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NAILS!?!?!?!   You are logged in as Guest
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larone

 

Posts: 242
Joined: Nov. 19 2004
 

NAILS!?!?!?! 
Can i have someone elses nails???? Mine suck!! They're all different shapes, one sides thinner than the other, different tones on each nail. AND ther'ye attached to a hand that has crap picado...........help me obe one you're my opnly hope.................

OH please give me strength.....in my nails........AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!


i'm a little bored
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 12 2005 12:27:48
 
duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to larone) 
hey! Sounds like you found my nails. Can i have ém back please?

_____________________________

This is hard stuff!
Don't give up...
And don't make it a race.
Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.

RON
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 12 2005 13:55:49
 
gshaviv

Posts: 272
Joined: Mar. 22 2005
From: Israel

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to larone) 
My nails our lousy too, but that's nothing I can't fix with some nail glue and silk paper.

The real probelm is that my nails are connected to a set of lousy fingers, and no nail glue will fix those.

If we are starting a body parts exchange, I would like to get Paco's fingers, you can pick your Paco, De Lucia, Pena, Serrano, I don't mind...

_____________________________

Guy
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 13 2005 22:39:42
 
Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to larone) 
Most people's nails are not ideal for guitar. But the real problem is when you try to force your nails and hands and body into playing like someone who is completely different. You have to experiment to find out how it all works together. When you play to your potential, your technique look a lot different than other great players, because your body is different.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 14 2005 16:21:04
 
Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to Miguel de Maria) 
Recently, I've been trying to play a bit harder, which is pretty scary 'cos I can feel my nails flexing and "just" reaching that limit before disaster!
I never used to do that before.
But the sound is better IMO...
The reason why I backed off a lot was because I never want to go through this whole "nail-care" nightmare again, with glue and tissue and gunk and crap.
Once you start it..then that's it.
You will never be able to play again without it.

Three explanations IMO...

1.The coating prevents light from reaching the cuticles through the rest of the "window" of the nail.
So it's no good covering most of the nail, except for the cuticle.
Your nail will still grow in thinner and weaker.
Been there, tried it...don't work.

2.Your body adapts to the synthetic "protection" and your nails grow in thinner and thinner.

3. Each time you peel off the synthetic layer, you remove a very thin layer of nail and since nail grows very slowly, then peeling off a small amount 4-5 times a month has a significant effect over time.
(The tape and pegamento used to last about a week or so with me)

Any way you do it, once you start using synthetics, then you will never be able to play without them unless you give your nails 1-2 years to grow back again naturally.

A lot of pros accept this and just go with it, since they are more concerned about tone quality and non-breaking of nails rather than playing with a natural nail and have it break just before a concert.

IMO, if you are an amateur and are prepared to get your nails done at a salon, or by yourself once a month or so, using modern synthetics... then no sweat.
But if you don't really have the need to, then I'd say don't experiment.
Do it a couple of times and you'll have to do it always ...

cheers

Ron
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 14 2005 20:11:08
 
duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to Ron.M) 
i only put glue on the tip of the nail. The white tip. Not the rest of the nail.
3 layers works just fine. I normaly don´t use glue, but now the season of nail cracking is here so..from time to time i have to. actually my tone get very flamenco when i use glue..

Henrik

_____________________________

This is hard stuff!
Don't give up...
And don't make it a race.
Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.

RON
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 15 2005 5:31:22
 
sorin popovici

 

Posts: 427
Joined: Jan. 7 2005
From: Iasi, Romania

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to larone) 
Hi to you all , long time no "see" .I've been on vacation and though i've tried to quit playing for some time I'm still here ( my parents insist to do more learning since i'm not going to be very good at playing in the near future).

My question to you is this.Is it better to have hard nails or softer nails?

I have very hard nails ,never used synthetics or things like that cause i'm usually very lazy about my nail care but my tone sucks.It seems imediately after i sand them no matter how carefoul i am , i still sound pretty bad and it usually takes a couple of days
before my nails get the edge naturally smoother.Maybe i'm doing the sanding wrong?!

And i have another problem , different things work better with different nail length.
For instance tremolo works better with long nails for me ... i mean the movement is ok,
but here and there i get the squeak sound.Is it normal to be easier to do tremolo with longer nails or i'm doing it wrong ?

And my last question i've seen on the pumping nylon these nail shapes:

__
__\

and
__
__/

(rotate the "drawings " 90 degrees anticlockwise to make sense)

I'm right handed ,by the way.Ok,Scott Tenant says that both shapes work .I dont understand the second shape ,is this really working for anyone ?The first shape seems ok
but the second seems weird.Is the second shape also for players that are righthanded?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 15 2005 8:41:01
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14852
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to larone) 
I have the 1st shape for index /, the second shape for ring (annular)\. Understand that I dont' see a straight line edge from ABOVE, they look a little curved, but I have more nail on the left side of the ring finger. My middle finger nail is more straight across _. The actual straight line of the nail caused by filling is seen from only the angle I file at (underneath). The reason I file this way is because of my hand angle and the way my fingers catch the strings. I play with "hooked" or bent fingers, and I found my ring finger nail catching on the right side years ago. Filing this way removed the resistance and allowed the string to glide right off, and the tone was better too-literally overnight. Check out my vid, the first falseta:

http://michaelk101.com/todd/toddmp3/Bulerias.wmv

Ricardo
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 15 2005 18:42:29
 
Conrad

Posts: 533
Joined: Jul. 16 2003
From: Toronto, ON, Canada

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to Ricardo) 
Hey Ric,

Is there any way you can post a picture of what you describe? It would be very nice to see all of your nails in detail. Cheers

-Con
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 15 2005 21:08:14
 
Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to larone) 
Richard,
damn you're good!

I think the main thing to take from what Richard said is that he has experimented and adjusted the shape of his nails according to his playing style and his body. Unless you play and look exactly like him, copying him explictly is not going to help. This nail thing is tough and seems to take a lot of work and experimentation for everybody. Another thing to realize is that each finger attacks the strings differently and will thus need to be treated differently. It seems that no matter what I do, my index finger has no problem. But my ring finger has to be a specific length or it either catches or misses the string too much. And my middle finger has to be short, because it is much longer. Also, for maximum efficiency each finger attacks the string with a slightly different sensation and trajectory. My middle finger "pulls" more than the others, which "push" more.


Ron,
I used acrylics for about 4-5 years and this year I decided to ditch them. I took them off and gradually they have grown back. It took me about six months to do it. My nails are fine now, perfect, and I play naturally unless I am going to play a gig where I have to do a lot of strumming. Then I put a bit of nail polish/hardener on them. I don't agree that it's such a big deal to switch either way, as I play for a living and managed to switch back to natural without such an inconvenience.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 15 2005 21:25:48
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14852
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: NAILS!?!?!?! (in reply to Miguel de Maria) 
Miguel, yes everyone is different, which is why Tenant's video and diagrams are great. It takes into account those differences, you just have to experiment a little. It is scary though, I felt like I was in nail shape "limbo" for a couple weeks experiment. I coudn't play anything! But what a difference it made for me in the end.

don't know what your arguement was with Ron, but for me 6 months would be a BIG inconvienence,

Ricardo

One day I will get try to get Todd to do a moving video of our nails, but like Miguel said, you have to find what works by experimenting.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Sep. 15 2005 21:49:32
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