Installing A Zero Fret

[Robert Spencer]

I have a project coming up that will be using a defretted neck. I have been wanting a low E that wasn`t open and have considered going to B*E*A*D tuning to get it.

Now i hear that a 0 fret will give an open string a tone as if fretted ( & actually I guess that you could say that is is fretted).

It seems that since the neck is defretted i will be able to install the fret and do a slight tuning adjustment to bring it back in followed by an intonation comparing open E to the 12th fret E.
Another question comes to mind. Since this is a build project I have some option as to bridge placement but am uncertain in regard to the witness point. Is the witness point still going to be nut/bridge saddles or will it become fret/bridge saddle?

Is it a fairly simple task to install a single fret for someone with basic skills & basic hand tools? Personal experience or links to this subject will be welcomed?


Thanks & take care. Bob

 

[bassteban]

I am very unqualified & inexperienced here but will bump & discuss if that's alright w/you..? I believe you will need to locate the witness point(s)of the added zero fret exactly where the original nut is if you want it to intonate as well as it currently does- my 1/2 cent.

 

[96tbird]

So you have a fretless and you want the open to sound fretted and the fingered notes are gonna sound fretless. I don't get it. A nut is going to sound more similar to a fingered note of a fretless.

The fret will be the witness if you do it, sounds weird to me.

 

[Robert Spencer]

I didn`t know a fretless sounded like all open strings all the time. My mistake. Take care. Bob

 

[bassteban]

I defretted a Hohner-Steinie clone; it had a zero fret but I can't recall how open notes sounded compared to fingered ones. The bass is torn apart waiting for me to get off my A and rebuild it.

 

[96tbird]

Bob, its just that a bone nut will sound warmer than a steel zero fret. Hard rosewood has been used for nuts too, probably warmer more double bass sounding yet.

 

[mech]

In a live setting, as in playing with a band, I have yet to hear the difference in top nut material on a bass. I will say that I can hear a difference on a guitar between bone and metal (brass/aluminum) when playing by myself at low volumes. With hard plastic and anything else it's difficult to tell if I want to hear a difference or if there is really is a difference. I think the biggest difference in sound between an open note and a fretted one (all else being equal) is the damping effect the finger has on string vibration.

mech

 

[walterw]

with a fretless, even a low zero fret will be too tall, making for stiff action and poor intonation at the low registers.

you want a regular nut, with the slots cut down to where they're almost flush with the board, like maybe .010" above the wood.

 

[96tbird]

I agree mech, but bass players are picky aren't we? So, when practicing at home is when we hear what,we dislike. At a gig, nope. Anyway the point of this all is does op mess with putting in a non-existant zero fret or just leave it with a nut as it currently has. Just seems to me it would be an exercise with zero payoff.

 

[mech]

A topnut of some type will be needed anyway to control the sideways movement of the strings so there will need to be room for it behind a 0 fret. I don't think there would be any discernible gain. Filling, locating, fitting and filing the zero fret and then making a topnut to go behind it sounds like some major work.

mech

 

[Turnaround]

with a fretless, even a low zero fret will be too tall, making for stiff action and poor intonation at the low registers.

Exactly.

 

[Robert Spencer]

This was what started the zero fret interest.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Looks l;like i will need to go to B*E*A*D tuning to get thelow E that I want without playing an open string. thanks & take care. Bob

 

[masonsjax]

I used to play my 4 string in drop-D tuning a lot, which would give you a fretted low E without mods to the instrument. The learning curve is trivial.

 

[96tbird]

+1 for drop D.

 

[Robert Spencer]

tell me about drop D tuning. i`ll give it a whirl. take care. bob

 

[96tbird]

D G C F. You won't need huge strings like B tuning needs, but you can go a bit bigger to reduce flopping.

 

[Journey55]

D G C F. You won't need huge strings like B tuning needs, but you can go a bit bigger to reduce flopping.

I was under the impression Drop D was D A D G...isn't that D Standard?

 

[96tbird]

Derp, my booboo. Bluescreen.

 

[mikew31]

Journey is right. In drop D you just drop (hence the name) the low E to D. The other 3 strings (or 5 if you're you're tuning a guitar to Drop D) stay the same as standard.

 

[96tbird]

I had a brainfart! I admitted it. You just gonna keep rubbing salt in the wound?