I clip my fretting hand (except for the thumb -- that's my built-in box-cutter (don't tell the FAA)). And I shape two nails on my picking/strumming hand myself. But when I have the pros put the acrylic on the three guitar picks that take the most wear (middle, ring, and thumb), it takes less time, is smoother, and lasts a lot longer. I do re-shape the tip edges when they get worn, glue the back edges back down when I go too long between salon visits and they grow out to far, etc.
Note that in a busy weekend I can play right through the acrylic and expose actual nail underneath at the tips. I hit way harder for Scottish than I do for filk, folk, early music, or rock. Even one gig is enough to change the geometry of the surface for the last quarter of the length of the nail.
That $90 at salons is $6/visit. (Getting all ten done would, of course, cost more.)
Even so, I do want to learn to do my own, and get the apropriate tools (the little motorized tool they use seems to have better torque/speed characteristics for nails than my Dremmel does; at the very least I need a set of the right bits), and find out how their chemistry differs from what I'd been trying on my own (and still use for emergency repairs). I wonder how much practice I'll need once I assemble the tools and clues.
When I go to a salon I haven't been to before, they're always confused by my not wanting polish at the end. Actually, I'd love to have polish on my nails, but the first time I pick up a guitar, the polish will come off in a V down the center of each nail on my right hand. Someday when I have time and patience, I plan to paint my nails with many alternating layers of red and blue polish -- Sally Hansen Hard As Nails and European Secret Never Chip, which sortakinda stand up to the guitar for a little while in combination (but neither alone) if I let them fully cure between coats -- so that when I play the wear pattern will show concentric bands of strata like a contour map. :-) That'll be cute, but will take a long time to set up. And eventually even that will wear all the way through.
(no subject)
Girlfriend, learn to do your own!
I just clip mine.
Okay, okay, once I got bloody red toe nails but the nail polish was a dollar.
-m
(no subject)
(no subject)
Note that in a busy weekend I can play right through the acrylic and expose actual nail underneath at the tips. I hit way harder for Scottish than I do for filk, folk, early music, or rock. Even one gig is enough to change the geometry of the surface for the last quarter of the length of the nail.
That $90 at salons is $6/visit. (Getting all ten done would, of course, cost more.)
Even so, I do want to learn to do my own, and get the apropriate tools (the little motorized tool they use seems to have better torque/speed characteristics for nails than my Dremmel does; at the very least I need a set of the right bits), and find out how their chemistry differs from what I'd been trying on my own (and still use for emergency repairs). I wonder how much practice I'll need once I assemble the tools and clues.
When I go to a salon I haven't been to before, they're always confused by my not wanting polish at the end. Actually, I'd love to have polish on my nails, but the first time I pick up a guitar, the polish will come off in a V down the center of each nail on my right hand. Someday when I have time and patience, I plan to paint my nails with many alternating layers of red and blue polish -- Sally Hansen Hard As Nails and European Secret Never Chip, which sortakinda stand up to the guitar for a little while in combination (but neither alone) if I let them fully cure between coats -- so that when I play the wear pattern will show concentric bands of strata like a contour map. :-) That'll be cute, but will take a long time to set up. And eventually even that will wear all the way through.