads here on UU about that topic.

Ukes that have a plastic fretboard often have a zero fret, the brand that comes to mind is Magic Fluke (https://www.magicfluke.com/), some good players here love the Fleas and Flukes. Harmony used to make Ukes with plastic fretboards (now second hand only and old) and and I think that some Flight Ukes have them ... IMHO neither are high end brands but they still might do what you want and give you a lot of fun playing them.

The Magic Fluke instruments with traditional fretboards (i.e. wood with metal frets) as well as the ones with plastic fretboards have zero frets. I've had my Fluke tenor (with walnut fretboard) for 3 years now and it works perfectly. Good action and no string buzz. The Magic Fluke instruments with wood soundboards (like my tenor with spruce soundboard) are quite nice, although I have to admit that I have very limited experience with higher-end ukuleles and therefore I don't have a good basis for comparison. My wife has a Flea with the composite soundboard and plastic fretboard, and even that is a decent instrument. The stock tuners (cheapest Grover friction tuners) aren't that great, but otherwise she's been happy with it.

 

[Timbuck]

I did a restoration job on an old vintage Hoffner guitar it had a Zero fret that was much higher than the rest and it was difficult to play so I replaced it with one the same hight as the rest and was a big improvement...I notice that UncleLeo has a big zero fret also on his pic.

 

[Neil_O]

Zero fret is a bad thing for several reasons:

1. Only proffessional luthiers knows the right height of it. Because of that super height zero frets all cheap ukuleles (and guitars too) have overbended strings as you take chords on zero to third frets. Its sounds bad and out of tune.
2. Its bad thing for steel strings because they digging into frets damaging them and you have deep pits in your zero fret someday which sounds out tune as i mentioned in 1 or do fret buzzling.

And here is my Flight Pathfinder after 3 months of playing:
View attachment 136383

You should try to get a stainless steel replacement fret of the correct size (smaller). Also, I have never heard of a Zero Fret Chord, how is that different from a Nut Fret Chord?

 

[M3Ukulele]

I have a custom tenor with zero fret and it’s one of my favourite instruments. It works great. Zero issues……pun intended!

Lots of good builders in Ukulele market that successfully sell zero fret ukuleles that play very well.

 

[mwilson]

Zero fret is a bad thing for several reasons:

1. Only proffessional luthiers knows the right height of it. Because of that super height zero frets all cheap ukuleles (and guitars too) have overbended strings as you take chords on zero to third frets. Its sounds bad and out of tune.
2. Its bad thing for steel strings because they digging into frets damaging them and you have deep pits in your zero fret someday which sounds out tune as i mentioned in 1 or do fret buzzling.

And here is my Flight Pathfinder after 3 months of playing:
View attachment 136383

Same thing on my guitar on the fret behind an ever present capo

 

[BradDonaldson]

I normally do not build with a zero fret, but I have done so occasionally, and I can assure everyone that they are very easy to do. In fact, with my Youthalele design, which is meant to be constructed by inexperienced woodworkers, I specify a zero fret as the design basically eliminates set up issues.
Brad

 

[John Colter]

A coupla months ago, I bought a cheap soprano direct from China. It is a nice, well made instrument but the nut end of the fretboard had been cut 2mm too long, resulting in interesting, but non-standard, intonation. It took but a few minutes to fit a zero fret and now it plays as it should.

Win-win!

 

[Timbuck]

You should try to get a stainless steel replacement fret of the correct size (smaller). Also, I have never heard of a Zero Fret Chord, how is that different from a Nut Fret Chord?

I think he means a zero fret chord is one with open strings in it. eg: F as opposed to Bb

 

[EDW]

One thing I have noticed with an instrument that has a zero fret is that the tone from "open" strings is much closer to that of the fretted notes. That can be a plus or minus depending on your taste

 

[Uncleleo]

One thing I have noticed with an instrument that has a zero fret is that the tone from "open" strings is much closer to that of the fretted notes. That can be a plus or minus depending on your taste

Yeah. Especially on the plastic Magic Fluke where frets and nut are from the same material. LOL

Since i have started playing gypsy jazz i never used open strings again. So zero frets is mostly useless for jazz players. It maybe good for lazy luthiers to replace old fret instead of old nut.

