ZS-16 Slotted Replacement Nut for Mandolins

I've got a '67 Gretsch Country Gentleman that has what they called the zero fret. I had always wondered why didn't anybody else do this. I put this on my 2010 Gibson Lucille and it solved the nut drag problem. I'm also going to put it on my '76 Les Paul Deluxe. A great solution to an on going problem.

I just installed a Zero Glide Nut on my '14 Les Paul Studio. I was having trouble with the traditional *tink* and tuning issues often associated with Gibsons. Initially, I was going to try the new titanium nut made by Gibson but was told that it would not fit my '14 Les Paul. Keep in mind, I have never installed a nut before on a guitar where I needed to remove the old one. I had only fixed broken nuts in the past. I say this because I had a little anxiety when I decided to install the nut myself. The first thing I noticed was how much extra material must be sanded to get a perfect fit. For my application, I had to sand the bottom of the nut as well to get the fret to seat properly against the fret board. This may sound bad, but it is a good thing! It means that the folks at Stew-Mac realize (as I hope you do) that although these are precision instruments, there are many parts that are finished out by hand. The extra material allows for those minor variations and with a little work,

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.

I bought two of these, one Gibson-style and one Fender-style for two of my favorite project guitars, an Epiphone LPX and my Jazz-O-Caster parts guitar. The Gibson was a near drop-in, needing only some trimming and shaping for a perfect fit. The Fender was slightly more challenging, as the neck on the Jazz-O-Caster never saw the inside of any Fender-approved factory! It required a 1/32" shim underneath for a proper fit, and some sanding to make room for the tang. There was a marked increase in the brightness of tone for both instruments, as well as improved intonation. This is MUCH easier than installing a traditional nut, and nearly foolproof IF you follow the instructions. Thanks, Stewart-Macdonald, for stocking such a well-engineered product.