Jump to content

Fingernails and protection


Neal

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Talk to me. Got 2 bad nails on the right hand, index and middle, and I don't, and won't, use picks. Have tried vit. E oil and 'Hard as Nails', and that healed up the cuticle on the index, but still too thin and prone to splitting. JUST THOSE 2 FINGERS! They do come in contact with cardboard on a daily basis..

 

I'm using the HAN product to protect them, but am seeing no progress in thickening. I keep them very short, filing one way, not sawing. Don't like the idea of wraps or glueing anything on top.

 

Ideas? My 2 most important fingers..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Nope. No ideas. I've run the gamut and always come back to the natural nails. They grow, they break, I'm handicapped; it's a vicious cycle.

 

I can only say that switching to a nylon string guitar saves on wear, which was on-going and frequent with steel. I could wear down the ring fingernail on a set of .013s in one evening. Now I don't sweat it so much. I keep an emery board handy and hardly used by contrast to when I played steel.

 

First world problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I absolutely have to echo FretFiend here. A really good manicurist can recommend the best course for your nails. It's not always about acrylic nails these days. Simply explain to him/her what your needs are and see what he/she says.

 

I've always been a fan of a light coat of CA glue on the tips, but never on the nail bed itself. Nails need to breathe where there is circulation underneath. Clear polish is good too but once you remove it, be sure to treat your nails gently - moisturize and try not to beat them up too much.

 

Remember, nails are just outgrown keratin, same as hair, really, and can be preserved through proper care to a great extent, but they will break down eventually. Sometimes it's best to just cut off the whole mess and let them all grow out again.

 

Must my .02

Best of luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I gom on a thick layer of "Hard As Nails". It's shiny as heck but I don't care. I do it every couple of nights. The other thing I have learned is to vary my strum attack. Throughout the course of playing I go through first, second and third finger as my "pick". This way I spare that constant onslaught on my forefinger. It is quite effective given a constant effort. Also I actively watch for opportunities to pluck instead of constant nail attack. It is flawed toward damage but it's the best I've got. I do wish they made the nail polish in non gloss finish. so it goes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Nope. No ideas. I've run the gamut and always come back to the natural nails. They grow, they break, I'm handicapped; it's a vicious cycle.

 

I can only say that switching to a nylon string guitar saves on wear, which was on-going and frequent with steel. I could wear down the ring fingernail on a set of .013s in one evening. Now I don't sweat it so much. I keep an emery board handy and hardly used by contrast to when I played steel.

 

First world problems.

 

 

Yeah. This pretty much sums it up. I play mostly nylon these days too - probably 2/3 to 3/4 of my playing - and always just with nails (and that goes for steel strings too). I do have an alaska pick that I occasionally use on my thumb if I get a breakage - but it's rare and I don't care for it (alaska picks on fingers are useless).

 

Regular and frequent nail grooming and maintenance is essential. I keep a couple of very fine emery boards handy (the ones my wife throws away because they are too smooth) and polish the nail tips every day. It's those little nicks and scratches that lead to breakages..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
I gom on a thick layer of "Hard As Nails". It's shiny as heck but I don't care. I do it every couple of nights. The other thing I have learned is to vary my strum attack. Throughout the course of playing I go through first, second and third finger as my "pick". This way I spare that constant onslaught on my forefinger. It is quite effective given a constant effort. Also I actively watch for opportunities to pluck instead of constant nail attack. It is flawed toward damage but it's the best I've got. I do wish they made the nail polish in non gloss finish. so it goes...

 

Try "Revlon Matte Finish Top Coat" over the Hard as Nails. Should give you a more natural finish. If you can't find it locally, it's cheap online at WallyWorld: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Revlon-Top-Coat-790-Matte-0.5-fl-oz/24511939

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yep, should see a manicurist. Saw a dermatologist a few y ago on an unrelated issue, he suggested superglue to close up the cuticle, and the nail either would or would not, at that point, start to act right.

 

Well, cuticle is good, using HAN, and putting E oil on frequently, so we'll see how it goes.

 

If anyone has a better nail protector than HAN, put it out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Sounds like thin nails. Mine are pretty tough but even then I wore them down. Attack angle is everything. Mine is a sweeping angle something quite a bit less than perpendicular to the strings and that's what wears them down.

 

I used to make my own nails from a sheet of 0.010 clear acetate sheet -

 

I'd roughen one side of the sheet with 220-grit sandpaper, slice strips from it as wide as each finger's nail bed, shape the radius for each cuticle and cut the strips to extend beyond the length of each nail about an inch as a means for holding them when gluing them on. Then I'd roll each strip width-wise around a round screwdriver shaft to give them each a smaller radius than my natural nails. Then I'd use an emery board on my natural nails, spray one with superglue accelerator and put a thin coat of medium cure superglue on the respective strip. Using a popsicle stick I'd press down on the acetate fake nail and within a couple seconds the accelerator would cure the superglue. From there I'd rough-cut the end with regular fingernail clippers and shape it with an emery board. They lasted about a week which was amazing for a mechanic.

