Nail care

Bob-Dubery

I am increasingly having problems with my right-hand nails. This may be due to medication I have been taking since March (when I had a deep vein thrombosis) and which I will have to take for the rest of my life.

My nails seem to break easier. Also they tend to develop little grooves (like those in a nut) where they hit the string a lot. I have a particularly good groove in my middle finger nail right now.

So maybe I need to look at ways of strengthening them. I have tried the usual cosmetic "nail strengthener" that ladies use, but it's not up to the rigours of playing steel string guitar. I know that Bruce Cockburn uses superglue, but I'm guessing this is not the el-cheapo stuff that you get in the little eye drop type bottles.

One option might just be to cut them short and keep them short and to get used to playing with finger tips rather than finger nails.

Thoughts? Tips?

DonovanB

what about those attachable finger picks?

I have tried them but nothing beats the sound of your nails. I found I could only really use the thumb pick comfortably.

malcolm

Lots of coats of clear nail varnish? You'd need to be careful what parts of town you went out in though!

[deleted]

I own a set of pro-piks the steel ones, they work so well but they eat through my coated strings like there is no tomorrow!

I try get my nails to a decent length, but end up getting destroyed in some way!
I get the same problem, the closer they get to ideal length, they tear, or "get that groove" from the strings.

AlanRatcliffe

Strengtheners (which are usually formaldehyde) make the nail harder, but also make it more brittle - so you break them anyway. Nail varnish tends to be too soft and the more coats you apply, the longer it takes to dry.

Ridges in the nails are usually due to a vitamin deficiency - better have that checked out. I think it's a vitamin E deficiency (but don't quote me).

Cyanoacrylate (CA/Superglue) is the thing - that's what they use in nail salons for both acrylic nails and overlays. I use a coat of the good, thin stuff (any good hardware or especially modelling shop will have) on the tip of the nail and often use tissue and CA for emergency repairs. That helps, but if you're playing a lot (especially on steel guitars), consider having overlays done - ideally a single layer of silk/CA for tone. Don't let them scuff your nail before applying it though, just clean the oils off with pure acetone - the overlays won't stay on as long without the scuffing, but they will leave your real nail intact when they do come off...

needleshy

hey mai.... i used to put on acrylic nails at dream nails when i did classical and dude its the best thing i could've done..... acrylic nails are awsome for finger picking, u got all tha control and they ar hard as nails so its like a pick and its got a good tone when it plucks the strings.... worked out to be a bit expensive and ppl look at u funny being a guy at dream nails and all but it was worth it, i do construction work and neede extra strong nails and that did the trick. you should go try it out.

[deleted]

needleshy wrote: hey mai.... i used to put on acrylic nails at dream nails when i did classical and dude its the best thing i could've done..... acrylic nails are awsome for finger picking, u got all tha control and they ar hard as nails so its like a pick and its got a good tone when it plucks the strings.... worked out to be a bit expensive and ppl look at u funny being a guy at dream nails and all but it was worth it, i do construction work and neede extra strong nails and that did the trick. you should go try it out.

Very interesting, thanks...

My sister is a beautician so guess what I am going to be doing this weekend? lets try it out ?

AlanRatcliffe

The acrylic nails are the hardest wearing, but found them a little too rigid for me (rasgueado feels like hitting a brick wall with a steel pipe) and is harder on the guitar. Also, the tone wasn't as good as the silk overlays, IMO.

needleshy wrote: ppl look at u funny being a guy at dream nails and all

There is that, but I have long curly hair and used to sit near a corner with my back to the rest of the room. Not actually because I was shy, but interesting conversation goes on when the ladies don't know a fella is in residence.

I also found that when they knew I was a guy, I'd get a lot of women trying to chat me up - they seem bolder when in the majority. Pity I don't usually like the kind of woman who wears acrylic nails. Dammit.

needleshy

i still got a whole acrylic nail kit here that i got from the nail tech supliers..... i built the nail up in the beginning just to be able to get my real nail up to a certain length then i just coated them with a thick layer of acrylic to give em strength. they also works really well if u happen to drop your pick during a show and don't have time to grab a new one. i only used them for classical and still used a pick for electric but i have a friend who only uses acrlylics for electric and they work great for him. u just goota make sure that the edges are well scuplted and nice and thick. i think i did them once a month. i do know that he initial cost of putting them on is a bit expesive but then u just go once a month after that to get them built up which is half the price.

Bob-Dubery

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Cyanoacrylate (CA/Superglue) is the thing - that's what they use in nail salons for both acrylic nails and overlays. I use a coat of the good, thin stuff (any good hardware or especially modelling shop will have)

THanks. Is there a particular brand to look out for, or a particular brand to avoid?

mattayou

I bite my nails which is another problem. In fact I hardly have nails although I never have the problem of nails getting in the way! ?

AlanRatcliffe

Bob Dubery wrote: THanks. Is there a particular brand to look out for, or a particular brand to avoid?

Avoid your mass-market names - they have been neutered to protect people from the idiots who think its a good substance for fun or profit.

Hot Stuff, Satellite City and Cartell are three good brands I can think of off hand. Radio control airplane shops always have good brands as they use it as much as luthiers do.

Keira-WitherKay

i gave up on nails ages ago........ also tried the false ones...... but they just became too much to upkeep when i played as much as i do....... so cut em all off... took a few weeks to develop a new approach to picking ........just using pads...... and now thats what you hear at all my shows...... and i'm getting great tone...... but admittedly it's on nylon.string and low tension ones at that ....... however i would suspect pads would be too soft to get volume out of a steel string......... so yeah try the stick on nails many fingerpickers worldwide use em.... maybe they work for you

peace and light
keira

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote: however i would suspect pads would be too soft to get volume out of a steel string.........

It can be done. It's a different tone, though not necessarily a loss of volume. Richard Thompson, who is a very fine acoustic player, uses finger tips. Says he prefers the tone and it saves him having to worry about his nails if he goes hiking or plays cricket or is doing odd jobs around the house.

zappa

I grow my toe nails extra long and then cut them off and stick them on top of my fingernails with a drop of superglue.

[deleted]

I grow my toe nails extra long and then cut them off and stick them on top of my fingernails with a drop of superglue.

Wow, never heard of that before. I also used fake nails in an emergancy, like if a nail broke before a concert, but the superglue that I used ate away at my actual nail. I then changed tactics and attatched the fake nail to my finger with insulation tape, to bypass the glue and let my nail grow back normally. It took a bit of sculpting to get the nail the right shape, but it might be a good middle ground between fake nails and finger picks.

AlanRatcliffe

Classic players used to cut up pig-pong balls and us them as false nails - apparently the tone is very similar to real nails.

chris77

I've played with plecs since I started, so my fingerpicking is worse than bad. I do like to strum my steelstring accoustics without a plectrum though - using the flat of the nail to strum down with my three mid fingers and up with my thumb. It makes it easier to keep a natural rythm going with the beat, but it's hell on the cuticles.

Bob-Dubery

Bob Dubery wrote: It can be done. It's a different tone, though not necessarily a loss of volume. Richard Thompson, who is a very fine acoustic player, uses finger tips. Says he prefers the tone and it saves him having to worry about his nails if he goes hiking or plays cricket or is doing odd jobs around the house.

Though he has other problems. He broke a finger during the annual Fairport Convention V Cropredy Village cricket match last weekend.

Last year he was out of action for about 6 weeks after a scorpion stung him on a finger tip.

DonovanB

The thing with finger picks is that you have to shape them. I dipped my thumb pick in very hot water and I though I broke it. AFter pulling it out and reshaping it I find it fits so much more comfortably and i has more control over it.