Freaky fingerpickin' nails.

[tot_Ou_tard]

I'm focusing a little bit on fingerpickin' & decided to grow my nails on my right hand to hear the effect on tone.

Looks freaky, but screw-em.

My nails are really thin, so I picked up something called

Hard as Hoof

today at Walmart. They already seem stronger. Smells like almond extract.

Do any of you fingerpickin' types have opinions of fingers vs nails etc?

 

[stingx]

Are they as long as these? oke:

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Nope, I'd get laughed out of the crazy dudes with long fingernails convention.

 

[just strum]

I was attempting fingerpickin and started to grow my nails, but it just bugged the crap out of me.

Has anyone ever tried these?

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Alaska-Pik-Finger-Guitar-Pick-110630-i1123797.gc

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

DaveO did exactly one year ago:

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=2155&highlight=alaska+pik

but he never gave the review he promised.

 

[hubberjub]

I grew my nails out when I was a classical guitar major at college. They work great for nylon strings but just break and wear down when playing on steel strings. I know a lot of people who swear by that nail hardener.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I grew my nails out when I was a classical guitar major at college. They work great for nylon strings but just break and wear down when playing on steel strings. I know a lot of people who swear by that nail hardener.

I'll give it a chance & see how they do.

 

[piebaldpython]

Fingerpickin'

Nothing but skin for me. The nails weird me out and break. The fingerpicks I can't do either because I can't "feel" what the heck I'm doing and make a zillion mistakes. I can use a thumbpick but then the difference in volume between thumb/fingers is too great, plus then I can't vary anything as the thumbpick only works in a DOWNWARD fashion. i.e..then I can't strum or upstroke at all. So, I'm working (just back to the guitar to finally learn this thing) on bare fingers ala Albert Collins/Steve Stills. Plus, bare fingers to my ear give you a lot of tonal variety, to where you can set the treble up higher than normal. ahhahh I think Albert has his treble on 10 and bass on 0.

 

[Robert]

I use just short nails, and I kind of hit the strings with both flesh and nail together. If the nails are too long, my technique gets messed up and I can't play at all.

 

[marnold]

I wish I could still grow nails on my right hand . . .

 

[DaveO]

Tot, my bad. Yeah I tried them, but I have always had strong nails and been using them so long it was hard for me to switch over. The Alaska picks work pretty good if you work on them and get them shaped right for your fingers. If you can find them I would recommend trying them out.
Dave

 

[Guitar Gal]

Nothing but skin for me. The nails weird me out and break. The fingerpicks I can't do either because I can't "feel" what the heck I'm doing and make a zillion mistakes.

I agree......nothin' but skin for me. My nails are weak and break so I keep them short and just use my finger tips. I tried the Alaska fingerpicks, but they just felt too weird for me....I couldn't feel the strings on my fingers and it messed me up. I've tried the nail hardners, but my nails still seem to break a lot so I just keep my nails short and play.

R

GG

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I wish I could still grow nails on my right hand . . .

Don't want the

"What's up with the Pator's freaky nails"

looks from the parishioners, eh?

Spoils the mood of the Sermon on the Mount.

I have been just using my skin, but I thought that I'd try the nails a bit longer & use skin & nails. We'll see how long it lasts.

 

[marnold]

Don't want the

"What's up with the Pator's freaky nails"

looks from the parishioners, eh?

Spoils the mood of the Sermon on the Mount.

I've got a member of my congregation that I cannot look at if I even reference the Sermon on the Mount, all because of a particular scene at the beginning of Monty Python's "Life of Brian."

The real reason I can't grow nails is because my right hand now looks like this:

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I've got a member of my congregation that I cannot look at if I even reference the Sermon on the Mount, all because of a particular scene at the beginning of Monty Python's "Life of Brian."

The real reason I can't grow nails is because my right hand now looks like this:

Youch!!!!!

Just what happened?!?

Did I mention

YOUCH!!! ?!?

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I agree......nothin' but skin for me. My nails are weak and break so I keep them short and just use my finger tips. I tried the Alaska fingerpicks, but they just felt too weird for me....I couldn't feel the strings on my fingers and it messed me up. I've tried the nail hardners, but my nails still seem to break a lot so I just keep my nails short and play.

R

GG

For the limited fingerpicking I have tried, I like a thumbpick and my fingers with normal nails.

 

[marnold]

Youch!!!!!

Just what happened?!?

Did I mention

YOUCH!!! ?!?

I think I've mentioned it before on here. It wasn't one of my finer moments. It was from a snowthrower accident almost exactly seven years ago. Hard to believe it's been that long . . .

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I think I've mentioned it before on here. It wasn't one of my finer moments. It was from a snowthrower accident almost exactly seven years ago. Hard to believe it's been that long . . .

Yeah, you have, but I forgot.

Did I mention

YOUCH!!!!?!?

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I was gonna post about how I was enjoying fingerpickin' with the nails, but I slammed the ring finger of my right hand in the door of the house this morning.

