Fingerpicks

[LI_Slim]

I used to stick with nylon strings, but now that I am mostly playing a steel string guitar, my fingernails are in deep shit. If they're not chipping they're just wearing down. I know that good fingernail hygiene and constant filing and polishing helps, but, shit, sometimes life gets in the way of a good manicure.

I know that some people get acrylic nails, and some people put crazy glue and gauze or something on them, and some people do something entirely unnatural using ping pong balls.

I was looking at propiks. They have one in particular that consists of a metal band that more or less follows an outline of your fingertip so the string still hits your flesh before it hits the metal part in front of your fingernail. Does anyone have experience with this or any other marginally relevant opinions on this important issue?

[thingfish]

I have been using propiks for about six months and like them alot but don't care for their thumb pick. Propiks give the most natural feel of any that I have tried. I think I have tried every brand on the market these are to only ones I can use now. Try a set, they are fairly cheap, and only took me about a week to get used to.

[JR#97]

check out alaska piks. they fit over your nail and act like a finger nail.

[LI_Slim]

Originally posted by JR#97
check out alaska piks. they fit over your nail and act like a finger nail.

Thanks!

Do you prefer the plastic or the brass?

[JR#97]

I've only tried the plastic. I'll have to check out the brass.

[LI_Slim]

I picked up a few yesterday.

The brass ones seem impossible to keep in place.

What you do is position your fingernail in the slot so that the tip of the pick is in between your flesh and nail, that is, kind of jammed into the cuticle, is that right?

I haven't played with them yet but it seems pretty solid, although likely to cut off the blood flow to one's fingertips a bit.

[64Firebird]

I haven't been fingerpicking for very long (about a year) but I don't use my nails at all. I bite them off really short and use my finger tips. Now, they're getting callus's on them like my fret hand.

[LI_Slim]

There's nothing wrong with using just the flesh part of your fingertips, but most fingerstyle guitarist prefer the brightness and crispness of the sound one gets from the nail (the string still hits the flesh first, giving the fullness of the fleshy contact as well as the brightness of the nail). Of course, nails break, but the problem is that old fashioned fingerpicks eliminate the flesh completely and really take away the "feel". The Alaska jobbers seem like a good compromise, assuming I can get used to them.

[LI_Slim]

Love the Alaska fingerpicks. Easy to get used to. For a thumbpick I'm using a generic plastic one sanded down so my thumb isn't so far from the strings.