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I've recently started wearing 'Matte Nail Envy' nail strengthener on my right hand nails. I'd like to be mostly a finger player, but I have brittle nails, and Don't get adequate attack with finger tips only. I end up picking with what ever nail is longest today. For the last year I've resigned myself to using a pick, but I'm happiest when all five cylinders are firing. To tell the truth, nail polish and maintenance is a pain. I don't really expect to use it long. But for now, I'm giving it a shot.
Wearing the polish, I discovered a picking issue the very first day. When using a pick, I also hit the string with the back tip of my index-nail on down strokes. The polish quickly wore off there. I do it, unconsciously, with the rest my nails as well, including my thumb on up strokes. It's kind of a double-pick harmonic-ringing and muting thing that just happened over 45 years, and may be a major factor in my thin nails. I'm now trying to give it a little more pick, a little less nail. I should of taken up piano.
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02-23-2012 03:31 PM
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Have you ever tried playing piano with nails? it's impossible. I basically put guitar on hold for 3 or 4 years to take up piano and keyboards...I grew very fond of the instrument...then back to guitar....grew nails and now I can't play with my right hand at all!!
Hmm, I'm not sure where I was going with that anymore......
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i use superglue and kleenex and/or self-adhering silk for about 3/8 inch of the nail tip. requires daily maintenance, and occasional 45min to hour for building up the corners, an elaborate process. but well worth it. no one's natural nails can withstand playing on wound strings for many hours daily. tone is everything, and for the classical guitar, nails are a significant factor.
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I tried superglue and Kleenex. Whoo, what a mess. I've got little patches of Kleenex stuck all over my hand. The results though, are amazing. I'm very pleased with these nails, but I can't go through that disaster regularly. I'm interested in trying the self-adhesive silk tape, It sounds more controllable. What kind, and where do you get this stuff?
Thanks
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Have you considered the Rico nails? They work pretty well, or at least they did for me. Basically fake nails that you file to your own custom shape/size, then apply with an adhesive dot. They can be re-used many times, and you don't have to expose yourself to the nastiness of cyanoacrylate.
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these:
Originally Posted by Whirly
SuperNail - SuperNail 100% Swiss Silk Wrap Self-Adhesive Tabs
cut to size before applying. saturate with superglue carefully. the kleenex is actually easier, once you get used to it and develop you own set of 'tools'. ymmv.
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Be always aware that any time you super-glue an artificial nail atop your real nail, and leave it there (as I guess you would - lol), and this certainly includes trips to the nail salon, you are destroying your natural nail. They say, "Temporarily; the real nail will come back eventually..." - but who knows when? I hope it isn't a very long-term thing, because my natural nails are pretty good, but I unwittingly went to a nail salon and have been forced to wear their expensive acrylic nails ever since. Originally Posted by Whirly
Nails you glue on yourself probably have the same detrimental side effect.
On the other hand, the acrylic nails are wonderful, once you get a salon worker to understand that you don't want 4" red nails, squared like claws. (I took in Noad's classical guitar book and showed them pictures.) The salon I go to charges me about $12-$15 for three fingers and a thumb, with "No tips." <Specify that. If they put "tips" on, they'll be unnaturally thick, and won't work well. Just get the acrylic nail glued on, and that's it. No sheen/polish (it's $5 extra.)
Also: don't be shy. Women love seeing a guy in there, and when you explain that you play guitar, they'll talk you to death. It's always been a positive experience for me - about once every 3 weeks.
Another option I don't see recommended here are the Alaska Picks. They *look* and might initially *feel* cumbersome, but after just a few minutes, it's easy to forget you're wearing them, and the sound is just like a real fingertip and nail. Because the fingertip is exposed and the "pick" hangs over the top of the finger, just like a real nail. If you want to see just how good they can sound, go to YouTube and look at one of the child prodigy Sungha Jung's videos. They do NOT sound like fingerpicks! The flesh of your finger makes sure of that.
If your local store doesn't have these, you can get them at Elderly.com -- "small" means SMALL in these things. I have very small hands but still require a medium finger pick, large for the thumb.
Good luck!
kj
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Those Alaska picks look interesting; they might solve the occasional problem I have. I am fortunate in having strong nails but I do occasionally have one start tearing at the quick due to getting caught on something; I use very light fiberglass cloth and superglue for a repair.
I was reading one of Martin Taylor's method books today and he mentioned that he uses silk with an adhesive. He did caution to only do the tips as the natural nail needed to "breathe".
The Alaska picks look much easier if they feel natural. Worth a few bucks to find out, I guess.
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I use a nail conditioner called Hard as Hoofs. It doesn't really live up to its name but it does make for healthier nails and they grow faster. It eliminates the lateral cracks and other anomalies that appear while the nail is growing out. This gives you a little more nail to work with to try and keep them functional. Get it at Wallyworld.
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Originally Posted by ah.clem
The Alaska Picks will initially look and feel bulky, because they're made from a light-weight sort of plastic pipe... my first impulse was, Oh crap, but once I found the size that fit and began playing with them, everything felt very good - better than any "fingerpicks" I'd tried, that's for sure. They aren't even fingerpicks, in the traditional sense of the word. They're more like "wrap-on nails" - heh.
If they don't feel exactly right the first time, give them a week. Keep using them, say 30 minutes a day, and I think you'll like them, if they fit. That's the thing that took me a while - getting the right size.
Chet Atkins used a similar thing he got from a vet - they use it to harden the hooves of race horses. I think the Hard as Hoofs might be a weaker solution or compound, whatever it is. Probably beats super glue and killing your real nails. Originally Posted by tonedeaf
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diet is pretty important in nails from what i understand. i dont use anything on my nails just really make sure there are no little nicks in my nails tips. I always have one finger nail which is not quite as good as the rest though which is pretty irritating. its usually my index finger for some reason.
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Yep, eating gelatin makes for strong nails, says almost every source I've read. I suppose this means eat a lot of Jello? There's gelatin in other foods (sherbet; various candies) - but Jello is just a big glob of the stuff. Yum. Originally Posted by Bailz
kj
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Everything you apply over your nails starves them for moisture & air. I apply superglue to seal the leading edge, overlapping approx. 1mm, a couple of times per week. Too much ends up chipping and/or flaking.
Hydration with horse hoof hardner and Shea (nut) butter seems to help a bit.
Possibly my weak nails are a sign of a weak mind.
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I'm just not man enough to wear stick-on nails on four fingers. I suppose I could wear a sign, "If you see anything odd about me, it's because I play guitar." I should probably wear such a sign anyway.
I'm very pleased with the results of the tissue-superglue system, but now I'm worried about what's going on underneath there.
I've ordered some of the alaska picks, and will give them a fair try. Day to day life is hard on nails. Zippers, can openers, car door handles. There seems an infinite number of things looking to damage nails. Perhaps the nail hardener, I first tried, will be adequate to protect from these normal dangers.
Gelatin is made from horse hooves? I'll take some of the banana flavored please.
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that is why to cover only 3/8 inch of the tip...for 'normal' hands that leaves at least half the nail to breath---and, importantly, the growing part... Originally Posted by Whirly
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As long as you don't superglue much beyond a 1/4" from the nail tip, you shouldn't worry about damage, unless you have an allergy. I've been doing this (tissue and superglue) for over 20 years with no negative results. Also, gelatin doesn't so much make your nails stronger as more flexible and less brittle, therefore less susceptible to breaking. They also sound better when they're a little softer, like Delrin picks..
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