Back-of-nail tone

[Tannin]

My name is Tannin and I have a problem. (Long question. Sorry.)

I play fingerstyle, both bare fleash and nails. I have naturally weak nails so once a fortnight I go to a nail salon and have then painted with the usual compound. I don't know the proper terms for this.

I started with the little glue-on plastic extensions, coated in varnish, dipped in silicone(?) powder, re-coated, re-dipped a few times. I didn't like that so much: I found that the hard silicone layer and the plastic fake nail underneath it and the real nail underneath both tended to seperate after a few days, producing an unpleasant double-note tone. (Imagine holding two plectrums at the same time. Something like that.)

Then I switched to just having the paint and powder, skipping the little glue-on plastic bit. Much better! No nasty double notes, and the compound sticks well to my natural nails and lasts longer.

Bit by bit, I let my nails get ever so gradually longer so now I can play with just flesh, just nail, or any desired combination. At the same time, I went from having one nail done to two, to three, and now I do four (thumb as well), leaving only my little finger natural. (I don't generally pick with the litte finger.) I've gone from playing with a pick, to finger and thumb, to two fingers and thumb, to all except the little finger. All good.

The problem. Tone with the back of the nail. Back before I started getting my nails done, strumming a downstroke with the back of my natural nail produced an excellent tone - even better than a nice plectrum. A painted nail, however, has a dull thud sort of a sound. To start with I just used a different (unpainted) nail to strum. The tone difference was obvious.

Unpainted nail >> sounds better than a plectrum >> sounds better than a painted nail.

Now I only have painted nails and although everything else about the present arrangement is great, I miss that beautiful tone on strummed chords. (I play fingerstyle and mostly pluck chords if I'm not playing single notes, but strummed chords are an important part of it too.)

Note that tone on plucked notes is fine, it's only the back of the nail that sounds poor. My working theory is that the nail compound is not a good "plectrum" material. Plucked notes are fine because they are mostly made by the real nail underneath (the painted reinforcement only keeps it stiff and helps it last). But strummed notes with the back of the nail sound thuddy and boxy.

Is there a better material to use on my nails than whatever it is nail salons normally use? (Different lacquer or different filler or both.) Or is there something I can top-coat one nail with for better strumming sound? Or is there some other cause? Note that I get good tone from back-of-nail strumming with any of my threee large fingers if they have bare natural nails.

Sorry again for the long question.

[JERZEY]

I have 2 rules.

1-I never cover more then half of the nail with anything. This allows healthy growth near the cuticle and prevents thinning.

2-Never paint your nails. Use only the product body. Paint works its way into your strings. Not good.

You will see 3 types of nail coverings. Acrylic powders, gel types and silicone.

Relating to acrylic powder the downside is being exposed to the product during application. The fumes are pretty bad. The up side is the acrylic powder is extremely strong. Its so hard it creates a wonderfully powerful tone. This type will buff smooth like class. This type has almost no wear. You file to maintain your shape and length.

Gel is a different animal. Its not nearly as toxic during application. Its easier to shape and maintain as its much softer. The downside is gel wears pretty fast. Its not nearly as strong as acrylic powder types. It does not produce the powerful tone. Gel does not buff as smooth as acrylic powder.

Silicone is just not an applicable material for a picker. To soft.

[ljguitar]

Hi Tannin…

Changes sometimes have consequences.

Hope you get it all worked out.

[Tannin]

Thanks Jerzy and Larry. The powder dip is acrylic, of course. My mistake. I'm getting good tone from it when using the nails "normally" (plucking), it's the dead tone from the back of the nail I dislike. (Far inferior to a naked nail, or for that matter a plectrum.)

I think I'll try an experimental top coating of something harder, carborundum or similar. (I'll have to hunt around to find a suitable powder, probably from a hardware shop.) Also with *not* putting a finish coat on top of the last powder dip. A rougher surface may help.

[JERZEY]

Originally Posted by Tannin

Thanks Jerzy and Larry. The powder dip is acrylic, of course. My mistake. I'm getting good tone from it when using the nails "normally" (plucking), it's the dead tone from the back of the nail I dislike. (Far inferior to a naked nail, or for that matter a plectrum.)

I think I'll try an experimental top coating of something harder, carborundum or similar. (I'll have to hunt around to find a suitable powder, probably from a hardware shop.) Also with *not* putting a finish coat on top of the last powder dip. A rougher surface may help.

If you are all ready using acrylics then its very likely its the shape. You want the same attack on both up and down strokes. Both sides of the nail need to be filed and buffed with the same attack. It makes a huge difference.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Tannin

Thanks Jerzy and Larry. The powder dip is acrylic, of course. My mistake. I'm getting good tone from it when using the nails "normally" (plucking), it's the dead tone from the back of the nail I dislike. (Far inferior to a naked nail, or for that matter a plectrum.)

Hi Tannin
I realize many of my changes over the past 57 years were a result of experiments, and either adopting them and adapting my techniques, or reverting and coping.

For instance, The bulk of my income did not come from my music. My main work required me using my hands, and I have soft nails which chip/split easily and could not use glue-ons. I also type a ton.

So I altered from playing with nails (and repairing them) and became an all-flesh player with very little nail at all. This gives me a robust finger-style volume and tone with less clarity than people who play all nails. I'm NOW (past 2 decades) an all-flesh (with a hint of nail for accent) and I strum (downstrokes) with the back of my middle-ring fingernails and upstroke with back of thumbnail.

A side effect is the volume from my finger-style playing is nearly the same volume as my nail strumming . So I can get the sound-tone-timbre of aggressive strumming without actually playing louder (which sometimes frustrates and confuses sound-techs).

Just a thought…
Have you recorded your room sound out front (or via pickup) to see if the changes you've employed make as much difference to the actual sound the audience hears as what you hear?

I find my perceptions from 'behind' the instrument are not always the same as 'out-front' (which is really the sound that counts).

Changes of course are not neutral. If technique interferes with performance and the player cannot adapt, then further exploration may be needed.

Hope this adds to the discussion…

[Tannin]

Thanks again Jerzy and Larry. Your comments have given me several useful directions to investigate. I'll work along those lines and report back.

[rina1504]

If it's just the downstroke, could an alaska pick on just the index finger work?

https://alaskapik.com/

[Tannin]

Thanks Rina. Probably yes, but at the cost of changing everything else I do. (Most likely.) I have a set of Alaska picks: I'll try it!