Anyone ever used a Nail Bar?

[Albatross]

I have 13-56 strings on a busking guitar and they are ripping my fingernails up. I was wondering about going to a nail bar and have them put on some acrylic nails.

Anyone tried this? Does it work for you? How long do they last? Ever just fall off or come loose?

Stuff like that really... much appreciated in advance.

[Arpangel]

I wouldn’t do this, acrylic nails aren’t as tough as you think, they will come off at some point.
A friend who is a professional guitarist looks after his nails by filling and shaping them, and applying nail hardener, that’s the best way I think, you might waste money going to a nail bar.

[Fishnish]

In the classical guitar world (in which I am now largely a bystander) there are some players who go the acryllic nails route. Almost all of the players I've come across who do this do their own and spend a huge amount of time on it. They mostly say the skills of a cosmetic nail technician are somewhat different from those required for applying and maintaining nails for playing. I tried acryllic nails myself a few times (although a long time ago) and my experience was that they were quite soft, not very secure, needed lots of replacements and required just as much daily maintenance as my natural nails, if not more. People who use them nowadays tell me the nails (specialist nail brands like GPN, etc) are more durable and modern adhesives are better though. They say there's still a lot of maintainance, they're not set and forget.
In my younger days my own nails were quite soft and thin, and keeping them in good order for classical playing was a pain, lots of emery paper, polishing and shaping every day. Diet also plays an important part in maintaining good nail strength. It took a couple of years of regular care to allow the nails to grow well and not split, curl or crack. Back in the day we used to do emergency repairs with superglue and Rizla papers. Nowadays my nails are much harder, like eagle talons, and i just give them a burnishing with a grinder every now and again
There is a wealth of info on this site: https://guitarplayernails.com/

[djangodeadman]

I know that Martin Simpson has talked about going to a nail bar, where he has his nails silk wrapped.

[Guest]

I find for me looking after my cuticles makes for stronger nails: https://www.burtsbees.co.uk/lemon-butte ... 03878.html

Obviously not an instant fix but worth doing.

I used to use nail strengthener but nowadays my nails are hard as hard can be.

[shufflebeat]

You might be better examining your playing technique. I'm assuming you're using a steel string acoustic with a pick, and missing the strings. Been there, still am sometimes. A few years ago I got fed up with wearing my nails back to the blood and changed my pick grip a little. It's awkward at first and easy to slip up and revert but I don't have the same problem now and my playing is no worse.

[adrian_k]

I’ve done it, my nails were a mess and I had a wedding to do. I found I needed to shape them afterwards myself.

I quite liked them until they grew out and left pink pads with the consistency of blancmange where my nails used to be. Took a while to harden up again.

These days I fix splits as soon as they happen with superglue and tissue paper.

[merlyn]

I was assuming Albatross is fingerpicking. Are you using an amp, Albatross? Wound strings do wear out nails. Try playing a bass with classical guitar nails (don't if you have a gig coming up). Trying to get volume out of an acoustic guitar will wreck your nails on wound strings. If possible you could try playing softer and turn the amp up.

There's a classical guitar book Solo Guitar Playing by Frederick Noad. In that there are fingerings for scales that mostly use the top three (unwound) strings because "repeated alternation on wound strings causes a snag in the nails".

[Guest]

I use one of these files: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... =UTF8&th=1

Every couple of days I use this to keep the left hand nails down and shape the right hand nails. Just wash these under a tap and they are like new.

[Albatross]

Thanks for all your thoughts and advice.

I don't use a pick and I'm not using an amp currently.

This is a particular guitar that is just about perfect in every way for the current purpose and I love it. It needs hefty strings and really comes alive when its 'played'. But my nails are suffering 'tis all.

Looks like the general consensus is that the nail bar is best given a miss.

Really interested in this tissue paper and superglue thing if Adrian_K could elaborate. Ta

Thanks for the other links. I do look after my nails and use Sally Hansen diamond strength nail hardener and its fine but not cutting the mustard well enough on this instrument.

