Any Classical Guitarists Here (on the topic of nails)?

[ge7243]

Are there any active classical guitar players here? I'm wondering how others may have adapted to doubling between classical and bass guitar.

I've been playing for about half a year so far, and I was having some issues with my finger nails. If they were short, playing bass guitar sounded great but the classical playing did not. And vice versa if the nails are long.

But by now I've learned to adapt. I tend to file my middle and ring fingers so that the left-edge-portion of the nail is longer than the rest so I can get some more flesh going when playing bass. I also switched to flat wound strings and EQ'd the amp accordingly (cut highs, slightly boosted lows) to get a more favourable attack.

How have some of you coped?

 

[Dimorph]

i'm having the same problems although i'm not a classical guitar player but i curently play with nails.

i found out that you can't do much with eq'ing. flats help but it's the bass and the electronics that put out a sound that you either like or you don't if played with nails.

i found that my p-bass sounds a lot better then my warwick for example.
the bad thing for me besides the sound is the feeling.

playing with nails does not only sound uneven, it also feels that way to me.
i can't play jamiroquai stuff with nails because it just doesn't feel right but for rock music it's grat because it's cutting through.

i think i'm going to cut off my nails now because i wanna play some funk!

 

[saxonbass]

I hate playing bass with nails... just too clattery for me! I don't play classical guitar but I play fingerstyle blues on acoustic. I actually prefer playing with just my fingers on this too (and it's good enough for Stefan Grossman). I could play with fingerpicks, but I hate the nasty wee buggers!
For classical I think you're a bit stuck, you'll always have to compromise in some way!

 

[Avram]

I do both, classical guitar and electric bass (not very good at either, but I like em both ). When cut properly, my left hand nails are really short, of course and my right hand nails are long enough to be barely seen above the tops of my fingers when I hold my hand up to eye level with my palm facing me. For both classical guitar and electric bass, if your nails are too long then you won't be able to color your attack, it will be all nails. If your nails are just long enough to pluck the string, but short enough so that you can still play the tops of your fingers, then you will be able to produce any sound you like when plucking. :wink:

Another way to check your nail length is when holding your hand up to your face sideways. (palm to the left) Look at the tops of your fingers. If your nails extend beyond the tops of your fingers then they are too long. They should be even with or barely shorter than the finger tips. Each nail will have to be cut to accommodate each finger's shape. This way, you have the choice, when playing, of soft or sharp attack. Of course, to maintain this length, you have to file your nails like once a week.

Hope this helps!

 

[ge7243]

Thanks for the replies guys, and Avram, I never really thought about tracking my nails' growth like that. I'll have to experiment with keeping them a bit shorter and focus on classical guitar for a while if I can.

I was also wondering if I could have some clips of my playing listened to, try and get some advice from some of the more tone-savvy members here about if my tone would be desirable. If so, should I post them in this thread? I'm worried I wouldn't get much replies. And there is the "Warwick Clips" forum, but I don't have any Warwick at hand to keep it relevant.

 

[Grgzilla]

Thanks for the replies guys, and Avram, I never really thought about tracking my nails' growth like that. I'll have to experiment with keeping them a bit shorter and focus on classical guitar for a while if I can.

I was also wondering if I could have some clips of my playing listened to, try and get some advice from some of the more tone-savvy members here about if my tone would be desirable. If so, should I post them in this thread? I'm worried I wouldn't get much replies. And there is the "Warwick Clips" forum, but I don't have any Warwick at hand to keep it relevant.

The clips section is best yes.It's enabled to handle iploading of clips.
Looking forward to this as I have a bit of an fingernail issue goin on myself.

 

[ge7243]

If you could find a way to mobilize a full stack to full portability, just let me know.

Here's the link to my clip thread:

Thanks to anyone who may help.

 

[NeonVomit]

You could superglue false nails onto your fingernails when you play classical guitar, and use remover to take them off when you play bass.

I'm not joking, I've seen this done.

 

[NeonVomit]

I hate classic guitars, if i need clean sound i use clean chenel on my amp with my electric

I dunno, I really dislike the sound of clean electric. Nothing beats a nice nylon string in my book when it comes to clean guitar sound...

 

[Avram]

I dunno, I really dislike the sound of clean electric. Nothing beats a nice nylon string in my book when it comes to clean guitar sound...

I hear that! Steal strings sound best when amplified, I think. Nylon sounds much woodier, without the over-ringing tones you get from steal.

 

[Escobon]

I am a guitarist/bass player as well and I use nails for both. I play in a three plus one group, so I switch off a lot between guitar, bass, and fretless bass.

The nails are most critical for the nylon-string guitar, for they provide attack and tone shading. On the bass, the nails are much more vulnerable to breaking under the stress. I deal with it like this:

I take calcium almost every day in the form of bone meal tablets. After a while, you will grow 'nails of steel' that can stand up to the diameter and tension of bass strings. They can even withstand popping strings if you don't let them grow too long.

Without fail, something happens where you break a nail, and both guitar and bass tone suffers for it. In this case, I use acrylic powder and sculpting fluid to rebuild the nail. This makes an almost indestructible 'bionic' nail that can withstand just about anything. I use/maintain the acrylic nail until the natural nail underneath grows out.

For me, I shape the nails to suit the guitar, and find that they give me equal tone response when playing the bass. I always boost mids and highs on the basses so when I need tone that is brighter (like when chording or soloing) I get it by playing closer to the bridge. When I need fat bass notes with a lot of thunder, I play closer to the fingerboard.

Doing your own nail repair with acrylic powder is messy, smelly, and subjects you to rather nasty chemicals. If you have time, It's a lot more pleasant to vist one of those Asian nail salons, and having a cute young Asian girl take care of you.

FWIW,

O

 

[ge7243]

Aye, good advice Escobon. I attempted to make some acrylic nails the last time I had a bad break. I wasn't able to do it so well, and ended up making the entire kitchen smell.

But yes, I've been looking into any sort of dietary supplement that could help my nails. They seem to be doing okay in strength, but as of now I'm not playing bass for marathon sessions or the amount of time I'd expect to be playing were I in a band, so I'll have to be cautious.

You could superglue false nails onto your fingernails when you play classical guitar, and use remover to take them off when you play bass.

I'm not joking, I've seen this done.

Pretty good idea I'd say, but often I play both classical and bass in the same day. I'd sadly be spending lots of money and time doing that I think.