ZB-12F Unslotted Replacement Nut for Guitars (Common on Fender)

I wrote another review about Zero Glide and my Gold Tone OB 150 banjo. As many already know the Zero Glide Nut is standard equipment on the OB 150 banjo. Gold Tone has this nut on other instruments too. I like this nut system for a lot of reasons. I installed a Zero Glide nut on my Martin D custom and I even installed a Zero Glide on my Washburn M3SWK F body mandolin. Those stock plastic nuts on many of the entry level pro instruments just does not cut it. You are cheating yourself and your audience out of a lot of tone and sweetness that ears should be hearing. The Zero Glide nut does a world of wonders for my instruments. Do yourself a favor and get one on your axe. You may love it. I know I do. I am addicted to Zero Glide.

An inexperienced guitar tech worked on the nut of my Guild M75 Aristocrat electric and I ended up with a "sitar" sound on my high E string and a dead G string and bad intonation. A friend recommended Zero Glide and that company recommended this particular nut.

Installation was not particularly difficult for a handy guy, but took two hours and involved sanding nearly 1/8 inch off the bottom of the new nut and 1/16th plus off each side while being careful to keep it even. The video on the company website helps. Once fitted correctly you decide how big of a 'zero fret' you want. There are four of different sizes in the package. I tried them all and found that the smaller ones provide very low action at the nut (which is nice), but require a higher action up the neck to clear the first fret where the strings can rattle. I ended up using the largest fret provided as it allowed me low action where I need it. Once you have it figured out you trim the zero fret to length and glue it

I've used this for over a month and I'm more happy now than when I first installed it. The intonation on my acoustic is better than it ever was...you can fine tune the saddle almost dead on for intonation. One suggestion.....be sure to glue in the zero fret with a few drops of glue once you get the guitar right. I was working on my guitar on and off for a month and didn't glue in the zero fret. I was taking the strings on and off. Every time you reinstall the zero fret it will be in a slightly different place. String against fret will cause a slightly different indentation in the zero fret. You want the string to stay in the same spot on the zero fret.

I m impressed with this. Easy to install. I m not a luthiar but I have refretted a few guitars and made some nuts and saddles. This is a pretty incredible system. I was going to cut a new nut for an acoustic guitar I just bought. I tested it and it was not sliding perfectly through the nut even though there was no ping while tuning. The way I test a nut is to strike a note then smack the string between the nut and the machine heads. behind the nut I put a tuner on the head stock so I can watch the note go up and come back. It simulates a good bend and you can watch the quality of the nut you have on the guitar. Most guitars will stick at about 6 to 10 cents above the tuned note unless you have a really well cut nut. At least the wound strings will....steel strings will usually drop back to the tuned note if the nut is decent . The nut I had on this guitar was pretty good....no pings while tuning yet it would still catch occasionally which effected tuning.