Invariably, for those uninitiated to my work, often the question will arise of what's with that extra fret up there... the zero fret.
This zero fret thing is nothing new. It has shown up on some of the most storied guitars of our time but for whatever reason was never fully embraced by mainstream manufacturing and thus ironically has been viewed with suspicion as the odd duck.
I am here to happily testify to the brilliance of this one little detail. I caught wind of it studying up on the work of Mario Maccaferri long ago, but have seen it periodically as far back as early romance and baroque period instruments.
The addition of this one little fret takes the duty of establishing string height off of the nut and renders it solely a string spacer, allowing for slightly looser slots and smooth tuning.
Early in the game I was introduced to this design detail and fully embraced it for the simple fact that it brought a level of consistency to the table that is rarely seen with a conventional nut. Every guitar that rolls out of my shop pretty much plays the same and a lot of that is due to the zero fret.
Over time I have honed in on a fret geometry that locates the top of my stainless zero just a mere .005” above the rest of the playing surface, allowing for a consistent gap beneath the strings, essentially making for a precise intonation much easier to attain.
The true beauty of this detail however lies in the gap behind the zero, before the string even meets the nut. By slightly extending this distance, we are essentially maintaining the same string tension to pitch, while increasing our leverage in the first few frets of the neck, rendering a string that feels more flexible, with more control over the bent note, lending itself to a more expressive voice with less effort. As an added bonus, heavier gauge strings feel more manageable, for those wanting a fatter sound.
And lastly but quite significant are the ergonomics that comes with this one little detail.
By incorporating a zero fret, the profile of the nut can be lowered, since no longer is its height relevant to play-ability, allowing for a technique totally unencumbered by protruding sharp edges and such.
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