Materials for acoustic guitar frets and do zero frets needs barbs?

Glaw343

Hi everyone, I'm having an acoustic guitar made with a zero fret, I know that the zero fret will be more subject to wear than the others as the string is in constant contact with it, my thinking is that instead of adjusting all of the other frets to match the wear on the zero fret that I could just replace the zero fret like you would a nut when when a slot gets too low. (not the best example as I suppose you could just shim a nut but you get the idea) would the zero fret have to have barbs on the tang? for example filing them off of a normal fret (I don't think Vigier have barbs on their replacement zero fret tangs) I would imagine that the tension of the strings would stop it rising out of the slot and it would make changing it every year or two much easier, I imagine this would also avoid a lot of chip out on the fretboard? I have heard of people using stainless steel and EVO frets which are supposed to be a lot harder than nickel frets, does anyone have any experience with these? do they change the sound? I've heard some people say that stainless steel frets can buzz etc but I have no personal experience with them. what would you think about having a stainless steel zero fret and the rest standard nickel?

Cheers

WezV

I have done the stainless zero on a few guitars.  It works well.  Slight tonal impact on the open strings, but no more than comparing a standard zero fret to a bone nut

You can de-tang to make a replaceable fret.  Stew-mac make a tool for this but it can be done by hand.

You could  also use a slightly higher wire for the zero so it lasts longer before replacement.  But this costs you the main benefit of a zero fret which is a nice low action

olafgarten

I think you can get away without using a tang. Goldtone does something similar with their Zero Glide Nut. 

https://goldtonemusicgroup.com/zeroglide/

Glaw343

Thanks for the replies @WezV would you be able to describe the change in tone? brighter etc? as for what you said about the possibility of using a taller zero fret, I've seen a lot of people on the internet who say that you should do this anyway, surely the ideal thing to do is treat it exactly the same way as a standard fret for ideal nut action? how quickly do you think I should expect a nickel zero fret to wear out as opposed to a stainless one? cheers

WezV

The stainless has a little more zing.

i always go for the lowest nut action possible, so I want te zero fret the same height.  I know others are fine with the slightly higher fret, but if it’s noticeable it’s not for me.  It’s a compromise, only done to make the zero last longer.  I am not going to be able to tell you if that compromise is acceptable to you.

how long is a piece of string? The stainless will last a very long time compared to nickel.  Whatever you use, expect to replace it at some point.

Glaw343

Thanks a lot for that @WezV that's really helpful