 

I did this often and the entire exercise would take me maybe 15 minutes tops in the end. Because of the constant roughening of the natural nails, and acetone and cyanoacrylate (superglue) exposure, my natural nails began to suffer and the nail beds were a chronic dull ache. I stopped the method and it took about 6 weeks to heal completely.

 

Before that I'd tried acrylic nails but their factory-molded shapes were like talons with a curvature I could not use effectively. Despite much fiddling I still could not make them work for me. Those were the store-bought kits.

 

Then, I tried the assorted commercially available finger picks of a few name brands that were not worth the powder to blow them up. The Alaska Picks were incredibly fiddly finger munchers that required shaping, cutting, relieving and then, once the attack angle was suitable for playing, they hurt like heck from the pinch band pressure. I attempted to adapt to the pain for nearly two weeks but their clickety-clacking against each other in up-tempo stuff contributed to the pain and caused them to dislodge. Junque, I gladly sent them into the plastic recycling bin. Fred Kelly's picks were a complete laugh. His and Alaska Pick's largest sizes were still too small for me, which is why the Alaska Picks pinched so much. I could fit Fred Kelly's largest (thimble-style Pro Piks) size just barely onto my little finger. This left the National Steel finger picks and I could not stand the sound they imparted. It was all raucous and little pleasantness from them. It sucks to have such massive finger tips.

 

Some people swear by their experiences with the fakes picks. IIRC, Eric Skye uses his Alaska Picks to great advantage and promotes them. I wish I could say the same. Anyway, that's my story FWIW.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I don't think it's the playing, primarily uke these days, so nylon....well, 'fluorocarbon' to be precise.

 

In my job I'm forced to slide my right hand into cardboard boxes to pull out the required number of boxes I need to put into another box and then sell to.....you get the idea. I think the constant contact with those 2 nails on cardboard, along with it's drying effect has something to do with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Gotcha. Paper is an abrasive that emulates about an 8000 mesh (grit). Paperboard is something coarser than that. Using a plain sheet of copier paper, with WD-40 as a lubricant, on a flat stone I can restore mirror finishes on mild steel surfaces. Repeatedly running the backs of your nails against the paperboard boxes will definitely wear them thin.

 

Resolutions?

 

Don't do that. Use a more directed motion versus git-r-did haste. I picture flailing arm gesticulation in an animated chinese firedrill of re-boxing trying to complete each store. I watch the delivery drivers at a convenience store in the morning when fetching my steering wheel coffee. Sheesh. Runners to your marks!

 

Or, paint on one of the various liquids mentioned above. Most are acetone based so that alone will continue to remove the natural oils in your nails leaving them dry and brittle. Been there. Applying oils unnatural to the nail isn't a mend-all-cure-all, either. Been there, too.

 

Or, using latex gloves (or neoprene if you are sensitive to latex) would be a non-chemical method of combating that. The gloves will make your hands sweaty so you might cut off and use only the fingers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Yep, should see a manicurist. Saw a dermatologist a few y ago on an unrelated issue, he suggested superglue to close up the cuticle, and the nail either would or would not, at that point, start to act right.

 

Well, cuticle is good, using HAN, and putting E oil on frequently, so we'll see how it goes.

 

If anyone has a better nail protector than HAN, put it out there.

 

I used to use superglue. Fortunately, my wife pointed out the hard as nails stuff. It works well, as long as I use it regularly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I expect my nails to wear thin because I use them on steel strings. I apply Hard As Nails to delay the process - which works - but it does not eliminate the problem.

 

I have a friend who plays classical guitar and he refuses to touch steel strings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Steel is a memory for me but only because I developed away from it. Moving those strings as opposed to nylon doesn't need to happen for the music I like to make - most of the time. The roles for steel are dwindling, though, as I find myself creating what it does well in another way with nylon. And, nylon doesn't stink like steel does. Yep, steel has an odor. On the sound part, nylon does not emit the metallic noise steel emits. This last point was the primary reason I left steel. Years of searching around for the right sound, thousands spent because I'm a serious as well as stupid person about making music, were for naught. Had I stopped in the beginning for a second to pursue nylon strings, like I've done only recently, I might have saved myself much money and aggravation. The nutty part is the Yamaha CG110CE I now favor I got in 2005 via a trade for a Martin DM, even up. I spent stupid money after that looking for the right steel string for me. There, I feel better now. So do my fingernails. Anyway, I wrote a song last night that will sound better on steel strings. I need a pill.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Actually, now that I really examine the problem I have to admit that part of the problem that I face in particular is that slapping those steel strings not only eats away at my nails, but it bruises my fingers. That is not going to fix or get better. I think as I get older I cannot take the trauma as well as I used to.

 

It's funny, I don't have a problem using a pick on an electric guitar. I've done it all my years of playing. What I have with acoustic playing, is a learned behavior that I spent many years perfecting (so to speak) and I simply cannot seem to get the same nuances with a pick. It is a hybrid process that I hate to have to give up. I reckon I need to start working against it and using a pick on acoustic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...