Broken Nail Blues

[Chris Prieto]

Went a very long time without snapping the old finger nail off. I always try and use these times to practice with a thimble and I really do not enjoy it haha

I have a few thimbles but I dislike them all. One is a plastic one my teacher gave me for my regular open back. It sounds pretty good on wire strings but is rather terrible sounding on the nylgut strings. I also have a metal one i got from joel hooks which I also can't stand on nylgut, however it does sound pretty good on gut stringed rig.

They all seem so clunky, maybe i have lil hands... and the sound of the thimble hitting the nylgut creates it's own lil high pitch sound when you strike the string ... peeew!

[Chris Prieto]

Great! Thanks for the advice!

@tim I will try and hold out haha

@trapdoor2. I am an anxious lil squirrel and tend to over think most things in life. This morning it occurred to me that if I play loud enough I don't hear the squeaky sound of the brass against the string, and it is a bit louder when playing full bore with the brass thimble as well. But you pretty much nailed it.

@Strumelia Not too many folks down here in San Diego to play the early stuffs with. I have been fortunate enough to hang out with David Swarens who i found on this site but I lost his phone number so I need to get back in touch with him. But this also reminds me that instead of tripping out about my nail I too can practice jawbone, bones or concertina... i have tunnel vision at times :)

[Chris Prieto]

@Dan'l I googled those and turns out my teacher has already supplied with a few of the white ones. They are actually the ones i use on my wire strung rig when I am without nail. I'm not huge fan on the regular open back cuz my small fingers have a hard time gettin between the strings with it on without drastically altering the way i play

to follw up tho I drove the neighbors and wife batty with lots of bones play. funny how much better a lil time makes you at something. my right hand suddenly became much better than my left at the bones haha

I also took my bell sweeney out to a nearby lake and beat the crap out of it with the brass thimble on and it worked out rather well as in SUPER LOUD! I realized i strike the string at a funny angle because the callus is building up on the outer side of my finger (not closest to middle finger) but with slight adjustment of angle i can get a good sounding strike with little to no nail (good for late night playing)

I was wearing a tanktop and it was hot out and my inner elbow sweat rubbing against brass ring got some green staining on my banjo head which I fear may be a first as i found nothing about it on google :\

[Strumelia]

Chris, the green stain...I know someone else with that (not me!)...so you are not first.

I've been practicing bones a lot now too, and my right hand has zoomed ahead of the left, but I like having the left do the plain beats low as background anyway.   :)

Dan'l Ive been using the Freedom pic for years in clawhammer- seems ideal for me.  But in minstrel I use either a metal Joel thimble or a Dunlop transparent finger pick worn backwards- I find those give a nicer nail-like tone than the Freedom ones for minstrel/nylgut playing...for me anyway.

Wish I had 'hooves' like Dwight Diller, then I wouldn't need picks at all!

[Chris Prieto]

yeah at this point I am attributing it to "building character" on the banjo's part. I contacted Terry and he said maybe try bleach with ammonia which i would rather just not mess with so green spot it is!

[Chris Prieto]

I was playing this morning and it wasn't sounding right. Cut my nail down and it sounds great. Ladies and gentlemen we have finger meat!

[Strumelia]

Something vaguely obscene there, but I can't figure out what exactly.  lolol

Hey, great that you've made the jump there!

You may still want to use a pick sometimes in and outdoor or group setting...where sounds just dissipates into thin air.

[Chris Prieto]

lol ... yeah got to play the thimble enough to where it no longer feels foreign. I actually bent it a bit to fit my small finger so it's a much better fit. before i bent it it was like trying to pick with a ping pong paddle.

I have been really happy with the index finger tone with the callus. Sounds more like the thumb, evens things out a bit for me.

[Tim Twiss]

You'll find that every time you file it down, your sound gets louder...and your tone more defined. It will be your own unique sound. Use a rough file...don't polish it at all