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  #1  
Old 06-18-2021, 12:51 PM
BKinBWa BKinBWa is offline
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Default ...and yet another fingernail question....

So, I'm seriously considering getting my nails "done" with acrylics on three picking hand fingers (thumbnail is tougher and I don't use the pinky). As it is now, my nails tend to wear down unevenly, leaving rough gouges at the tips, and I get a scratchy, whispery sound when playing. I paint them with Sally Hansen stuff, but that only helps a little. Do acrylic nails last longer? Would I have the same problems? I'd like to hear from those who have taken this step and what the down/up sides are.
I'm sorry if this has been addressed before. Please direct me to any relevant prior threads.
Thank you.
-BKinBWA
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  #2  
Old 06-20-2021, 12:43 AM
Tannin Tannin is offline
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Last longer? Yes. Much longer.

Would you have thet same problems? Not really. Sure, the wear is uneven, but it is quite slow and your nails grow a little bit every day, so you can just file a bit extra off in some places, a bit less in others. I play between one and three hours a day and find that my nails wear at about the same rate as they grow, so I hardly have to trim at all, just a little tidy up now and then.

Note that you cannot cut or clip acrylic nails: they are too tough to get a blade through, and if you do manage to do it then they crack and chip. So you have to file. They are much tougher than natural nails, so you need to file for longer to make much difference. This is no bad thing: it takes a minute or so to file a nail down a little, so you have time to think about what you are doing before you go too far.

Good luck with it BKinBWa.

Upside: Generally better tone - even when you keep them fairly short and use a lot of flesh rather than actual nail: the nail reinforces the flesh of yor fingertip and helps you get better tone. Much less stress about your nails: they tend not to break even when you do heavy work (fencing, laying concrete, whatever), and your nail person can always fix one if you do do something bad to it. You also no longer don't have to ration your playing hours to preserve your fast-wearing nails. Play as much as you like.

Downside (1) Strumming tone. If you use the back of your nails to strum chords in between your fingerpicked single notes, the tone quality of those strummed chords deteriorates. It's like using a poor quality pick instead of a good one. It is a significant drawback and in the 12 months since I started having my nails done I haven't found a cure for it. I started a thread here - https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=613962 - and despite severl helpful suggestions, the case remains on the unsolved list.

Downside (2) We do jigsaws and I can't pick up the little cardboard pieces lying flat on the table with my right hand! The reinforced nails are a bit thicker than natural nails (of course) and my fingertips don't touch the jigsaw piece. So I have to use my left hand!

Overall, and notwithstanding some significant downside, the benefits outweigh the costs many times over. I have mine done (usually three fingers and thumb) roughly once a fortnight. It costs between $10 ands $20 and is worth every penny. The three Vietnamese ladies at the local salon and I have learned a few things in that time. Number one is not to go for too much length and don't have those little plastic extensions they glue on under the varnish. (You get really weird tone once the nail starts to wear; it sounds horrible.) Go for strength, not length.
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Old 06-23-2021, 11:33 AM
BKinBWa BKinBWa is offline
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Thank you, Tannin. I'm going to go for it. I assume they are not difficult to remove if I decide I don't like them?
-BKinBWA
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  #4  
Old 06-24-2021, 02:39 AM
Tannin Tannin is offline
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No trouble BKinBWA. You have to remove them every fortnight or so anyway as the bond between the artificial nail and your natural nail decays - you'll see the edges of the artificial nail start to lift and yellow. They will fall off not so long after that but don't let it go that far - you don't want water and muck getting in there between the two nails, it can lead to fungal infections. In addition, your nails will have grown out a bit by then. So this is the time to go and have them removed and replaced. (Or just removed if that's what you want.)

There are three methods: you can lever it of by slipping something (such as a plastic false nail extension) under the false nail. This is quick, and hurts a little bit (not too much).

Or you can grind the false nail off using a small, battery-powered tool like a little drill with an abrasive cylinder on it. (Like the plastic extensions, any nail salon has these.) This is fairly quick and quite painless, though it probably needs a certain amount of skill to avoid grinding into the natural nail.

Or you can soak the nail with a solvent (using a dab of cotton wool and some aluminium foil wrapped around the finger) and then grind the softened artificial nail material off. This process needs to be repeated several times to get down to bare nail. It takes quite a while - 15 minutes maybe. No pain at all, of course.

There are four ladies at the salon I go to: two of them use the first method, one uses each of the other two methods I described. None of them paint and dip the nail in quite the same way as any of the others either. So I never know which version I am going to get when I turn up for a nail job. And it really doesn't matter: all three methods work just fine. Maybe there are other methods again. I don't worry about any of that, all four ladies leave my nails in great shape for playing, one way or another, so I'm happy to leave the details up to the experts. They don't tell me how to finger an Eb9, I don't tell them how to do my nails.

JKust one word of advice: I recommend *not* getting your nails lengthened this way. Just get them toughened with the acrylic coating and let them grow out gradually. This way there is no sudden huge transition to get used to, your playing can adapt gradually as your tough new nails gradually get longer. It might take you weeks or even months to slowly find the ideal length for your playing style. That's OK, there is no hurry.
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Tacoma Thunderhawk baritone, spruce & maple.
Maton SRS60C, cedar & Queensland Maple.
Maton Messiah 808, spruce & rosewood.
Cole Clark Angel 3, Huon Pine & silkwood.
Cole Clark Fat Lady 2 12-string, Bunya & Blackwood.
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  #5  
Old 06-24-2021, 01:47 PM
Terry_D Terry_D is offline
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I've struggled with this problem and a solution to it for a long time. I've given acrylic nails a lot of thought but before I went that route I wanted to give Alaska picks a try. As them come they were way to long for me so I shortened them by about half and I'm really liking them now. They take a little getting used to but not nearly as much as other types of finger picks. I'm really liking the tone I'm getting out of them which is what I hated about my real nails since they are so thin.
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  #6  
Old 06-28-2021, 08:20 AM
JERZEY JERZEY is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BKinBWa View Post
Thank you, Tannin. I'm going to go for it. I assume they are not difficult to remove if I decide I don't like them?
-BKinBWA
If you dont backfill them they will lift. You never want to be in a situation when you have to pry them off. Plan on getting them filled in every month.

Removing them is very easy. Lots of great videos.

Avoid gell applications. Acrylic powder is what you are looking for.
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