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For years, finger pickers, classical players, and flamenco guitar players, have tried to strengthen their nails so they won't break as a result of playing. These players are very aware of the importance of the nail to their tone. Players have often found that the steel finger tips remove the 'touch' by eliminating the feedback they need to know how hard they are hitting the strings - there are a lot of banjo players that use these steel finger tips. Peter Hutlinger uses only a thumb finger pick, rest are natural fingers. Michael Hedges, one of my all time favorites, wrote that he used pieces of ping pong balls glued to his nails. Flamenco players also have crazy concoctions on their nails. I'm still looking for a solution that doesn't make my hands look too freakish and unattractive. Instead, I just stick with the lame tone from my short nails and flesh instead. Here is what a 'good' ping pong nail looks like, you can imagine what a botched job looks like. https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...3D1%3B900%3B663How have you finger pickers out there dealt with the broken fingernail problem ?
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When I was performing regularly with acoustic guitar I used a diamond file to carefully shape and bevel the nails on my right hand, then treated them with thin CA adhesive, also known as Super Glue. You have to be really careful with the stuff--it was originally designed to bond skin as a replacement for sutures--but it was the most effective treatment I ever found. (If you go this route, which I recommend, keep a bottle of solvent around. You get it where you get the glue; hobby shops are the best source.) I was also changing strings daily, more often if I was recording. Fairly extreme, but the resultant sound was worth it, at least to me.
Edited to add: I almost never broke nails at this point. I was fanatically careful of my hands. Even if I did, I had healthy calluses on the fingertips of both hands, so didn't sacrifice much in terms of timbral quality. Finger picks just never worked for me, at all. For one thing, they're
only good on the upstroke. I was likely to strum in either direction. I was aware of a sitar pick which might have worked but was never
motivated to find them. They looked like a ring with a wire that went over the fingertip with an angle at the apex.
R.
Last edited by Ryszard; 02/05/13 05:36 AM.
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Learn from the master. Go to JT's Lessons and watch "NAILS 101". http://www.jamestaylor.com/guitarlessons/And then watch all the rest. Time well spent...
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I play fingerstyle guitar and prefer using my natural nails. I regularly file them with a glass nail file to keep them smooth and avoid catching them or tearing nails. I also looked at the James Taylor advice video and tried this technique for a while. However it is pretty fiddly and you have to keep redoing your nails regularly as water gets underneath the glued on nail part and makes it look unsightly and then they become less secure and you have to remove them and redo them all again. The technique works well though and if you can stand the amount of time required then fine. In the past I tried various finger picks but they only work for picking in one direction which is far too restricting. However I did discover these picks which actually work very well and a the closest I have found to natural nails. They are Alaska Picks ( www.alaskapik.com) and as long as you have a tiny amount of nail above your fingertip you can use them. You can also cut them down slightly to suit your own needs. They attach very solidly and you can pick and strum in both directions. I keep a few knowing that if I break a nail I can always use these. I still prefer natural nails for feel but these picks are the best alternative I have found. Tony
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Eat. Gelatin.
Find out the foods that contain natural gelatin, such as fish and foul skins, etc. and also plain old "Jello" - and add it to your weekly diet regimen. No need to overdo this one, but not paying attention to it can be the kiss of death for the guitarist's nails.
Check out Tommy Emmanuel and the use of Thumb Pick with fingernails. Also check out how he grabs the thumb pick much like it would be a standard plectrum when circle picking those awesomely fast and accurate single note lines.
For Flamenco, which I understand Joe is studying right now, I'd go with Paco de Lucia method. Nylon strings and fingernails.
--Mac
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In one of his YT videos (I've forgotten which) Chet Atkins stated that he wore gloves (at least on his right hand) because he had to cancel appearances due to broken nails.
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last year I was playing a good bit of clawhammer style banjo and my daughter was regularly gluing one of her fake nails onto my index finger for me. that worked quite well and was easy to replace or repair. not sure how well this would work for fingerpicking guitar cause you would want to do both up and down strokes. I purchased a special pick from Elderly but it never felt right.
on guitar I do basic fingerpicking using the fleshy part of my fingers and thumb. I now have nice calluses built up. not sure I would like a pick because I am sometimes bother by the sound it makes against the strings.
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Joe, this isn't really an answer to the question you asked, but it is an answer to the question "what kinds of alternative gizmos do you sometimes use for fingerpicking?" This won't complement any of the "classic" fingerpicking techniques, but if you just want something that gives fingerpicking a soft "pluck" and provides a unique sound, try these: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keyw...20finger%20tipsThe little nubs snag the strings and create a sound that's more aggressive than the fleshy part of your finger, but less aggressive than a fingernail or pick. Plus, when your fingers are dry, you can use them to turn pages in the book you're reading. Really! places like Office Depot carry them. Note that One size does NOT fit all... I had to buy 3 different sizes to accommodate the diameters of my fingers
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Pat - those look a little to similar to those ribbed things ; )
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another thing I do sometimes is take aluminum tape* and wrap it around my finger tips leaving some extra at whatever part of my finger contacts the string. The tape is .005" thick, the backing is VERY sticky, so you can build it up pretty quickly to whatever thickness works for you. Because it's aluminum, you can trim it with regular scissors (but don't use your wife's quilting scissors. Don't ask how I know this is a bad idea) the advantages of this approach: 1) the tape is widely available at "man" places like Home Depot, and you'll never need to venture into a nail salon to buy it  2) you can put the "pick" part pretty much wherever you want it (as opposed to most commercial finger picks which may not put the sweet spot at the location where you naturally contact the string 3) it goes on quickly and comes off afterwards, you don't need to wear it except when you're playing guitar 4) yet its sticky enough to stay on while you're using it, unlike some commercial fingerpicks which tend to slide off disadvantages: 1) When people notice you're playing guitar with duct tape on your fingers, they'll make fun of you. (Again, don't ask how I know this.) http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en...72880&rt=c3
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Quote:
Pat - those look a little to similar to those ribbed things ; )
ohhhh MMaaaaan.. I bought mine from a midget...
