Zero Glide nut on a Weissenborn or Dobro?

[Andy Fekete]

Has anyone installed a ZS-24 Zero Glide nut on either a Weissenborn or a Dobro?

I'm curious about how it would sound. I realize it would only affect the sound for the open strings that are played..

[Jerry Overstreet]

Interested also. I considered it for a dobro I had but never got to it.

The idea behind the concept is to reduce string contact with the plastic or bone nut and reducing friction in the nut slot by sitting them on a nickel fret instead. This is said to help tuning on the lower frets of a fretted guitar plus stability with string bends etc. and overall tuning.

I've used a few of them on standard tuned elec. and they do work well in my experience.

The only difference I can imagine between a good bone nut on a reso and the Nickel Silver fret of the Zero Glide there would be bone vs. nickel compound. Insallation might also involve some working of the nut slot too so be mindful of that.

Not the same, but I have a reso with a hipshot roller nut, which has brass rollers vs. a bone nut and it sounds just fine to me but since it came to me that way, I have no way to compare it.

[BJ Burbach]

I would worry about buzzing on the low string if that slot isn't just right. I would really rather not alter the wood, so you can go back if you want.. I have a brass nut on a dobro and love it. Ryan Rukavina makes a nice brass custom nut that can just swap in. I also make nuts out of Tusq bridge blanks. I like that stuff too. I even used one of their classical nuts on an acoustic guitar instead of a riser that worked great. They make a nut for lap steel that might fit, if you get lucky, #6054-00.
BJ

[Brooks Montgomery]

There have been discussions on the Reso-nation site about the Hipshot Doubleshot and the effectiveness of Roller Nuts on dobros.

If you’re worried about stability for string bends, I would install Hipshot’s roller nuts, and I would install locking tuners (I really like the D’Addarios).

I have two guitars (a dobro and a Beard Road-a-phonic lap steel) with roller nuts and locking tuners. They work great and would be much more trouble free than a Zero Nut.