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Post by roger duncan on May 9, 2007 20:45:35 GMT
Hello Michael...Have you any advise about fingernails?... I've tried super glue(Josh White?). ..it works, but it's a pain in the ass and I'm not so sure it's so good for my finger nails...I got a 335 sitting in it's case, but I play it for 2 weeks and I got no fingernail left...(it's only really the index finger that suffers) I would have asked Mark knopfler..but he's not as accessible as you mate...:) have you any ideas...?
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Post by Michael Messer on May 9, 2007 20:50:39 GMT
Hello Roger,
I just hapen to be online as you left your message. Mark just plays with his fingernails...no superglue...just flesh & nail! I use plastic fingerpicks made by Dunlop, they're a good compromise.
Give it a go....let me know how you get on. Oh.....get that 335 out of its case right now!!!!!
Shine On, Michael.
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Post by roger duncan on May 9, 2007 21:05:43 GMT
lol..OK.. I do it now..... but still it's a problem.
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Post by roger duncan on May 9, 2007 21:11:10 GMT
P.S. I can play with picks but it just doesn't sound like me... my sound is in that finger.... :shrugs:
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Post by faceless on May 10, 2007 7:11:54 GMT
The idea of having long nails to pick with seems like a good idea but the longer they get the weaker they get. So my 1 pence worth is to grow them until they are just the right length and then keep them at that length don't let them grow any more. This practice has worked for me and it has also stopped me breaking them when Im doing a spot of DIY. I have noticed that there are nail strengtheners available but I do worry that these my make the nail go brittle. Another option would be to go to a salon and have acrylic nails. Also the ladies that work in salons are normally the type of woman that you want leaning over you asking if your comfortable!
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Post by Bill Stig on May 10, 2007 8:34:34 GMT
I would agree with you about nail length. I play classical guitar and can't understand why most players have there nails so long. The classical method is to angle the nail so that the flesh of the finger slides over the string first to soften the sound. I've tried nail hardeners without success. My nails tend to go brittle in the winter so wearing gloves is good advice. Rubbing moisturiser into the cuticles and taking fish oil is also supposed to help. Use a good nail file and polisher to get rid of any nicks that can grow into breaks. And, just to give a macho slant to this girly talk - I always break my nails when I service my van. I once did the sound for John Renbourn. He turned up for the gig in a pair of wellies and the plastic from pink ping pong balls glued to his fingers. He said the pink ones were the best.
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Post by roger duncan on May 10, 2007 9:45:16 GMT
Thanks for the response..I agree about keeping my nails the right length...but the problem with my index finger and steel strings is that it wears from the top, if you see what i mean..it gets so thin that by the time it grows out, it breaks very easily....I know a professional flamenco player and he uses an acrylic nail strengthener, which really is just super glue... I also heard about the ping pong balls and also of players who save their toe nail clippings..lol So, all in all, I think my best answer is to use a strengthener...(I'll go and ask some girls..:)..Also, for the last few months I've stuck to playing nylon strings, which has given my nail a chance to get back to 'normal' Thanks again for you replies. Keep on keeping on!
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Post by Michael Messer on May 10, 2007 10:20:29 GMT
Hi Roger,
Lots of players use superglue & nail hardener to do the job. Also....false nails - I know a few people who use them. I used to play with my nails... until 1982....I think!, but I had the same problems, so I started using picks.
Shine On, Michael
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Post by Bill Stig on May 10, 2007 10:52:54 GMT
Super glue and tissue paper is a popular one with flamenco players. I've had problems with my nails on steel strings too, but I know steel string players whose nails never seem to break - I suppose some are luckier with their nails than others.
Bill
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Post by roger duncan on May 10, 2007 21:41:35 GMT
I also heard of super glue and silk..which makes sense to me...silk being so strong...I also got spiders webs in my mind..but i think maybe I'm starting to lose the plot ...lol Maybe I shall try some fingerpicks again..though after 26 years or s, it's a bit like learning all over again...then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing... Thanks again for the response gents...
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Post by Gerry C on May 10, 2007 22:57:19 GMT
I have acrylic nails on the three 'picking fingers' of my right hand. I go to a local salon and have them professionally done every five/six weeks. I have to shape them to my needs afterwards but they work well. I also get free coffee and pampered by very attractive young ladies: what's not to like? ;D I have an arthritis problem which means I have to monitor my calcium intake, so my nach'l nails are about as useful as a choccy teapot. HOWSOMEVER: when playing slide on my reso (on which I have a set of gas-pipes rather than strings) I frequently use metal picks on index and middle - I always wear a thumbpick anyway. Tearing through Rollin' and Tumblin' or A Few Short Lines at the end of the evening's entertainment in a noisy pub can have detrimental effects on even the most carefully nurtured acrylics... I too keep my 'nails' short so that the fingertip gives the sound and the nailtip gives the volume and - literally - edge
Cheerily,
Gerry C.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2007 6:57:06 GMT
I remember reading years ago that the top players used to eat a couple of raw jelly cubes a day and apparently this helps to stengthen them. Personally I enjoy raw jelly cubes so its good.
Another thought (and it is only a thought without scientific research) is that I take a product called glucosoamine sulphate on a daily basis for my knees, it is I good for replacing damaged cartalige. I play my guitars every day for a minimum of 2 hours and rarely suffer with problem nails. Maybe what is good for cartilage is also good for nails, n which after all are not too different structurally.
Snakehips may be able to offer some medical opinion.
Regards
Tommom
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2007 6:58:50 GMT
I remember reading years ago that the top players used to eat a couple of raw jelly cubes a day and apparently this helps to stengthen them. Personally I enjoy raw jelly cubes so its good.
Another thought (and it is only a thought without scientific research) is that I take a product called glucosoamine sulphate on a daily basis for my knees, it is good for replacing damaged cartalige. I play my guitars every day for a minimum of 2 hours and rarely suffer with problem nails. Maybe what is good for cartilage is also good for nails, n which after all are not too different structurally.
Snakehips may be able to offer some medical opinion.
Regards
Tommo
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Post by Sonya on May 11, 2007 12:18:28 GMT
Having tried and failed to get on with most designs of fingerpick, I was introduced to the plastic Alaska picks which go round the tip of the finger and fit snugly under the nail, forming a sort of nail extension. They feel a bit uncomfortable at first but you get used to that.
Also, my horse has brittle hooves and I apply a product called Cornucrescine to the growing area (the equivalent of the quick). It is greasy and smells revolting but it does wonders for brittle fingernails! I'd love to know if there is a similar product available for human use, which works as well as the horse stuff..... ;D
Sonya
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Post by Gerry C on May 12, 2007 8:38:27 GMT
"Cornucrescine's for horses, not fer men/Doc sez it'll kill me/But he won't say when..." ;D
I tried Alaska picks once but the problem is that I had to have my nails as long as they need to be for picking in order to fit them underneath; I agree, though, they're an interesting idea. (Do banjo players wear them to play an Arctic roll??!!)
Cheerily,
Gerry C
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