I just got back from the emergency room...I fractured the bone under the fingernail. It's back to the pick for awhile.

Nothing compared with Marnold, but did I mention

YOUCH!?!??

The finger is completely swollen, bloody, & the entire nail is black & blue. The doctor sez that there is a good chance that I'll keep the nail. We'll see.

Time to take my percoset...

 

[just strum]

Time to take my percoset...

Be careful not to drool on your keyboard.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Be careful not to drool on your keyboard.

Drooooolll...

Huh, wha?

ddddrrrrrooOOOOOOOOOOOOooooollllll....

 

[Vihar]

I grew my nails out when I was a classical guitar major at college. They work great for nylon strings but just break and wear down when playing on steel strings. I know a lot of people who swear by that nail hardener.

Another thing that's important is what you eat. I play steel strings with my fingers - I keep my nails fairly long to get enough attack - and since I eat peanuts, fresh fruits, dairy products and fish every day they don't break and don't wear down quickly. In fact, I have to trim them pretty frequently to keep the right length. Of course it's partly a genetic thing, but a well balanced diet is often the key, so you won't even need any additional nail care products.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Hi Vihar, yes I have heard that nails are very sensitive to diet

(even more so to doors, I might add..yeeeOUCH).

 

[just strum]

I checked out finger picking picks yesterday while I was at the music store, but didn't buy any. I tried growing the nails on my right hand, but felt out of balance.

Here's a pic of me when I had the right hand with long nails.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I checked out finger picking picks yesterday while I was at the music store, but didn't buy any. I tried growing the nails on my right hand, but felt out of balance.

Here's a pic of me when I had the right hand with long nails.

You should have stuck with it. If you perfected your fingernail transformation, you'd become rich, but you might sink the Swedish economy.

 

[jpfeifer]

I have grown my nails out on my right hand for finger picking. I don't have super long nails as some of my friends who like to play finger-style, but more of a medium length. My finger picking tone doesn't sound nearly as good with shorter nails, I've tried that but the tone and volume just isn't there.

I've never tried that nail hardener though. I should do that. Every now and then my nails split or break and it messes up my finger-style playing until they grow out again.

I do get a little self councious from having the nails grown out on one hand. I find myself hiding that hand sometimes when I'm in a meeting for work or something.

I've heard the tone from players who use more of the flesh of their fingers than the nail. Laurence Juber is one player like this. I actually prefer this kind of tone. It sounds a little warmer or something. I should experiment to try to get that sound with enough volume.

-- Jim

-- Jim

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Back when I still had my nails & didn't have a freakin' huge splint & bandage around my ring finger on my right hand. I only felt a little odd when I noticed people staring at my hand while talking to me.

But jeez, for the "Land of the Free" people sure get easily weirded out. No wonder kids still try to push the clothing, body-mod boundaries. They instictively know that there will be some snap-back as they grow older & the more they open things up now, the more room will be left to breathe later.

I am still planning on growing them out & trying again. My goal would be to get good enough to vary the mix of warm flesh & nail volume & attack.

We'll see.

 

[LagrangeCalvert]

Protect your hands.....I broke my pinky on my fretting hand ( it took a hand surgeon to set it) and my meta carpel along with screwing up my wrist (tendons) all because I was fighting (thats the real story.....my mom thinks I shut it in a car door....) with swords - I use to practice Wu-Shu..Chinese broadsword - and it made me change my playing style. Because of the break, I have a limited R/O/M in my pinky but luckily hand strength is now back (I broke it 3.5 years ago) but flexibility is still an issue. The type of setting was so cool. The emergency room doctor could not set it right....trying to set it didn't hurt to terribly bad...the local pain killer shot hurt more than anything...even the break. I digress.

A Mongolian/Chinese Doctor by the Name of Narong Manetovat - a hand specialist - had to put it in a traction setting because the tendon was pulling the bone (broke at the 1st and 2nd knuckle) over top of itself - towards the wrist because I was gripping the sword so tightly when it was broke.

So what he did was pulled my finger straight out....put a splint (the metal and foam splint ) under my pinky that went from under my palm at the pinky to about 3 inches past the tip of my finger. Then he put strands of medical tape from the tip (3rd knuckle) of my broken finger to the end of the splint very tightly then bent the splint to a natural position (imagine proper typing form for your hands)...this put tension and hence the name traction on my finger. To top it off for 2 broken bones in my hand (my pinky and the meta carpel behind it) I was in a cast up to my mid forearm for 3 months.

It took 2 years to get back to be able to play a guitar and I still had to change my style. I have been playing for 20 years now and already have uncle arthr making my fretting hand hurt bad...this break made it worse. You might have a little tinge of traumatic arthritis cause of this...so be careful!:thwap:






The point to my long winded story is please protect your hands. If you don't you wont be picking with anything if you Darwin it up bad enough.


Hope your boo boo gets better quick and you get to grow those nails out again.