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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
 Posted - 08/10/2008 : 2:11:24 PM
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thanks, raymond! but... I still have a long ways to go - at least now I'm not stopping every five minutes and staring at my thumb.
in a few days i'll record myself doing Ua Noho Au A Kupa since I have a recent recording of me doing this with a thumb pick and open myself up for critique. (way too much string squeak)
aloha,
keith
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jmk
Lokahi
USA
115 Posts |
Posted - 08/10/2008 : 8:51:09 PM
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I hope no one tells that master Ledward about the naked thing...kidding aside, I'm a fan of Ledward's style as well as Jeff Peterson, who doesn't use picks and gets fantastic dynamics as well. Although I have seen Jeff pick up a flat pick when jamming & the other players were overpowering him.
I go both ways, depending on the song. I started using the thumbpicks when I took up the steel guitar. |
Nahenahe |
Edited by - jmk on 08/12/2008 12:21:36 PM |
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Doug Fitch
Akahai
USA
80 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2008 : 7:03:29 PM
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| For what its worth, I've taken to alaska piks and bare thumb with grown out outside edge of nail. I like being able to do the brushes with the alaska piks and yet get a clear tone with the nail (backed by the alaska pick). The alaska piks tend to even out the volume and tone between fingers, and matches them well to the thumb. Anyway, I like the combo lots now. Might be worth a try if you feel like it. - Doug |
Doug Fitch
fitchdoug @ yahoo.com
www.dougfitchmusic.com
http://youtube.com/user/dougfitchmusic |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2008 : 2:47:46 PM
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doug, do you trim the alaska picks? i think that doing that, you can reduce the pick noise and still be able to use them like fingernails for strumming...
i use alaska picks when i lose a fingernail. they work well.
aloha,
keiht
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 08/22/2008 : 08:45:37 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by marzullo
doug, do you trim the alaska picks? i think that doing that, you can reduce the pick noise and still be able to use them like fingernails for strumming...
i use alaska picks when i lose a fingernail. they work well.
aloha,
keiht
How do you hold them on? Do you tape them?
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 08/22/2008 : 1:06:23 PM
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quote:
How do you hold them on? Do you tape them?
no need! i almost always have a little nail left, and even if i don't, i usually have enough within a week to keep it from flying off. i do use tight alaska picks, though.
aloha,
keith
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Hula Rider
Lokahi
USA
215 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2008 : 2:48:22 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by marzullo
here's a summer style posting:
i started fingerpicking my guitar about 12 years ago. i used to use alaska finger picks, but now only use them when my fingernails are too short. and, i've been using a zookie thumb pick ever since i started finger picking. i still use the thumb pick, but i'm trying to wean myself off of it.
i'm trying to work out the best way to hit the string with my thumb. what do you do? do you use just the fleshy part of your thumb, or do you use the nail? if so, which part? or do you use both? what angle do you hold your thumb? do you change it around for different sounds? do you use a resting stroke on occasion similar to what one does with the (non-thumb) fingers?
thanks,
keith
Picks make me nuts. I sweat under them, so they slide and twist around, and they leave rings of blisters where the edges were, and little water blisters in the rest of the skin they touched.
I glue on fake nails, and then cut the tip off another fake nail and glue it on under the 1st one. Then I file to the desired shape.
Malama pono,
Leilehua
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2008 : 8:42:04 PM
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One of the issues with glue on nails is that the glue makes your natural nails even weaker.
If I crack a nail just before a gig, I'll use a glue on, but as soon as I get home I take it off to minimize damage to the nail. |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 08/24/2008 : 06:15:22 AM
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raymond, do you use any of the products available to harden nails?
(at least we're not discussing bike racing; we'd be swapping techniques for shaving our legs).
aloha,
keith
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2008 : 4:03:18 PM
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Keith,
I tried a bunch, including the horse hoof stuff - my cousin's a vet. I don't think they did much, so after a couple of weeks I stopped using the stuff.
I have fairly soft nails, so for me the trick is careful grooming. Right hand nails rarely get longer than 1/4" over the finger pad. Just enough to get some bite in. Shaped on a slope. I stay pretty close to the system in "Pumping Nylon." Thumb, of course, is longer, but I seldom have problems with cracked thumb nail. |
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sandman
Lokahi
USA
181 Posts |
Posted - 08/25/2008 : 4:52:55 PM
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Keith, as with Raymond I've tried a lot of panaceas but pretty much to no avail. I too stick with "Pumping Nylon" for shaping although I've never had any problem with my thumb nail. Maybe it's genetic but it grows fast and strong.  One of the Vietnamese ladies who cuts my hair gave me some Orly "Bonder" when I asked her about nail hardeners. It is "Rubberized" or so it says on the bottle and it works pretty well. I've also tried Sally Hansen's "Hard As Nails." OK but not great.
Now what do you use on your legs? 
Sandy
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Leap into the boundless and make it your home.
Zhuang-zi |
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bbenzel
Lokahi
USA
130 Posts |
Posted - 08/26/2008 : 04:58:01 AM
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I go to the nail salon and get the two part epoxy that they use over fake nails applied to my own nails (P, I, M, A only). It reinforces the natural nail and is rock hard -- takes a long time to get 'em filed into shape. I also use the Pumping Nylon / Michael Chapdelaine shaping method -- it took a while to learn to hit the strings with a little flesh first, right before the nail comes into contact.
The other method that a lot of players use now is no nails at all -- Laurence Juber plays this way and produces spectacular tone. He showed me his hands after a performance -- the calluses on his right fingertips are as hard as the ones on his left. I'm sticking with the nails but a few fingerstyle players I know are working on switching to this. |
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