For all guitar players who use their nails when playing.
Acrylic Nails for Guitar Players
Playing guitar using your fingers & nails – it is relevant to all styles - from Bluegrass or Blues all the way through to Classical or Jazz. Many players would like to use their nails more, but regularly face a broken nail, rough edges etc., which spoils the experience and enjoyment. There seems to be a lot of information on this subject available on the internet, but unfortunately most of it is incorrect, and sometimes very harmful for your nails.
As most guitar players find out, their own nails are not strong enough to endure the rigors of guitar playing - especially with steel strung guitars. There is quite a bit of information to be found over many ‘solutions’ of how to solve this problem. Some examples:
Small pieces of silk layered over the nail & hardened with super glue - many classical players still use this method.
Nail hardening compounds.
Cut out Ping Pong balls with super-glue.
Metal & plastic fingerpicks.
I tried them all. Most looked ugly, were difficult to apply, awkward to use - and actually most didn’t sound all that good whilst playing!
—and what a difference it made for the better.—
My own personal life-changing moment came during an outside concert in Amsterdam to about 800 people, when one of the stuck on pieces of ping-pong ball got loose & lodged itself between my finger & the guitar string ! Instead of playing a beautiful chord, I had to spend many worried seconds trying to free myself from the string of my guitar. Big stress moment. It was at this point I chose to seek out professional advice.
I first heard about Acrylic nails when reading a piece written by the fabulous guitar player Leo Kottke. He described having to give up metal Thumbpicks, because of RSI-like problems, and what a difference it made for the better to his playing after switching to Acrylic Nails. So I plucked up courage, and went to a well-known local Nail Salon (www.kiki.nl) and asked their professional advice. I told them my experiences (they laughed a lot) and they suggested dropping all the home-made-stuck-on solutions and use a tried and tested safe solution – Acrylic Nails.
So what are Acrylic Nails, and why are they so much better ? Firstly, just like other disciplines, the correct care of nails is a study in itself. This is important, because many of the ‘methods’ I had previously tried are actually very damaging for your nails. Most of the ‘hardening’ methods remove the natural oils from your nails, making them unhealthy, more brittle, and actually more prone to breaking. And super-glue is a real no-no !
Acrylic nails were actually invented by a dentist, and if done properly, using the correct ingredients (no containing MDMA) do not harm your own nails. So there in the salon, surrounded by women, I got my first set of Acrylic Nails. I’ve never looked back. My guitar playing made an incredible change for the better, and I had a professional solution that didn’t damage my nails.
—Acrylic Nails have the strength & flexibility of a guitar pick, and never break whilst playing.—
Watch this video and you will see that Acrylic Nails are a synthetic covering on top of your own nail, which then continuous to grow healthily underneath. It involves mixing a special fine acrylic powder with a curing agent, which when mixed & applied with a brush forms within a few minutes a hard acrylic layer. This layer is incredibly strong, looks totally natural - when using the correct type of transparency - and sounds fantastic when playing the guitar. The experience in sound can be described as similar to a guitar plectrum – thus with focus and brightness, but all your fingers are free to move – as you don’t need to hold anything. Thus in huge contrast to a plectrum or thumbpicks Acrylic nails are a natural extension to your fingers, and thus the playing experience is very natural and easy. The nails themselves need very little time for repair or maintenance, and depending on the speed of your nail growth a ‘top up’ (filling up the new nail growth at the cuticle) is needed about once every 2 weeks.
I have kept up this nail routine for more than 20 years, and still feel very happy about it. Since then, I’ve found out that many other guitar players – such as Pat Metheny & Paul McCartney – also use Acrylic Nails. So I’m in pretty good company here!
By the way, the term ‘Acrylic nails’ is often mis-represented. It does not mean plastic nails you stick on with super glue. Often online such products are referred to as Acrylic nails. This is incorrect.
So if you are a guitar player looking to find a solution to your nail problem Acrylic Nails are the way to go. Of course it’s up to you if you want to use this solution on all nails of your picking hand, or maybe just the thumb, or thumb & forefinger etc…
With all these years of practical experience we have put a lot of effort into creating the GuitarNails kit. This handy, portable kit can be used at home or easily taken with you to a performance. This kit contains only carefully-selected and finest nail-safe products inside. Acrylic that is easy to apply and also to remove. Products that have proven themselves for many years, and that are MMA and HEMA free.
And even if you take the plunge & visit a professional Nail Salon The GuitarNails kit is an ideal backup when you don't have a nail salon nearby, or when you are on the road.
So here you have it - the GuitarNails kit – time to start enjoying a new freedom of playing.
Enjoy playing.
