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What do you guys do if you break a nail?   You are logged in as Guest
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soclydeza85

 

Posts: 60
Joined: Feb. 27 2017
 

What do you guys do if you break a nail? 
I'm still in the learning phase and have quite a while before I'm fluent enough to use any of this stuff in an actual performance, so when I break a nail off (which fortunately isn't too often but it does happen) it's a real pain in the ass and hinders my practicing certain techniques, but I can afford to just wait it out and let the nail grow back.

For those of you who do perform (or just can't stand waiting a month for a nail to grow back), what do you do when your nail breaks far down enough and in a way that you can't really just repair it?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 5 2017 16:11:31
 
orsonw

Posts: 1739
Joined: Jul. 4 2009
From: London

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
There are lots of previous discussions, try a foro search e.g.

http://www.foroflamenco.com/searchpro.asp?topicreply=both&message=both&timeframe=%3E&timefilter=0&top=300&criteria=AND&minRank=10&language=single&phrase=broken+nail
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 5 2017 17:19:27
 
Piwin

Posts: 3466
Joined: Feb. 9 2016
 

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
If you break a nail during a performance, it's like breaking a string mid-solo: stop b*tching and work with it!
If you're good enough, nobody will even notice:



And if you break it practicing, you can always slap on a fake nail (but apparently that slows down nail growth so it will take longer to repair?). I kind of figure it doesn't hurt to get used to playing without nails. That way, if you do break a nail during a performance, you won't be caught off guard.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 5 2017 17:42:24
 
Dudnote

Posts: 1801
Joined: Nov. 13 2007
 

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
Just switch to learning the letras (in compas of course) of your favourite cantaoras and cantaors

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 5 2017 18:11:07
 
Leñador

Posts: 5237
Joined: Jun. 8 2012
From: Los Angeles

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
I get an acrylic, but my thumb nail is the only one to ever break. An acrylic finger nail might feel weird but it'll get the job done.
It pays to go to a good salon too, cheap ones will do things like make your acrylic really thick or cut your callouses off, or not prep the surface well so it ends up falling off.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 5 2017 18:51:52
 
IraqiOud

Posts: 41
Joined: Apr. 3 2016
From: Iraq, Living in North Carolina

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: soclydeza85

(or just can't stand waiting a month for a nail to grow back)



You definitely need some calcium supplements if it takes you a month to grow a nail!
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 5 2017 21:00:04
 
soclydeza85

 

Posts: 60
Joined: Feb. 27 2017
 

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to IraqiOud) 
quote:

You definitely need some calcium supplements if it takes you a month to grow a nail!


Haha, it depends on the finger and how deep the break is. I, M, and A don't usually break that far down, so I can file it down and salvage it; maybe a week and a half tops before it's back in full action. My thumb is a different story, usually the breaks require me to take all of the excess nail off (to how a "normal" men's nail would look) and that can take about a month, maybe more before it's at an optimal length.


quote:

If you break a nail during a performance, it's like breaking a string mid-solo: stop b*tching and work with it!


Yup, that's my philosophy too haha, unfortunately my right hand technique is still a baby, so I have a bit before I possess such skills. I just can't imagine being able to pull off some techniques full speed using only flesh, let alone the imbalance between nailed and non-nailed fingers.

I figured the acrylic idea is good as an emergency backup. I don't want to have to rely on acrylics but I should probably try it at least once so I know what it feels like in case I ever need it.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 5 2017 22:19:28
 
Sr. Martins

Posts: 3077
Joined: Apr. 4 2011
 

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
I wonder why guitarists don't seem to use glass files. Maybe it's tradition..

They are truly superior, don't wear out, no need to use anything else after to make the tips smooth..

I usually use them wet, feels nicer and avoids nail dust in the air.

I feel that the regular files are more conducive to nail splits. Since they wear out and aren't made to be washed, I really don' understand why people still use them.