surely you don't suppose....
note to self: don't even go there. Just throw them AWAY!
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The fingernails are very important to the sound because of the A in the ADSR.
--Mac
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Quote:
Quote:
Pat - those look a little to similar to those ribbed things ; )
ohhhh MMaaaaan.. I bought mine from a midget...
surely you don't suppose....
note to self: don't even go there. Just throw them AWAY!
Thanks for the "tip"!!! (but seriously, I'm gonna try these.)
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Quote:
ohhhh MMaaaaan.. I bought mine from a midget...
they look about the right size for a small cat or dog.
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Quote:
Quote:
ohhhh MMaaaaan.. I bought mine from a midget...
they look about the right size for a small cat or dog.
I had no idea cats or dogs could play guitar!
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Keep the party clean gentlemen or you'll wake the forum vigilantes 
Chris
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Quote:
Eat. Gelatin.
Find out the foods that contain natural gelatin, such as fish and foul skins, etc. and also plain old "Jello" - and add it to your weekly diet regimen. No need to overdo this one, but not paying attention to it can be the kiss of death for the guitarist's nails.
The notion that gelatin does anything to strengthen your fingernails is an old wives tale.
If you need an excuse to eat Jello you will need to come up with another one.
If you are going to be finger picking nylon strings, they are much easier on your fingernails than steel strings. All my finger picking is done on steel strings and with the exception of the plastic National thumb pick and metal finger picks that I use for Scruggs style picking on the 5 string, I use Fred Kelly Freedom finger picks and a Fred Kelly Bumblebee flat thumb pick. The Freedom finger pick wraps very tightly around your finger and when properly positioned it is very much like your natural nail. It leaves the flesh of your finger exposed so that you can strike the string with both flesh and finger. The picks come in small, medium, and large sizes and you can also apply heat to customize the fit and then plunge them into cold water to make them retain their new shape. The Delrin freedom picks sound more like natural fingernails and the polys sound a little brighter.
Now I'm going to share a trick with you all that I've never shared with any one before but it was something that I came up with last year after years of trying to find something to keep my finger picks and thumb picks in place. Believe me I have tried every thing without complete success. Earl Scruggs wrote in his instruction book about his method of scratching up the inside of his thumb picks with the blade of a pocket knife so that was one method that I used. I've used the fake finger nails, the ping pong balls, AlasKa picks held in place with a tightened strip of Velcro but I drew the line at applying super glue. I tried gorilla snot (rosin) which was only moderately successful at keeping picks from flying loose while picking. I finally had a Eureka moment when I applied a wad of poster putty to the inside of my freedom picks and pressed the picks firmly down on my fingernails. The poster putty not only held the pick tight to my finger while I was playing but it remained stuck to the inside of the pick when I took it off, meaning that I did not need to reapply it the next time I wanted to use the picks. I found that I could also apply the poster putty to my thumb pick with similar great results.
The first experiment that I did with the poster putty, I used WAY too much. Use too much and it is gushing out onto your strings and the top of your guitar. I use a very tiny ball of poster putty which I apply to the finger pick so that when I press it onto my finger nail that it won't spread out all the way to or past the end of my fingernail. Just press it down very firmly and the pick will stay in place. Experimentation will teach you how much to use without making a mess. I have found it to be a very minuscule amount. When you want to take the picks off, they come off just a little bit hard, but as I mentioned, if you have done it right the putty stays stuck to the inside of the pick and is ready for the next go.
Keith
2025 Audiophile Windows 11 RYZEN THREADRIPPER 3960X 4.5GHZ 128 GB RAM 2 Nvidia RTX 3090s, Vegas,Acid,SoundForge,Izotope Production,Melodyne Studio,SONAR,2 Raven Mti
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Excellent write-up, Keith.
Cheers,
Mike
PS: I, too, use steel picks for steel strings for the most part.
Cheers, Mike My Music * Asus ROG Strix G15CF 32 GB DDR4 4TB HDD + 1 TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 8GB Win 11 AKAI EIE PRO Sound Interface. BIAB/RB 2024 UltraPak Build - Latest
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great idea Keith! Thanks for sharing your secret!
Another thing that is commonly done to keep the metal banjo-type fingerpicks in place is to put black electrical tape (the cloth kind, not the plastic kind) on the ends of your fingers before putting on the picks. It's somewhat tacky even on the "non-sticky" side, so it does a good job of keeping the picks from sliding.
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