A man's discussion topic - Nailcare ?!?

[AndrewD]

Ok you butch blokey types playing screaming pentatonic guitar solos to roaring crescendos whilst gargling diesel. Who plays guitar fingerstyle with their nails and how do they look after them? I play nylon strings mostly these days, but still play the old steel strings with my nails, only resorting to pick and nails if it is a GG piece that requires violent strumming interspersed with twiddly stuff. It's funny, but I used to get nail splits and all sorts, but when I started to play guitar all that stopped. I keep them short enough on the right hand by using a nailstone and finish off by polishing under the edges with a 3 stage buffer to a glassy finish (I was fairly surprised when going to my local chemist I bought 4 buffers at the same time and the cashier didn't turn a hair). The polished, glassy finish gives by far and away the best tone. I was practising tonight after some gardening (without gloves) at the weekend and the tone sounded awful; it was like I was playing with sandpaper. After a few seconds polishing the edges the difference was quite extraordinary - from fuzzy buzzy cotton wool sounding notes to clear ringing notes with real depth and clarity. Amazing.

So what do other folk do? Or does anyone do the Brian May thing and play with a silver sixpence as a pick, or half a paving slab perhaps? Gordon - do you have any tricks of the trade as you use one (at least) finger nail?

[GORDON]

Hi Andrew.

You speak the truth sir, tone is everythinhg.

I use superglue and acrylic dust to coat my nails which are dreadfull!

I just coat the nail with the glue and then dip into the dust, brush off, file down and start again until your own nail is gradually built up with the dust and glue. I then sand and buff. This gives me a strong playing surface that gives me a good sound and clear harmonics. God knows what the glue is doing to my body but hey we suffer for our art don't we...grin...

[Mike]

Nails!*!!@!#@!!! I think Gordon should have a separate discussion forum for this topic alone! Surely almost all guitarists use nails at least some of the time. Three- or 4- stage nail buffers are great, at least for people like me (nylon strings, pitifully little time to practice), but maybe not for heavier-duty playing. I've tried "hard-as-nails" clear nail varnish - not as hard as manufacturers claim, and took the top layer of my nail tip off after a small split, which took months to grow out again. Also tried superglue on its own, but it cracks and flakes off after a couple of days - more trouble than it's worth? I wonder if Gordon finds that the acrylic powder prevents this. Also, I wonder if having nails continually coated with superglue/powder, nail varnish/tissue or whatever, weakens the nails in the long term? Any suggestions desperately received!

(Gardening without gloves? Jeez!)

[AndrewD]

(Gardening without gloves? Jeez!)

Oh boy - that's a killer. Nothing is guaranteed to make a complete mess of nail edges than any form of gardening. Even with gloves I still seem to get abraisions and rubbish collecting under the nails. Takes a full polish to get my tone back.

[GORDON]

I recently smacked to top off my little fingernail(the one I use to play the thing) the day befor flying to Portugal. In desperation I went to my local nail bar where they fitted a false one....It works a treat!

Anything you cover your nails with will weaken them...it is ALL a compromise as far as I'm concerned and is a constant pain in the you know what UNLESS you are lucky enough to have been born with great nails like my pal Raymond Burley, but having said that, he does play nylon strings- steel would rip them apart!

Good luck all you pluckers out there, it's a minefield. You could of course try fingerpicks, I know many great players who get a great sound out of them!

Best.

G.

[AndrewD]

Two weeks ago I was just starting to rip through Heartsong when whilst strumming the intro I caught my forefinger nail and ripped straight through it (it was soft anyway having not long come out of the shower). It has almost grown back to a semi-useful length but Teresa suggested that I get a falsie fitted. I decided not to (a short break from playing wasn't a bad thing) but it is interesting to see that an artificial nail is (almost) as good as a real one for performing. Do you notice any difference in the tone you get, or any sense of it not quite being "you" playing?

[Mike]

This might sound crazy, but I've recently tried using thin disposable gloves (blue nitrile, similar to those in DIY stores) on my right hand for practicing! I currently play nylon strings, and even then if I play for more than a limited time my nail tips sometimes start to flake. Despite this, I'm trying to preserve natural nails without resorting to superglue, varnish, etc. I've found the gloves useful for protecting the nails for the 'donkeywork' of practice (scales, working out new pieces, etc). The sound isn't bad either, although quiter than without gloves. Anyone else like to try it? It might even sound OK for a concert, with amplification, although you might look a bit silly!

[AndrewD]

I've never heard of anyone playing with gloves! (other than buskers with fingerless mitts in the cold). It is a whacky idea - must try it out