When you break a nail...

[highvibrational]

Hi all,
I had the unpleasant experience of breaking my index fingernail, which threw off my fingerstyle playing and left me feeling incapacitated. I found a leather thimble that I can use until it grows back, but it sounds terrible. Amazon has silicone finger protectors. Does anyone have any solutions? I don't like using a pick unless I have to.

Thanks,
HV

[JonPR]

When I break a nail (so it needs to be cut right back) I use one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tone-Deaf-M...dp/B000NGVQKO/ The metal ring circles the fingertip - so you still feel the string - and sits right where the end of your nail would be. Comfortable (because you can bend them to fit), and surprisingly mellow sounding. (The guy in the photo is not wearing them right on his middle and ring - the index one is more correct.)

[Birdbrain]

Once at a Pat Metheny concert, from a front seat I saw him break a nail on his right hand. He finished the song, the first of the set, and sent the Unity Band into a sax-driven song to buy time. His longtime guitar tech came out and applied an artificial nail. I watched Pat blow on it to dry the nail, and by the time the song ended, he was ready to go on. It looked like a well-practiced move. Out of about 15 Metheny concerts, it's the only time I ever saw anything go wrong.

[highvibrational]

Originally Posted by JonPR

When I break a nail (so it needs to be cut right back) I use one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tone-Deaf-M...dp/B000NGVQKO/ The metal ring circles the fingertip - so you still feel the string - and sits right where the end of your nail would be. Comfortable (because you can bend them to fit), and surprisingly mellow sounding. (The guy in the photo is not wearing them right on his middle and ring - the index one is more correct.)

Thanks so much! I just bought a set and am curious to see how they will work.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by highvibrational

Hi all,
I had the unpleasant experience of breaking my index fingernail, which threw off my fingerstyle playing and left me feeling incapacitated. I found a leather thimble that I can use until it grows back, but it sounds terrible. Amazon has silicone finger protectors. Does anyone have any solutions? I don't like using a pick unless I have to.

Thanks,
HV

Hi hv…
I play all-flesh without nails, but have friends who carry an 'emergency nail kit' with their gig-gear consisting of a small sharp pair of scissors, a single $1 bill, superglue and baking SODA (accelerant for super glue) to repair nails when they crack, chip, break.

Many players have just started using fake nails (applied carefully by a salon).

The US paper currency is made of cotton. When trimmed to the proper shape of the nail-tip, the fibers are super-glued glued spanning a break and the baking powder hardens it nearly instantly and adds 'substance' or body to the repair which can then be filed and smoothed.

Some of my friends who have less than rigid nails, bad experiences with nail fungus (from fake nails misapplied) are really good with this repair.

I also have a friend who builds Civil War models of battlefields, and they actually build, & shape small pieces out of superglue and baking powder, and then paint them.

I'm pretty glad I play all flesh when I see them struggling through a crack or ripped nail till the end of a song (or appropriate break) to head backstage and work furiously to restore a nail to playing condition.

[highvibrational]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi hv…
I play all-flesh without nails, but have friends who carry an 'emergency nail kit' with their gig-gear consisting of a small sharp pair of scissors, a single $1 bill, superglue and baking powder (accelerant for super glue) to repair nails when they crack, chip, break.

Many players have just started using fake nails (applied carefully by a salon).

The US paper currency is made of cotton. When trimmed to the proper shape of the nail-tip, the fibers are super-glued glued spanning a break and the baking powder hardens it nearly instantly and adds 'substance' or body to the repair which can then be filed and smoothed.

Some of my friends who have less than rigid nails, bad experiences with nail fungus (from fake nails misapplied) are really good with this repair.

I also have a friend who builds Civil War models of battlefields, and they actually build, & shape small pieces out of superglue and baking powder, and then paint them.

I'm pretty glad I play all flesh when I see them struggling through a crack or ripped nail till the end of a song (or appropriate break) to head backstage and work furiously to restore a nail to playing condition.

This is the most unusual thing I've ever heard and will remember it. Arts and crafts as a way to fix a problem! Thank you.

[Bob Womack]

I have liquid acrylic applied over my natural nails at a salon because they have become brittle as I've become "mature." Oh, let's not kid ourselves: they've always been brittle. But the acrylic means I almost never break one unless I let them go too long betwixt salon visits. Been doing it for over twenty-five years. My wife dragged me down to the salon the first time.

So man up and go to the salon!

Bob

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by highvibrational

This is the most unusual thing I've ever heard and will remember it. Arts and crafts as a way to fix a problem! Thank you.

Hi all…
Correction, I meant BAKING SODA (not baking powder).

[BKinBWa]

I broke off one of my nails a while ago. I was able to find the broken off piece and carefully super glue it back on. It has to be a clean break, and you have to be pretty precise (I used to be a jeweler...). Then I covered it with clear nail polish. Worked amazing well. I couldn't even tell where the break had been, and it held up as if it had never been broken.
-BK

[Chipotle]

I've used plastic press-on (glue-on) nails from the drugstore and adhesive dots to connect them as a temporary fix if I had a gig. The dots are strong enough to last for a couple days if you're reasonably careful.

[mawmow]

Baking soda in nail polish under and over cigarette paper could also help.

One also used ping-pong balls…