Bottle slide setup

[ozziebluesman]

Another question is I have a friend who has an Epiphone acoustic with a zero nut and he would like to convert it for bottle slide.
Is that possible?
Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Alan

[Mark McLean]

If he wants to play entirely with a slide - in other words never fret a note ever again - it should be no problem. In that situation the position of the frets, including a zero fret, is irrelevant. In fact they could all be removed and it would make no difference. Guitars with a zero fret still have a nut to achieve correct string spacing but it doesn't detetmine string height. If that nut was replaced with a taller one to achieve a high action for slide playing then the strings will no longer be in contact with the zero fret. This will mean that the scale length will be a bit longer than before, and every fret will be a bit out of position to produce the appropriate pitch for that fretted note. However, slide playing should not be affected.

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Mark, I have no experience with the zero nut. Your explanation makes sense. Thank you!

[jeffhigh]

It depends on his style of playing. Does he combine fretted notes with slide notes? Many players do and if this is the case you will not want a greatly increased action.
I would not replace the nut, all that would possibly be needed would be to raise the saddle and maybe install a slightly higher section zero fret.
But again, it depends on what he needs out of the guitar

[ozziebluesman]

G'day Jeff,
Yes he would want to fret as well as slide.
I will try a jumbo fret closest to the nut and see how that feels. The strings only have to be about 1.5 to 2 mm from the frets which a well worn and then 3 to 4 mm from the 12th fret. That's the drift I have researched anyway.
Thanks for your input.
Cheers
Alan

[Mark McLean]

If he wants to fret notes as well as slide, then you have the right plan - a taller zero fret and raise the saddle a bit. Hope it works out well. M

[ozziebluesman]

I made a nut to fit in between the zero fret and the nut.
The intonation is not perfect but close enough for old style blues.
Thanks for all your discussion.
Cheers
Alan

[Mark McLean]

That'll work. Good fix

mm