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Applying our
nails is a relatively simple procedure, however there is a science to it,
as well as an art.
Here are some tips and suggestions for you to get the most benefit from
GuitarPlayerNails. Once you get a bit of experience, it only takes a few
minutes to remove an old nail and put on a new one. It's actually pretty
easy to try them out and change them without too much difficulty.
We recommend starting with our pre-formed nails because they're a bit
easier to apply.
Using our pre-formed nails: You should always start with, and
become proficient with our pre-formed nails before using any of our other
nails. We've experimented with dozens of pre-formed nails. The pre-formed nails we currently carry have the best tone and feel of all the nails we've tried,
with good durability. You can always add more strength by applying a
little thin nail glue and silk wrap.
A major advantage to using our pre-formed nails is that they're very easy
to work with. If you have a rotary nail file with a good bit, you can
remove an old nail, apply a new one, and be ready to play in about three
minutes. It takes a bit longer with a manual nail file. They also repair
well. If you do get a crack in one while playing, you can fix it with a
little thin nail glue and some nail glue dryer in about 10 seconds.
Repairs hold very well. You can also apply our pre-formed nails with brush
on nail glue if you want. It has more viscosity than thin nail glues, so you'll have a
bit more time to set the nail, and it will tend to have less gaps. You
should still have some thin nail glue on hand for repairs, and for back filling the nail. (See our instructions, step 9 (a) for back filling).
Our pre-formed nails are the widest nails available. With our methods of
application, one size fits all. If the nail is too wide, simply trim the
sides with some scissors to fit your nail plate. If the curve in the
pre-formed nail is a bit too much, you can flatten it a bit out to match
the curve of your natural nail by holding it between your thumb and index
finger, and gradually increasing pressure to flatten the curve. You can
also increase the curve by using our manicure stick and rolling it back
and forth. (See step 4a of our instructions). If you have a natural nail
that's a bit too wide for our nails, just make sure that the right side of
the nail is the short side. (Right hand guitarists). Make sure the left
border of your natural nail is in line with the left edge of the
pre-formed nail. Our pre-formed nails have "tapered wings" that extend out
the ends a bit. You can trim those off if you need to before application.
Because
our pre-formed nails sound great, and are so easy to use, many of our customers use them
all of the time.
On tone and response: How you file your
nails is very important in achieving good tone and response, especially
for classical and flamenco guitarists. When you file
your nails, make sure to file a very straight, level plane from underneath
the fingernail to remove any hooking or downward tendencies of the nail.
When it's correct, if you hold the file flat against the nail from
underneath, there won't be any gaps the entire width of the nail. The nail
will be flush against the file. By doing so, will allow the finger and
nail to glide off the string without the nail catching or prematurely
hitting the left side of the nail. End result will be better response,
playability, and crisper highs. It's best to start filing while the nail
is still a bit longer than desired to get the proper flat plane, then file
for length. After you experiment along these lines for a while, you
can actually adjust your tone a bit by adjusting slightly one way or the
other how you file.
Another thing to keep in mind is that removing or
adding material (glue, wrap, natural nail, etc.) can effect your tone considerably. If you get nail glue
under your nail, or have excess natural nail, it can be tapered or removed with a
rotary nail file (highly recommended) and an under the nail bit. This reduces bulk and will add
highs and diversity to your tone. Especially by removing material under
the left side of the nail tip will add highs and help improve tone
considerably. A technique you can use for achieving smoother tone is to file the pad of your finger all around after you've
removed an old nail when your natural nail is very short. You will actually
be filing the skin at the pad of the finger. Doing so will make the
finger pad uniform in texture, remove roughness, and you will avoid any clicking that might
occur because of a slight difference in the gap between your nail and
finger. Using a medium grit emery board type file works well for this.
Just a light filing is all you need. This can also be done with a full
length nail, you just have to be a bit more careful with the nail.
With some of our nails you can reduce the rigidity of
the nail in order to add more highs to your tone. This is accomplished by
"thinning" the nail a bit using a medium to fine emery board file. By
pushing down a bit with the file on top of the guitarplayernail, and then
filing by moving your finger back and forth, (side to side and front to
back), you can adjust the thickness and change the tone. Always start with
a fine grit and only file a little at a time, as you can go to far and
make the nail too thin. But if you do make the nail too thin, that can be
easily remedied by building up the nail with some glue and silk wrap.
Another very effective way of adding highs to your
tone,
and a lighter feel to your playing, is after application, using an emery
board type file, insert it behind the nail as far as it will go, and file
by moving your finger back and forth so that the file files the backside
of the exposed nail tip. Start with a medium file then switch to a finer
grit. (Our 4 way files work well for this). Test your nail at regular
intervals on a guitar string while doing this. Finish with some 1500 grit
sandpaper behind the nail.
