A zero fret is a fret

Fret

A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...

 placed at the headstock

Headstock

Headstock or peghead is a part of guitar or similar stringed instrument. The main function of a headstock is holding the instrument's strings. Strings go from the bridge past the nut and are usually fixed on machine heads on headstock...

 end of the neck

Neck (music)

The neck is the part of certain string instruments that projects from the main body and is the base of the fingerboard, where the fingers are placed to stop the strings at different pitches. Guitars, lutes, the violin family, and the mandolin family are examples of instruments which have necks.The...

 of a banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

, guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, mandolin

Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

, or bass guitar

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

. It serves one of the functions of a nut: holding the strings the correct distance above the other frets on the instrument's fretboard. A separate nut is still required to establish the correct string spacing when a zero fret is used.

Function

The zero fret is positioned at the location normally occupied by the nut. On a guitar having a zero fret, the nut is located behind the zero fret and serves solely to keep the strings spaced properly. The strings rest atop the zero fret, which is sometimes higher than the other frets.

Purpose

The zero fret is primarily used to reduce production costs. The zero fret was commonly (but not exclusively) associated with cheaper instruments, since the cost of the labor involved in making a nut with slots carefully filed to the correct height is greater than the labor required to install a zero fret. Some manufacturers that frequently use(d) a zero fret are MTD

Michael Tobias Design

Michael Tobias Design is a Kingston, New York-based manufacturer of electric bass guitars founded by luthier Michael Tobias in 1994.Tobias, along with two part-time helpers, currently builds about 10 electric basses per month at his shop in Woodstock, New York. MTD's Kingston, Heir, and Saratoga...

 (Michael Tobias Design), Gretsch

Gretsch

The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...

, Kay, Selmer

Selmer

Selmer can refer to:People*Elisabeth Schweigaard Selmer, Norwegian judge and politician*Ernst S. Selmer, Norwegian mathematician*Ernst W. Selmer, Norwegian phoneticist*Christian August Selmer, Norwegian lawyer and statesmanOther...

, Höfner

Höfner

Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments....

, Mosrite

Mosrite

Mosrite is an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists....

, Anderson, Framus and Vigier. Now very few manufacturers use this design and those who do list it as a feature.

It is claimed that with a zero fret, the sound of an open string more closely approximates the sound of a fretted string as compared to the open string sound on a guitar with no zero fret. Countering this claim are musicians who feel that a bone or even synthetic nut will enhance the overall tone of the instrument regardless of the string being played open or fretted. Since tone is so subjective, the two claims are likely to continue perpetually.

Steinberger

Steinberger

Steinberger refers to a series of distinctive electric guitars and bass guitars, designed and originally manufactured by Ned Steinberger. The word Steinberger can be used to refer to either the instruments themselves or the company that produced them...

 uses a zero fret with their headless guitars. Strings are mounted in place where the head would normally be, so there is no need for the string guides that the nut provides.

Drawbacks

The zero fret presents a problem for guitarists who use string bending techniques, which are very common in blues, rock and some jazz styles. When the frets are new, there is no problem, but the strings quickly wear narrow grooves in the zero fret.