Feiten on a Fender?

[69strat]

I was messing around and took a spare fret, and wedged it up next to the nut acting as "zero fret", put some notches in it so the strings would pass from the nut through the fret.

Well, I noticed my nocaster sounded a lot sweeter with open chords. I checked on a tuner, and usually notes will be sharp on the 1st-3rd fret no matter how light you press. They all came up almost dead on!!! Even the G string! The third in the E chord sounded beautiful. I'm seriously considering the Feiten thing.

But, I know it's more complicated than just moving the nut. The intonation is all tuned to offsets. With the nocaster and it's three barrel setup, this presents a problem. I wondered what you guys think.

[Overdriver]

You may want to try the Earvana nut instead. Much cheaper and just as effective. Normal tuning (no special offset tuner required) and can be used with capos etc.

[TremoloKing]

I was talking to a luthier about this a couple years ago. He said all guitars should have a zero fret. I agree.

[daddyo]

There is a guy on eBay that sells what he calls an eNut. It is essentially a zero fret that you slide under the strings. Dirt cheap. Just Google eNut tuning system. There is also Earvana which is a replacement nut with offsets. If you want the Feinten, you'll have to find an approved installer. No DIYers. Of course, with any of these systems, once you fret a note, your back to the intonation done at the bridge. The Feinten system uses tuning offsets but players have been tuning by ear like this for centuries. There's nothing new under the sun unless you buy one of those fan fret necks.

[curtisstetka]

I've been putting Earvana on all my guitars for close to two years now. It is amazing. Best bang-for-buck, totally reversible mod you can make. No, it doesn't just cure one or two frets. It improves intonation all over the fretboard - more noticeable the further you get from the bridge. I highly recommend it.

I'm sure these other systems here work too. My experience is with Earvana and I couldn't be more pleased.

[Boogie92801]

I feitenized a Starfire IV once. I will never do it again. I use a strobo stomp and all of my guitars have excelent intonation. Th Feiten sounded great up the neck but the first position chords just wern't the same. I knoe that most guitars are a little off but afte playing for 30 years I think you get used to it. I play hard and every time I did a slam on the open E or A it sounded a bit sharp with the feiten.

[69strat]

I just played a Feitenized Les paul, and man what a difference. I've been playing for twenty some years and I've never heard a finer sounding E chord, while the other chords sounded equally as good. I was just listening to the Los Lonely Boys CD and there's a few F chords in there that sound pretty out. It's those thirds. It's to the point where it's bugging me enough that I can't enjoy the music. Pianos usually sound more in tune than a guitar to me.

I always tense up a bit when I'm gonna play that open E chord, or I'll mute the third out because it's always sharp. It's just the crappy guitar's design. Why doesn't Fender move the nut up? PRS guitars have a compensated nut. If you get a PRS, Gibson, and a Fender all setup by a pro, the PRS will sound a lot better in the open chords. Unfortunately I don't care for the PRS tone.

The earvana thing is cool because you don't have to get into special tuners and this and that, but it's pretty f'ugly, not as bad as a Floyd nut I guess. The Feiten nut looks like a stock nut and also requires no wood removal.

[Marcondo]

The Feiten system is just the nut moved 3% closer to the bridge.

Thats why your fake zero fret worked so good.

[curtisstetka]

The earvana thing is... ...pretty f'ugly...

I tend to agree with you there, IF you get the type that's designed to retrofit into a traditional nut slot. They do, however, make an OEM version that fits into a wider slot and generally looks much more traditional.

http://www.earvana.com/products_nuts_strat_close.html

I don't have any of the OEM type. I don't mind how it looks since it's fixed all the intonation problems.

[69strat]

curtisstetka, that looks much nicer. I could live with that. The ones I saw had the adjustable screws on top. But I want to get some kind of system on my nocaster. I don't know if I want to take any wood off.

How does saddle alignment look after that nut is setup? You know how there in three steps for the treble strings, and three for the bass strings, I was wondering since there is so much staggering at the nut, what happens on the other end?

If they come out that they're straighter (than non compensated nuts), then the crude tele saddles might be closer than stock. What do you guys think?

[69strat]

The Feiten system is just the nut moved 3% closer to the bridge.

Thats why your fake zero fret worked so good.

Thanks Marcondo. Most of my tuning issues are around the nut. Do you think just getting a zero fret installed would be good enough? If it was glued in, it would be reversable.

But theres the whole intonation compensation thing which is way above my head. I talked with Dan Erlewine and he said he'd have to cut my saddles to the proper intonation.

I kinda' like not having to use a special tuner and all that. So the earvana thing is still in the running as well as a zero fret. If I could just get it closer. I'm not even aiming for perfection as that's probably impossible. Some guitars seem to play in tune better than others. I have a Hamer Daytona U.S. strat that sounds so good everywhere. Also a CS strat that sounds good enough to not bother with. But this tele is another story.

[curtisstetka]

How does saddle alignment look after that nut is setup? You know how there in three steps for the treble strings, and three for the bass strings, I was wondering since there is so much staggering at the nut, what happens on the other end?

If they come out that they're straighter (than non compensated nuts), then the crude tele saddles might be closer than stock. What do you guys think?

Having half of your compensation at the nut does flatten out the saddles. Here's a picture of my Highway1 Tele that I outfitted with an Earvana nut and a custom made Callaham bridge. I asked for the EA saddle to have slightly less than normal compensation and for the other two to be straight across. Intonated PERFECTLY.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d2...etka/body1.jpg