The funny thing is that I find myself "selling" it to women too so it probably is a matter of tradition and/or never having heard of glass files

Beware of the fakes, buy a solid one.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 5 2017 22:43:45
 
Dudnote

Posts: 1801
Joined: Nov. 13 2007
 

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to Sr. Martins) 
quote:

ORIGINAL: Sr. Martins
don't wear out,

Until you drop them

Thanks for the wet tip, I'll give that ago.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 6 2017 5:26:16
 
timoteo

 

Posts: 219
Joined: Jun. 22 2012
From: Seattle, USA

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to IraqiOud) 
quote:

You definitely need some calcium supplements if it takes you a month to grow a nail!


"In humans, nails grow at an average rate of 3 mm (0.12 in) a month." See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_(anatomy).

The white portion of my thumbnail is ~5mm long, so yeah, a break confined to the white portion can easily take a month to regrow. And if it's a deep tear extending past the point where the nail is joined to the skin, then it could take much longer.

And there's no calcium in nails, they aren't like bone, although calcium and other substances are important in the body processes that might be needed to grow nails.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 6 2017 6:47:12
 
jalalkun

Posts: 276
Joined: May 3 2017
From: Iraq, living in Cologne, Germany

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
my nails probably grow faster than 3mm a month...and I never broke off a healthy nail, i once bumped and dented a nail and it chipped off cleanly where it was dented while playing at a gig :( in those situations where I mostly do strumming i switch to another nail because strumming and flesh hurts really bad, especially when you don't have that thick skin on the right hand
a good thing to do is just to practice playing without nails. it needs another type of precision of course, but this might even help playing better with nails.
and regarding files: I use both sapphire files and glass files. sapphire files I use to trim the nail down to its raw length because the glass file that I have is rather fine and taking down a lot of nail would take too long. I then use the glass file to "seal" the nail and round up the edges to make the feel on the string smooth. no chipping, no splitting, and work is done faster :3
eat lots of nuts and veggies, oils and silica are important for good and resistent nails.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 6 2017 8:53:41
 
Ricardo

Posts: 13944
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
In the past I have gone on and on about the need for FRESH CA glue, treat it like food etc. Well my wife bought me a whole bunch (5 or 6 packs) a while back, and I was like "gee thanks honey" knowing full well I would use one and seal it in a plastic bag, and most likely discard all the others (that come in cardboard and plastic package). Well I didn't take my own advice and sure enough the second bottle I opened and applied (after having lost the first bottle or used it up, can't remember) was no longer fresh.

What happens is it does not dry hard enough and flakes off quickly. It's like rotten food. I put more on and it just becomes like jelly so I played it off in like 3 songs and ended up breaking a nail the next day, playing with unprotected nails as much as I do weekly. So I had no choice but to make a fake nail, out of paper towel and CA glue, (after buying a fresh bottle of Krazy glue from the store of course). It was about 30 minutes before the show last month (4 weeks ago I guess). That stupid Paper towel nail I STILL have on and it made throug a month of heavy playing and a big show I did this weekend and Juerga to boot.

I will say that the brand of paper towel sort of matters too. I used the 2 ply bounty paper towel material as it really soaks up the CA and sandwiches it so its much stronger than the normal tissue paper and single ply paper towel stuf.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 6 2017 11:49:09
 
Escribano

Posts: 6389
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to Ricardo) 
quote:

I will say that the brand of paper towel sort of matters too


CA reacts with any cotton-based material, loses strength and can even catch fire.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 6 2017 14:02:04
 
Piwin

Posts: 3466
Joined: Feb. 9 2016
 

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to Escribano) 
quote:

and can even catch fire.


Manitas de fuego!

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"Anything you do can be fixed. What you cannot fix is the perfection of a blank page. What you cannot fix is that pristine, unsullied whiteness of a screen or a page with nothing on it—because there’s nothing there to fix."
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 6 2017 14:06:30
 
etta

 

Posts: 329
Joined: Jan. 20 2010
 

RE: What do you guys do if you break... (in reply to soclydeza85) 
Go to "guitarplayernails.com. This guy has everything to repair or replace nails along with good instructions.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date Nov. 6 2017 15:22:58
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