Acrylic vs Natural Nails - Demo

[Doug Young]

I lost a nail this morning - first time that has happened to me in years. It came off nice and clean, so I thought it was a great opportunity to compare and see what the nails actually do for me. I think it's more noticeable in person than on a recording, but for what it's worth, here's a quick demo:

[rick-slo]

Acrylic smoother and louder. Probably somewhere between natural nail and flatpick. That said my natural nails give a sound that varies between using the index versus the middle versus the ring finger, and varies with nail length, shape, and level of polishing.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Acrylic smoother and louder. Probably somewhere between natural nail and flatpick. That said my natural nails give a sound that varies between using the index versus the middle versus the ring finger, and varies with nail length, shape, and level of polishing.

yep, even with acrylics, each finger tends to sound a bit different due to different attack angles, finger strength, whatever.

[Howard Emerson]

Hey Doug! Long time, eh?

The difference is night and day, even through my iPhone speaker. There’s way more fundamental tone/fatness with the acrylic.

Be well,
Howard Emerson

[Bob Womack]

Nice demo! Your experience and mine are exactly parallel, though I use acrylic on my thumb and go without a thumb pick. I also find that the acrylic frees me to dig in. Without it I know that one night of hard playing will do-in my nails either through wear or breakage. With the acrylic I just don't have to think of playing wearing or breaking a nail so I bear down as the situation calls for.

Bob

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Nice demo! Your experience and mine are exactly parallel, though I use acrylic on my thumb and go without a thumb pick. I also find that the acrylic frees me to dig in. Without it I know that one night of hard playing will do-in my nails either through wear or breakage. With the acrylic I just don't have to think of playing wearing or breaking a nail so I bear down as the situation calls for.

Bob

I do my thumb with acrylic, too, and I sometimes use that. Somehow, I've never been as happy with the tone of my thumb nail as with the pick, probably just needs some focus on the shape and hand position. But at this point I've used a thumbpick for so long, it's hard to give it up. Still, I keep the thumb in acrylic as a backup, in case I don't have a thumbpick handy.