 

[Timbuck]

It's not difficult to install a zero glide nut..... see here https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/zeroglide/products/zs-19

 

[John Colter]

"zero frets is mostly useless for jazz players"

Uncleleo, these negative comments of yours make no sense at all to me. A zero fret works perfectly well on a ukulele and is no different to play than a traditional nut. Please explain what you mean. The internet if full of misleading information and I'm getting tired of refuting your baseless claims.

 

[Uncleleo]

"zero frets is mostly useless for jazz players"

Uncleleo, these negative comments of yours make no sense at all to me. A zero fret works perfectly well on a ukulele and is no different to play than a traditional nut. Please explain what you mean. The internet if full of misleading information and I'm getting tired of refuting your baseless claims.

I'm talking about gypsy jazz rhythm. How many songs of gypsy jazz have you played, John Colter?

 

[Timbuck]

Uncle Leo only joined this forum 3 days ago..John

 

[Wildestcat]

Gypsy Jazz eh! Check out Fylde Guitars Remi Harris Signature model ... Roger Bucknall has used zero frets exclusively for his entire illustrious career of building some of the best acoustic guitars for some of the best players on this planet!

Remi Harris Signature Guitar | from Fylde Guitars

www.fyldeguitars.com

Appreciate what you are saying there Ken , but nevertheless worth a mention in the general context of zero frets.

 

[Uncleleo]

Gypsy Jazz eh! Check out Fylde Guitars Remi Harris Signature model ... Roger Bucknall has used zero frets exclusively for his entire illustrious career of building some of the best acoustic guitars for some of the best players on this planet!

Remi Harris Signature Guitar | from Fylde Guitars

www.fyldeguitars.com

Appreciate what you are saying there Ken , but nevertheless worth a mention in the general context of zero frets.

First video that i found. No zero fret use at the whole video... useless guitar addin... ohhh stop! I heard buzz at 3:43 - ITS HERE! THIS BUZZ WAS ON ZERO FRET

 

[John Colter]

"How many songs of gypsy jazz have you played, John Colter?", said Uncleleo

I don't play guitar.

What do you mean when you say the guitarist did not use the zero fret? He was simply playing in exactly the same way that he would on a guitar without a zero fret. What is the difference?

Please explain. I want to understand the point you are making.

 

[jupiteruke]

As far as I know, all of Jonathan Dale's instruments (Jupiter Ukulele) have a zero fret. Mine works perfectly and I've not experienced any wear issues or other problems.

View attachment 136419

Every instrument I have ever built has a zero fret, and I have never had any reported problems. A zero fret makes perfect engineering sense to me. With the zero fret the same as all the other frets, all of the action adjustment is done at the saddle (no need for nut filing, much less trying to fill an over-filed nut slot). A zero fret automatically gives you the optimal 'nut slot' height where there is no 'extra' height at the nut. After all, with respect to string buzz, what's the difference between a zero fret and the height of the string over the first fret, and putting a capo at the first fret and the height of the string over the second fret?

 

[John Colter]

In an attempt to understand Uncleleo's anti-zero fret position, I have consulted with a friend who is a guitarist (I'm not prejudiced - some of my best friends are guitarists). He tells me that playing rhythm guitar, in Gypsy Jazz style, involves much rapid, vigorous strumming - usually with a pick. If the action of the guitar is low at the nut, this can result in buzzing. Therefore, such instruments are usually set-up with a high action at the nut.

I mentioned "Zero fret chords" and "using the Zero fret" and my friend said it sounds like a load of bollocks.

I'm still hoping Uncleleo will explain what he means.

Timbuck has pointed out that Uncleleo is a very recent contributor to these pages. I would like to welcome UL to UU and look forward to getting to know him better.

 

[EDW]

Here are some thoughts from a noted luthier https://lichtyguitars.com/2016/10/30/zero-fret-for-guitar-and-ukulele/