Nails and Double Stops

[jklotz]

I have a book of pedal steel licks that I've been working on. I've been trying to grow out the nails on my picking hand, 2nd & 3rd finger, to get a nice, percussive sound with the double stops. Seems like I can't do more than 30 mins of practice before I get grooves worn down to the skin. Do you guys have this problem? Seems like if I don't have nails, I'm not able to get the right sound?

[telex76]

I tried having my nails a little longer for hybrid picking.
I used hard as nails and kept them filed, but they always wore down too fast or broke.
In a years time, I probably had my nails how I wanted them for a total of 2 months if you added it all together. I will never mess with nails again.
I gave up and just use the flesh tips of my fingers. Practice, and you can get it to sound right. A compressor helps to even out the sound too.

[waparker4]

how about something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/OPI-Nail-Polis.../dp/B00178TVXG

Not endorsing this product per se but some nail hardening application.

This one has nitrocellulose. Maybe in a couple years you'd have some nicely relic'd fingernails

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by waparker4

how about something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/OPI-Nail-Polis.../dp/B00178TVXG

This one has nitrocellulose. Maybe in a couple years you'd have some nicely relic'd fingernails

There's something gross about that

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by telex76

I tried having my nails a little longer for hybrid picking.
I used hard as nails and kept them filed, but they always wore down too fast or broke.
In a years time, I probably had my nails how I wanted them for a total of 2 months if you added it all together. I will never mess with nails again.
I gave up and just use the flesh tips of my fingers. Practice, and you can get it to sound right. A compressor helps to even out the sound too.

Yea, I think I'm coming to the same conclusion. Thanks for the input.

[jbmando]

Two words - acrylic nails. When I was gigging I had acrylic nails put on my right middle and ring fingers once a month. Best $7.00 I was spending at the time. I still hybrid pick but every two weeks at church doesn't wear the groove down to the skin anymore like it used to.

[Valvey]

Your nails shouldn't be wearing down in 30 minutes of playing. You might be attacking the string with the nail alone, which quickly creates grooves. The flesh just under the nail should be the primary contact point, and then the string is rolled off the nail. The nails shouldn't be too long for electric guitar. Looking at the side of your fingers at eye level, the nail shouldn't extend farther that the tip of the finger.

Even if you're doing it right, your nails will wear down playing steel string guitar several hours a day. At that point you start thinking about fake nails.

[Arbiter]

My nails are so soft that traditional fingerpicking is out of the question. Strings slice them right off. So can my hair if I rub my head wrong.

I also don't form calluses.

I use the pads of the fingers and have managed to make it work and to sound good.

My point being there's almost always some kind of alternative.

[rangercaster]

Your nails shouldn't be wearing down in 30 minutes of playing. You might be attacking the string with the nail alone, which quickly creates grooves. The flesh just under the nail should be the primary contact point, and then the string is rolled off the nail. The nails shouldn't be too long for electric guitar. Looking at the side of your fingers at eye level, the nail shouldn't extend farther that the tip of the finger.

+1 !!! the fingertip skin will eventually toughen or callous w/ lots of playing ... a fingernail just can't compete with a steel wire ...

[jmiles]

If I want to play pedal steel sounds on my 6-string, I use what I use when playing my pedal steels; fingerpicks.

[brewwagon]

try sticking your hands into a bucket of sand to toughen them as that becomes easier use marbles then progress to steel shot
it won't happen overnite but soon you will be breaking strings with your iron fist chicken (pickin') claws

jmiles avatar made me remember this from kung fu

seriously this is painfull! and you might need to use picks or somekind of padding -tape bandaids

i have used the cut ends of rubber gloves as splints so i could play before
due to dislocated fingers and arthritis

work on your touch don't kill it pet it

[McGlamRock]

Try filing and buffing your nails with VERY fine sand paper. Do it everyday and make sure your nails don't get too long. Your nails should end at the tips of your fingers.

Don't use your nails like picks. You should attack the string with a combination of flesh and nail. Using a compression sustainer will help even the attack if you are hybrid picking.

[Mjark]

I don't think of steel licks as being particularly percussive. I play with my fingers. I find I have much more control with my finger tips.

[historicus146]

Ken Carlson has a video on his solution to the nail issue on his website...

It is something he found that says works very well....
it involves a gel on the nail ... then placing under a UV lamp.....he swears by it..

I think you have to sign up to get to the section on his site...but its free, under free lessons.....

[Ken Carlson]

Thanks Historicus. I've had a lot of guys asking me about using the fake nails, so I made up that video. Two of my mentors, Brent Mason and Ray Flacke, have been using them longer than I have, which has been 25 years now.

Some guys have think nails and others, like me, have paper thin nails. Mine will tear off in a matter seconds if I didn't wear fake nails. I used acrylics for years but recently switched to using gels after a nasty fungus I developed a few months back. The gel I use is much stronger than the acrylic and I can put it on thinner than the acrylic. Check out the video on my site for more info. Hope this helps.

[jklotz]

I watched that video - thanks Ken. I'll try that stuff I suppose. Can I go somewhere to get it put on before investing in that UV lamp? How do I know if they use the right stuff?