I just found this link to a Flamenco board that has some good info, just in case others look at this http://www.foroflamenco.com/printable.a ... 995&mpage=

Interesting thing there about Lavender oil ... Hmmm, I have some of that.

Thanks all.

[Albatross]

I use one of these files: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... =UTF8&th=1

Every couple of days I use this to keep the left hand nails down and shape the right hand nails. Just wash these under a tap and they are like new.

+1 excellent nail files. Boots do one but about three times that price. They last forever though.

[OneWorld]

I played classical/flamenco wa6 back when, then went over to steel string though continued to play nylon strung. I found that you don’t need to keep the nails that long, but they have to be well shaped, a slight nick has to be polished out sooner rather than later. The common knowledge back in the day suggested eating raw jelly each day strengthen the nails because of the gelatine, making them stronger but not harder and thus not brittle. I play at home these days, no gigging, I would imagine busking needs a fair amount of thrashing the guitar to get heard and so the nails are being made to operate beyond what they were designed for.

[Eddy Deegan]

It would easy to be facetious here, especially as I don't consider myself a guitarist. There are reasons for that viewpoint I won't go into but I can play the instrument to some extent.

My major problem with the guitar was that I had a car accident in early life and badly broke my left wrist resulting in an inability to barre in any real sense. 30 years later it takes about 10 seconds to bring me to the point of pain-failure whenever it comes to a barre chord or anything like it.

So I do lead, which works reasonably well for me, but even so I find my left wrist starts hurting no matter how I play so I'm limited to those brief periods of time I can make it work.

Strangely it had no long lasting effect on my piano playing. Go figure.

Anyway, to get back to the point I've had to adapt in some ways in order to play the guitar at all. A combination of straight lead playing and a form of classical finger-picking style (pick between thumb and first finger, and plucking with the other fingers) has worked for me but at no point have I found fingernails to be a problem.

I could be out of line here but as a pianist one thing I've learned is that technique conquers all (well, nearly) so in the event that playing a guitar is causing you fingernail problems I'd be looking to adapt my style/technique to suit as opposed to going for artificial boosters to overcome it.

I'm fully aware mileage may vary, and as I said, I'm not a guitar player in that sense but I've certainly had to adapt myself and there's a lot to be discovered through doing so. If I'd stopped at the point I broke my wrist I'd not be able to be able to play the guitar in any shape or form and although I'm never going to be Steve Vai, I can string a half-decent melody on lead together with some work*.

* Actually, quite a lot of work

[Freelance Subversive]

My major problem with the guitar was that I had a car accident in early life and badly broke my left wrist resulting in an inability to barre in any real sense. 30 years later it takes about 10 seconds to bring me to the point of pain-failure whenever it comes to a barre chord or anything like it.

So I do lead, which works reasonably well for me, but even so I find my left wrist starts hurting no matter how I play so I'm limited to those brief periods of time I can make it work.

Strangely it had no long lasting effect on my piano playing. Go figure.

I have a friend who was a concert pianist; he fractured his wrist after being hit by a motorcyclist. Functionally he can no longer play the piano to any degree better than Grade 3, in part due to intense mechanical pain. However, he was able to develop his guitar playing with little discomfort and is a rather accomplished rhythm player.

Anyway, to get back to the point I've had to adapt in some ways in order to play the guitar at all. A combination of straight lead playing and a form of classical finger-picking style (pick between thumb and first finger, and plucking with the other fingers) has worked for me but at no point have I found fingernails to be a problem.

That would be hybrid-picking (If I’m not being condescending?). Very common in virtuoso country playing, to allow for complex picking patterns and speed.

[Freelance Subversive]

I use 13-56 strings too, but low tension and play in alternative tunings. I very rarely suffer any nail issues, so perhaps in that combination they aren’t quite as destructive.

There isn’t really a quick and easy solution to the nail problem, that does’t cause other problems. Frequent use of acrylics for instance (particularly abuse or improper application) will eventually deform or destroy the nail plate, leaving it susceptible to further disease. Also, because the bond between acrylic and nail is stronger than nail plate and bed; trauma to various nail structures such as stress to the root, plate/bed separation or plate avulsion, is fairly common.

