NAILS! Do you grow them?

I grow my thumb..
My parents think it's gross lol, but idc
I keep it trimmed haha
It makes a difference when you have it
 
Seems like every time I try to grow mine out, I get them going pretty well, then break one off very deep and painfully. Then I trim them all up and have to start all over.

Got a tip about the nails from a great guitarist. He uses the fake nails and he stated that the best ones (and he tried them all) he got from the dollar store!!! The are hard nails and easily stand up the both steel and nylon strings!;)
 
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Got a tip about the nails from a great guitarist. He uses the fake nails and he stated that the best ones (and he tried them all) he got from the dollar store!!! The are hard nails and easily stand up the boyh steel and nylon strings!;)

Man I LLLOOOVVVEEE the dollar store. And I want to have that thumb nail. Me and patience aren't very tight though...so I always end up biting it off (yes groady I know....) but a fake nail....there we goo...Thanx for the tip I'll have to look into that one!!
 
my nails only get in the way...i keep'm trimmed often...gives me a softer sounding strum when i play with a 'fleshy finger'...
i don't pick much, if i did, i'm sure i'd grow the thumb nail...
before i started trimming my nails in true OCD fashion, i managed to gouge out my first fret at the E string with my finger nail...my nails are ridiculously hard—hancock hard...
...so i trim 'em.
: )
p.
 
I'd been biting my nails for over 10 years up until about 2-3 weeks ago. i used the idea of playing with them as incentive to stop biting. They're longer than they've ever been this side of the millenium. I'm enjoying them so far as i seem to find it easier to strum with my finger tips when i've got nails - go figure
 
Short, or I snag my thumbnail on the G-string as I'm strumming, giving a loud rubber-band-like twang, and everyone laughs.

When I first let my thumb nail grow out a bit I had the same problem… filing the corners carefully to remove the part of the nail that made a little hook fixed it for me.

I am still trying to figure out how useful having three longer nails is. On the one hand it certainly does add volume to my picking… on the other hand my wife hates them (and I have tried to keep them just barely longer than the pad of my fingertips).

I may end up trimming them, as I will get less grief and Alan has shown that you really can pick quite well without them.

I am worried that I won't be able to do some of the fancy strums that Coveywood likes to demonstrate… but I can't do those anyway (they are way beyond my skill level at the moment).

edit: Yeah, I may keep them… this seems attainable with practice and harder without a little thumbnail.
 
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I played finger style guitar for quite a while before picking up the ukulele (not classical mind you but John Hurt, John Fahey, Leo Kottke type stuff). This is my take on fingernails, the longer they are the more volume and stronger attack you get. The trade off is you also get more string noise and if they get real long they get awkward and hang up on the strings. If you play with a low wound string you will also find longer nails make scratchy noises on the wound strings (more of a problem on steel string guitars). Also when you grow your nails real long I find women tend to make fun of you, ask you if you would like them to put polish on them etc... I never got this kind of abuse from men (I guess it would be kind of gay to admit you noticed another guy’s fingernails!!). Anyway what works best for me on guitar and ukulele is a rather long thumbnail, over 1/8 of an inch past the flesh when looking at it from underneath then the index middle and ring nails just over the tip of the finger. This allows you to get some of the extra attack from the nail bur also use the flesh of the fingertip, which gives a rounder smother sound. You can then learn to control the amount of nail vs. fingertip used in the attack to get a huge variety of sounds. I hope you were able to stay with me through my long and rambling post because somewhere in there I think there was some useful information!!
 
My right hand fingernails were almost an inch long until it got ugly so I cut it
 
I'm just beginning to use picking, so I think I'll teach myself to do without the nail(s). If and when I get to the level of some of you guys are playing at I'll make that call then.

God forbid someone should question my nail length. Currently I'd be hard pressed to justify longer nails. They might ask to hear me play!
 
The right hand nails don't have to be too long. 1/8 inch is plenty. Keep the left hand trimmed short though. Nails get in the way of fretting the strings. I found that longer nails are subject to breaking and tearing, which is not good.

–Lori
 
the only time I've had to worry about how long my nails have been is when I'm using my right hand to fret and I need to pick with the fingers I'm not using to fret, like if I'm picking some notes on G2 C(12) E3 A (12) and I need to do some pick on those top 12's I need nails to get a clean pick. Of course some people like the sound of nail picking too but meh. You can get fake nails at most larger guitar stores, I can never grow mine out to any decent length
 
I have very weak nails, they break really easily. The problem is that I struggle to pick without them. I found a grea product by Sally Hanson called Hard as Nails. Only problem is that it is glossy, so I have three glossy nails on my right hand. But, it really works. Makes the nails super strong.
 
I have very weak nails, they break really easily. The problem is that I struggle to pick without them. I found a grea product by Sally Hanson called Hard as Nails. Only problem is that it is glossy, so I have three glossy nails on my right hand. But, it really works. Makes the nails super strong.

It works great, thanks. I live and work with children with disabilities so there is a lot of outdoor activites and work. This stuff makes your nails mega strong. get the "Hard as Wraps" version.
 
I keep the nails on my right hand longer. I cut the white part of the nail down to about 2 mm. It is enough to ensure that they don't break easily and they don't get in the way of everyday work. Also 2 mm is enough for me to fingerpick nicely.
I have some felt picks but don't know really how to use them. Using my fingers for playing seems to be more natural... Have you ever tried using a felt pick?

I cut the nails on my left hand very short, since - as being said here - longer nails get in the way when fretting. Especially when you fret chords that require all 4 fingers on the lower fretboard.
 
I just saw something on a guitar store's site that was nail filing paper. What's that all about?
 
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