Nails

[TedBPhx]

Got one of these on an impulse buy. Comes with a 12 page instruction booklet. Comes down to use the rough side to get the length and the other to shape and smooth. Duh. But the last page says some players, nylon classical?, also shape the fretting hand nails for sound effects. Huh? Never heard of that?

[bmw2002]

Maybe tapping for some form of flamenco effect?

These get a lot of love over on the Acoustic Guitar Forum site. I bought one recently, and think it’s a great product.

[TedBPhx]

AGF is where I heard of these also. It is the best nail file I’ve ever picked up.

[Jimmy blue note]

I discovered Czech glass nail files a while ago. There are others out there that turn out to be some kind of coated hard plastic that look like glass nail files-not good at all and wear out fast, but I get mine on line from some place on Amazon. Glass gives me a precise and smooth roll over the edge that I can't get otherwise, kind of polish grade edge without being too smooth. (I also use a buffing grade foam backed finishing nail file from the drug store; that gives a nice edge too).
Yeah, on steel, it's really important that I keep my nails relatively short and the edge smooth. I don't know about effects per se, but it certainly effects my sound and feel if the final grade of polish/buffing isn't right.
What I like about the crystal files, it lets me get a precise shape profile on the leading playing edge. That's really important to me. There's where I can get real differences in sound: shaping the nail edge even slightly different. Angle of attack, hand position can change which part of the arc of the nail I use, so how my hand is positioned and how exact the nail is shaped really does effect sounds I can get and a glass file is hard and allows me good shaping control.

The ones I use are pretty stock I guess, no fancy manual and comes in a case which is essential as these are glass and can break with the other stuff in the gig bag. I get mine for about 10 bucks.

[RJVB]

There we are again, a bunch of mostly 50+ guys discussing their nails ... surely there must be an instagram page for that?

I'd really like to hear a demonstration once of how much the produced sound really changes going from normal nail care (cut to length & shape plus a bit of filing/deburring) to the kind of beauty parlour obsession as depicted in one of Michael Watts's videos - both of course aiming for the best possible tone.

[Alter]

If coming from steel strings, it's hell to handle nails. It literally took me years to figure out what to do...

[Jimmy blue note]

There we are again, a bunch of mostly 50+ guys discussing their nails ... surely there must be an instagram page for that?

.

Some people get it, some don't. Are there any pick threads on this forum? Do plectrum players ever discuss different picks? I do know that (bassist) Steve Swallow said he can't play a pick that hasn't had the edges buffed and polished. It may amount to a small, or even imperceptible difference to a listener, but if it sounds right, and it feels right, it makes the player play better.

[RJVB]

Some people get it, some don't. Are there any pick threads on this forum? Do plectrum players ever discuss different picks?

It's just that the picture is somewhat incongruent, and the subject more in line with what you'd expect from (very) young girls (I'd add "blonde" but I might be accused of racism)

I play with flesh so I probably don't get it indeed. Then again, I spend time filing the callouses off my finger tips and out of the nail corners.

[Woody Sound]

Do they wear out?

[Jimmy blue note]

Do they wear out?

I have one I've used for 5 years. Still using it. I had one that I got from a drug store, looked like a glass file but that one did wear a smooth line right where I used it a lot.
The imported Czech ones have lasted the longest for me but even they do lose their "bite" after a while. They're washable so you can clear away any material that loads the abrasive surface.

[Doctor Jeff]

A soft rubber eraser should clear away any debris.

I will have to get one of these. I have been lucky for quite awhile by avoiding any potential unexpected impacts on the right hand--careful how I open doors, of course never play catch football or frisbee, etc. Zippers can be a problem--nail sometimes gets caught by them. Most unexpected is putting up the toilet seat--some of them "catch" and flip back. I ruined several nails before I got in the habit of only lifting the seat with the left hand (and tissue paper because I'm a germaphobe).

The great steel stringer plucker William Ackerman (founder of Windham Hill records) said that at a certain point he gave up on normal nails and started going to a Vietnamese nail salon regularly. Apparently those fake nails last longer.

[bmw2002]

My wife and I went to see Grisha Goryachev, a fantastic flamenco player, here in Philadelphia over the weekend. He had to cut the first part of his set short because, as he explained to the audience, he tore a fingernail. He was able to repair it during intermission and continue the show…