The Zero Glide Replacement Nut System borrows the "zero fret" concept to reduce string contact in the nut by up to 93%, increasing tuning stability, playability, and open string tone. It only takes a few minutes to install with absolutely no permanent alteration to your instrument. For Resonator Guitars & Lap Steels.
Just put one of these on an old beater of a cheap strat-clone kit that I use to experiment with "creative" wiring. Suddenly its in tune up and down the neck and stays that way after using the trem as well. It cost half the price of the kit but it has significantly improved the value of the instrument to me. It required a little sanding of the back of the nut but nothing drastic. I dont have many dedicated luthier tools so the fret wire is not trimmed perfectly (but the look is in keeping with the overall "relic'd" appearance of the guitar). The question now becomes can I get a discount if I order these in bulk?
I bought the mandolin version and fitted it to my Gibson. There's a lot of extra material to remove, but the result was great. Easier tuning (the old nut had tight slots for the A strings), better intonation. Later I used one of the extra frets in the package to fix a tenor guitar. For that, I simply filed the necessary ledges in the existing nut and widened the string slots. It would be nice if Stew-Mac would also sell the offset tang frets separately, for retrofitting to an existing nut.
I play fingerstyle guitar. My favorite guitar is a Gretsch 5420 Electromatic . For some reason the designers at Gretsch moved away from the zero fret. When You string up with 10's or 9's I guess it probably doesn't matter much because the first position will be easy with light gauge strings. My touch and style of playing requires .012's. With heavier strings while the 5420 is beautiful to see and hear the first position was challenging to play. I installed the zero glide following the instructions in the package and to my amazing pleasure the 5420 played like my '66 Nashville used to. I couldn't be happier. Thanks to the people that designed this product. The tone is great the tuning is improved and the first position action is second to none.
works like a charm for the stuff I do at weekend gigs,from flutter trem to dive whammy , but most of all, I no longer hear that creaking sound by the nut when using my tremolo and it stays in tune well along with my Wilkinson VSVG Tremolo.
Easy to install for me cause I work for two guitar shops on a on/off basis and am use to making bone nuts from scratch,so if you've never done guitar nut work before I suggest taking it to a well trusted guitar shop with a good tech. It does take patience if you want it to look like a pro and function the way its suppose to. Highly recommend it along with a Wilkinson VSVG and a high gear ratio tuners.. Be buying more soon for my other guitars....