Finger nail question for finger style players.

[DaBoz]

I filed/shaped them last night. They're not that long and work for me.

[spencermm]

Originally Posted by DaBoz

I filed/shaped them last night. They're not that long and work for me.

Nice. I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing. Thanks for posting.

[Joshua White]

Originally Posted by Mellow_D

If you're not using fingerpicks, or your fingernails, does that mean you're picking using the actual FLESH of your fingers?

I always thought fingerstyle playing required either fingerpicks or your own fingernails.

Using the flesh of your fingertips gives the best sound in my opinion. Much warmer than a fingerpick.

[clintj]

Looks like mine are about as long as the group's. I'm still learning to use my fingers, but any longer than 1/8" gets hung up on occasion when playing and interferes with my job. I like a little finger pad in there too since I find nails only too bright for my taste. I used to play with little to no nails, but the finger attack was much darker than my thumbpick and sounded unbalanced.

[Bern]

Originally Posted by Joshua White

Using the flesh of your fingertips gives the best sound in my opinion. Much warmer than a fingerpick.

Although, I agree, the problem is that using the fingertips alone somewhat lacks projection, which, for example, Rag and some Blues type music desperately needs.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

...
Don't remember seeing a list of requirements…

well, strings for a start.

Originally Posted by spencermm

Nice! That's not long at all. I was hoping I wouldn't have to have Nosferatu nails

remember ljguitar plays with the flesh of his fingers and doesn't use the nail.

Originally Posted by DaBoz

I filed/shaped them last night. They're not that long and work for me.

those are even shorter than mine. so you primarily play with your nails?

[callouses]

The one thing that I haven't seen yet is my situation, which is, being old. When you get older, you begin to lose strength in other area's of your body, so, to compensate, your body naturally takes strength from more unnecessary area's to make up for it, such as, nails. I have to keep mine short like my left hand is, because like lj, I have to do other things besides play. And my nails crack and split even when they are short, (probably because I'm really, really old.) See what you have to look forward to?

[DaBoz]

Originally Posted by mc1

those are even shorter than mine. so you primarily play with your nails?

Depending on the sound I want, I adjust the angle of my fingers and play with either pad or nail.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by DaBoz

Depending on the sound I want, I adjust the angle of my fingers and play with either pad or nail.

cool, thanks for the reply. my nails are similar in that the nail bed ends quite a ways back from the fingertip. so if i grew them out past my fingertips, there would be a lot of white and more importantly they would be distant from the flesh (since they don't curve downwards like a fingertip).

[SteveHung]

I never got used to nails or thumb-picks. I always fingerpick with the flesh.

[Doug Young]

Everyone finds something, possibly different, that works for them. Playing flesh only never worked well for me. It works well for Laurence Juber and Tommy Emmanuel, but those guys are exceptional in all kinds of ways, and most people won't get the tone they get from raw flesh. Like a lot of fingerstyle players, I use acrylic nails, and personally, I think that's the big "secret" to getting a good tone. Fingerstyle players have been doing this for a long time, from the days of John Renbourn glueing cut-up ping-pong balls to his fingers. There are lots of ways to strengthen the nails, and some people get away with some of the nail hardener products, but most pros I know just cut to the chase and use acrylics. If your life style allows you to do it, I suspect you won't go back after trying them. The day I quit using acrylics will probably be the day I quit playing guitar :-) There are other options, like Alaska Pics, traditional fingerpicks, etc, and there are people who make those all work great, too. I know a guy who cuts up the Alaska Pics and glues just the tips on his fingers, sort of a different approach, and he gets a really nice tone.

As far as length, I'm not very consistent. There's something about the sound of long nails I like, and right now mine are pretty long, probably 1/4 inch beyond my fingertips. But I'll trim them back, and I like that, too. A little faster, with less drag on the strings. You just have to work with the length to figure out how to get a sound you like.

[Vancebo]

I currently have fairly short nails and a longer thumb nail. I get flesh and nail and I like the balance. Nail only is too bright. For 10 years though I was using acrylic. But not any ordinary acrylic. From what I understand not all acrylic is the same. Here's what I know and wether it's true or false is still a mystery but it has worked.

I started trying acrylic and was dissapointed that it didn't last very long. So I kept trying other places. Still the same result. The acrylic would lift and separate from the natural nail within a couple of weeks. This is not good. So a female friend told me about Solar Nail. We had a place actually called Solar Nail so I went. I was told that not all acrylic is the same and that this product was just better quality. Once I started going to solar Nail my nails would stay on and never lift. I pretty much went once every 5 - 6 weeks and did my middle three fingers only and they charged me $5 each time. I believe Solar Nail is a product name and that many salons carry it but you have to ask for it specifically. This place once had 5 different guitarists going and having one hand done because of my recommendation. It just works really well and sounds good. Warmer sound and more power. When I wanted to stop because lack of time practicing so I just let my nails grow out naturally and my nails underneath were perfect.

[spencermm]

Well, I've been growing em for two days now. Watching em like a hawk and I can't tell that they've grown a'tall.

[alma_shortscale]

Originally Posted by spencermm

Did you grow out your nails on your picking hand?
Considering it. I can't do the finger picks thing. Looking for pros/cons for growing them out before I decide if I want to give it a go.
Thanks,
Spencer

Just let 'em grown. If you don't like it, cut 'em back.