If you have too thin of a sound, the first
technique you should use to remedy this is by adding glue at the front tip
of the nail where the GuitarPlayerNail and the
natural nail meet underneath. To do this, cut a pipette
at a bit of an angle,
(like a syringe needle), and then backfill at the border under the nail
where they meet. Make sure there's glue in the stem of the pipette before
application, and only apply a minute amount. If you do apply too much
glue, this is a great time to have a rotary nail file with an under the
nail bit, as you can remove any excess glue, and clean up under the nail
in just a few seconds. You can also add some glue and silk wrap, (it's
always stronger with the wrap), nail glue
by itself, or some brush on nail glue to the top of the nail, and
then spray with some nail glue dryer. (You can do this without any nail
glue dryer, but it can take several minutes for the glue to dry compared
to a few seconds using the dryer).
Another important thing that effects tone is the
angle of the nail. When applying a GuitarPlayerNail, you want to
apply it so that it is relatively straight, so as to get the right feel
and tone. Achieving this can depend on the length of your natural nail when applying
the GuitarPlayerNail. Since the natural nail tip has a tendency to grow
downward a bit, the shorter the natural nail is, the more of a downward
angle is usually needed in order to achieve a straight nail. Applying medium pressure to
the front part of the nail when first applying, will usually result
in a pretty good natural angle. This then can be adjusted slightly to
taste. Doing so may make the back of the GuitarPlayerNail lift up off the
nail a bit. That's O.K., after application simply trim that off, then
taper the nail at the seam as usual.
Of course the most important aspect of the thumb is to have a good "left
corner", as this is the prominent area of the thumbnail that strikes the
string. When applying a thumbnail make sure to apply it so that it covers
the left side of the nail plate fully. You should also get the best
results by applying the thumbnail as straight as possible without any
downward angle. Then, with
guitar in hand, carefully file the left side until you get that perfect
sound and feel.
Using a
rotary nail file: Rotary nail files are very useful, and are highly
recommended. If you're at all serious about playing the guitar, and do any
type of fingerstyle playing, just get one. Even if you use your natural
nails, if you have to repair one using fingernail glue, they're a great tool to
have. They're great for tapering the seam of the GuitarPlayerNail, filing off an old nail, and
for use underneath the nail. With a rotary file you can monitor what
you're filing, while you're doing so. They're very precise. Rotary files are not used for final shaping
or finishing of the nail.
When using a rotary nail file, always take some
time to get used to the bits that you are using. Let the file do the work
by using a very light touch, and by exerting little or no pressure on the
nail. Use good lighting when using a rotary nail file.
When tapering the seam of a GuitarPlayerNail, you should
always file in the direction away from the tip of the nail, (towards your
knuckle), front to back. When filing from side to side while tapering, you
should start at the left side of the nail (right handed guitarists),
filing with a slight angling toward the back. Tapering the
far left corner of the nail should be filed almost straight front to back.
Basic idea is to file away from the seam at the middle of the nail where the GuitarPlayerNail meets the natural nail.
When filing off an old GuitarPlayerNail, you should
first clip the tip off even with the natural nail, then file off the old
nail. Using a rotary file for this purpose can build up heat friction, so
move the bit around to different areas as you file the old nail. Use good
lighting and take your time, shouldn't take more than a minute or two to
remove the old nail.
You can achieve great results in improving your
tone using an under
the nail bit with a rotary file. When removing excess glue or excess natural nail
from under the nail with an under the nail bit, use the side of
the bit as well as the tip. Use good lighting, go slow, and take your
time. It should only take a few seconds. The benefits in tone and feel are well worth this
action.
On Safety: We've been doing this
now for over 10 years, with several thousand guitarists using our nails.
During this time we've had only one minor problem with someone using our
nails. (This problem was caused by the person not following our
instructions, and it cleared up in a couple of weeks). There are a number
of reasons why using our nails is very safe. First of all, you're applying
them to only half your nail plate. The back half of your nail is always
free. Also, all of our fingernails are either clear or translucent. It's
very important to be able to see what's going on under the nail. This
makes it very easy to see that you are sealing the nail completely during
application, and that it remains so while in use. Another reason our nails
are so safe is that you apply them yourself. You use your own nail files
and clippers etc, and there is no chance of any nail technician cross
contaminating because of bad sanitary habits. Millions of people use
artificial nails everyday with no problems. Ours are very safe.
Never let a nail fall off on its own. You should always
keep the nail sealed at the seams at all times until you're ready to
remove it.
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