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Thread: First fret placement on bouzouki

  1. #1
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    Unhappy

    Just purchased my first (El Cheapo) Bouzouki as a trial to see how I will like them. It is a Romanian made, short scaled version probably more akin to an Octave mandolin. Out of the box looked good and reasonable for what I paid, however; the first fret is located 1/4" from the nut! Has any one ever seen this done before? Is this something normal to some Bouzoukis and/or Octave mandolins? Yeah I know, I got what I paid for, its cheap, but I have had lots of cheap instruments before and never seen this. I am able to return the thing for a refund in case it is defective, so thats good. Please comment. Thanks! PS See attached picture of the subject area.
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    Dan Benson

  2. #2
    Registered User man dough nollij's Avatar
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    Sounds like a zero fret. The "nut" is actually just a string spacer, and the strings are all touching the zero fret, right? Lots of basses are made that way, quite a few guitars, and a few mando-family instruments. Seems like a pretty good idea to me.

  3. #3
    cyclo-mandolinist! OzMando's Avatar
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    If it's a zero fret (as man dough nollij suggested) then I think the idea is that the tone of the open string is similar to a fingered note as the vibrating length of string starts at a metal fret in both cases (instead of with the nut for opens and frets for fingered notes).

    Someone correct me if I'm wrong.




    Play on friend, play on...

  4. #4
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    That definitely is a zero fret. My Fylde OM has that too (as have all Fylde instruments, in fact). You can see it in this pic, behind my index finger. For a more thorough discussion, go to Fylde site, click "Technical", then "Zero Fret".

    Thanks to that zero fret, I never have issues with nut slots being too high, too low, worn out etc.

    Bertram
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

  5. #5
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    Its a zero fret and is 100% normal for many different string instruments. Mandolins, guitars and bouzouki's - it just depends on the manufacturer and has nothing to do with whether or not its a cheap or high end instrument. Its just a builders preference. I personally always prefer 0 fret instruments.

  6. #6
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    Thumbs up

    Well hot damn then! Thought I might have a bad thing going on so that is a relief. Brent at Olde World Lutherie confirmed also concurs with it being a zero fret.

    Ok, now for grins sake, I'll go ahead and tell you this thing is one of the infamous Lark In The Morning instruments and although I am quite used to working on and owning/playing higher quality stuff (1984 Martin HD-28, 1944 Kay double bass, other mandolins, etc.) I am quite astonished with what I got for the money, and straight out of the box at that. So I will tweak it a bit, have a little fun, sell it and make the step up to an Old World Lutherie or similar quality I have seen you guys suggest on here. Too bad most all the Octaves seem to be round hole because I love the F-hole styled ones for looks appeal. From what I have read, the F-holed ones don't produce as good as the traditional holed ones, except maybe for the Webers, and I am not quite ready to hock my 15 month child for one!
    Dan Benson

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