I have never got on with finger picks for playing my Weissenborn but unfortunately my nails are quite weak. I've tried the lacquer and powder dip method which worked well until the nail started to grow out. It then lost adhesion and caught on stuff and I ended picking it off and damaging the nail.
Does anyone here use nail laminations, what sort, where do you get them done and how long do they last?
I know Thomas Oliver mentions acrylics in his podcast with Troy and I know Martin Simpson uses silk wrap (not sure what that is!)
6 Comments |
 | Buzz Turner says:
4/13/2016 6:55:16 AM
Hi Bill,
Over the last fifteen years I've kept some kind of fake nail on my fingers. Started with acrylic then tried silk wrap and for the last eight years I've stuck with gel nails. I no longer play gigs so in 2015 I returned to just my natural nails. I used to go to the nail salon and have "fills" done every two to three weeks. Cost was $13.00 a visit plus tip. I've had no issues and the gel nails wear and sound great IMO. James Taylor has a show and tell page on his site for nail care. I've tried his method and it didn't work well for me but if it works for JT it's worth trying. My main interest in lap steel is a Weiss in D-tuning. Along the way I added a Nation Model D resophonic square neck which I played with just the gel nails. I've just recently been trying a thumb pick and two metal finger picks on the National and boy, the picks really help get "that Dobro tone".
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BillG says:
4/14/2016 11:09:49 AM
What are gel nails Buzz? I'm not sure we have them in the UK, perhaps they are called something else. I use a thumb pick quite happily but can't get used to finger picks also I often sort of strum backwards with my finger nails (frailling?)which won't work with picks. it acutely puts me off playing my Reso, as you say it sound better with picks.
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 | Slidennis says:
4/19/2016 4:53:48 PM
Here's a link to JT's video about nail reinforcement.
youtube.com/watch?v=7BqISqpMRo8
I play naked, no picks, just with the fingernails. Been doing that for nearly 50 years now. The Weissenborn tuned to open D does not wear on the nails any mode than playing fingerstyle Spanish guitar, which is to say no issues there with wear and tear.. So they hold up well for me. But cracking has been an issue in the last two years - getting old, getting more brittle. So I may resort to the JT method soon.
Dobro is another matter. I wear the nails off after about two hours of play. Thankfully they are a renewable resource.
I have had some success using a couple of alternate style finger picks. The plastic Alaska picks can be worn so that they fit under the the edge of your real nails. They also don't sound like most metal picks, quite a bit more gentle.
alaskapik.com/
The best of the alternative style metal picks I have tried are the Propik Fingertones. They are cut out so that you can feel the strings with your fingertips. They are not nearly as aggressive sounding as traditional fingerpicks either.
guptillmusic.com/propik-finger...er-picks/
If you do find a good artificial nail solution, please let us know.
Dennis
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 | mstuartev says:
5/2/2016 5:33:06 AM
I use these two varieties:
Perfect Touch finger picks (recommended by several players on this forum)
perfecttouchpicks.com/finger-picks.html
Great projection, good tone and comfortable.
Fred Kelly "Freedom Picks"
vjdmc.com/category/FKfinpk.html
the latter can be worn so the plastic blade is over the top of the finger nail, extending just slightly as if it is an extension of your natural nail. However, I actually wear them upside down so the blade comes up from underneath the finger pad - like an old school dunlop finger pick. I played Dunlops for years with the spanish-style 6 string, so I'm familiar with that action.
Nail wear and splitting is more of an issue for me. I do play bare fingered now and then, and if I played weissenborn thru an amp exclusively, I could probably do it all the time (less effort to create volume), but...
I've never had any luck with nail hardeners. An English guitarist I saw backing up John Renbourn some years back, described super-gluing cut pieces of ping-pong balls to his fingernails. Cool... but a little over the top for me.
ME
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| mstuartev says:
5/2/2016 8:01:32 AM
I use these two varieties:
Perfect Touch finger picks (recommended by several players on this forum)
perfecttouchpicks.com/finger-picks.html
Great projection, good tone and comfortable.
Fred Kelly "Freedom Picks"
vjdmc.com/category/FKfinpk.html
the latter can be worn so the plastic blade is over the top of the finger nail, extending just slightly as if it is an extension of your natural nail. However, I actually wear them upside down so the blade comes up from underneath the finger pad - like an old school dunlop finger pick. I played Dunlops for years with the spanish-style 6 string, so I'm familiar with that action.
Nail wear and splitting is more of an issue for me. I do play bare fingered now and then, and if I played weissenborn thru an amp exclusively, I could probably do it all the time (less effort to create volume), but...
I've never had any luck with nail hardeners. An English guitarist I saw backing up John Renbourn some years back, described super-gluing cut pieces of ping-pong balls to his fingernails. Cool... but a little over the top for me.
ME
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 | hollowneck says:
7/7/2016 12:56:42 PM
I have been using the ProPik Fingertones (large, single-wrap) for about a year now and I like them. They do give me more nuanced control and help with intonation and even with harmonics. I do also use a Zookie thumbpick (large with a 10 degree offset, the smallest.). I play tunes that have a wide dynamic range (loud and aggressive) as well as soft and subtle tunes that benefit from the Fingertone picks. I also have used the standard brass fingerpicks for years and keep these now as spares.
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