I find relatively short length, smoothing square edges and skewing to one side; diligent care with good quality tools, nourishing products and vigilance re defects to be the best remedy. I also try keep the tip and underside of the free edge well burnished, so that as much as possible they glide off the string. As Eddy suggests, examining your technique may be a crucial factor.

[adrian_k]

Really interested in this tissue paper and superglue thing if Adrian_K could elaborate. Ta

I just glue small pieces of tissue paper over the splits. Put a drop of superglue on the nail and then a small piece of tissue, it soaks up the glue. I usually put on three layers, not waiting for the glue to dry and adding more glue if needed. The result is not pretty, but can be filed and doesn’t cover the entire nail so doesn’t seem to result in soft nails.

If this isn’t possible if sometimes superglue nail shaped bits of table tennis ball under the nail.

I have no idea if superglue is harmful so caveat emptor.

[Albatross]

It would easy to be facetious here, especially as I don't consider myself a guitarist. There are reasons for that viewpoint I won't go into but I can play the instrument to some extent.

My major problem with the guitar was that I had a car accident in early life and badly broke my left wrist resulting in an inability to barre in any real sense. 30 years later it takes about 10 seconds to bring me to the point of pain-failure whenever it comes to a barre chord or anything like it.

So I do lead, which works reasonably well for me, but even so I find my left wrist starts hurting no matter how I play so I'm limited to those brief periods of time I can make it work.

Strangely it had no long lasting effect on my piano playing. Go figure.

Anyway, to get back to the point I've had to adapt in some ways in order to play the guitar at all. A combination of straight lead playing and a form of classical finger-picking style (pick between thumb and first finger, and plucking with the other fingers) has worked for me but at no point have I found fingernails to be a problem.

I could be out of line here but as a pianist one thing I've learned is that technique conquers all (well, nearly) so in the event that playing a guitar is causing you fingernail problems I'd be looking to adapt my style/technique to suit as opposed to going for artificial boosters to overcome it.

I'm fully aware mileage may vary, and as I said, I'm not a guitar player in that sense but I've certainly had to adapt myself and there's a lot to be discovered through doing so. If I'd stopped at the point I broke my wrist I'd not be able to be able to play the guitar in any shape or form and although I'm never going to be Steve Vai, I can string a half-decent melody on lead together with some work*.

* Actually, quite a lot of work

Ok thanks for that.

Well I am a guitarist and I've been playing at all levels in many styles and many different instruments for nearly sixty years. I say nearly sixty because I can't remember a time when I wasn't playing a guitar of some kind. Now and for years I play with my fingers. I don't like anything between my fingers and the strings, love the tactility and feedback I get from the instrument through my hands and so I really look after my hands.

I probably play for at least three hours a day, often more. Now almost always six and twelve string acoustics with nothing lighter than a 12 to 54 more recently getting heavier. As I said I really look after my hands.

I was just looking for a way I hadn't tried to stop my fingernails wearing out.

Thanks for all the comments and info.

[Albatross]

Really interested in this tissue paper and superglue thing if Adrian_K could elaborate. Ta

I just glue small pieces of tissue paper over the splits. Put a drop of superglue on the nail and then a small piece of tissue, it soaks up the glue. I usually put on three layers, not waiting for the glue to dry and adding more glue if needed. The result is not pretty, but can be filed and doesn’t cover the entire nail so doesn’t seem to result in soft nails.

If this isn’t possible if sometimes superglue nail shaped bits of table tennis ball under the nail.

I have no idea if superglue is harmful so caveat emptor.

Brilliant! Well if you see a tall bloke in Tunbridge Wells with a guitar stuck to his hand you'll know I've fkd it up.

[Arpangel]

The glue used in nail kits is essentially super glue, it smells the same, and reacts the same.
My friend is a 70 year old classical guitarist, he has his own nails, and doesn’t seem to have any trouble with them regarding his playing.

[Drew Stephenson]

This thread has fascinated me. I've always used fairly heavy strings, up to 59s at one point when I was doing a lot of busking, but never had any nail problems.
Are we talking fingernail or thumbnail? Or both?