Flexinail

Talk about guitars, amps and other gear.

Re: Flexinail

Postby guitarchuck » Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:07 pm

I remember Chet saying that he tried the horse hoof cream for a while. He said he had to stop using it because out made his nails start curling under like hooks. If I remember right he that was said in a Guitar Player or Frets magazine interview.
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Re: Flexinail

Postby keener » Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:56 pm

I have not tried Flexinail and do not plan to, but am interested in products that might strengthen my nails. When I asked my pharmacist about this recently, she said that Biotin is somewhat helpful (and that Gelatin is not), and I have since done some googling which suggests that Biotin is "somewhat helpful" (while Gelatin is not). My googling also turned up some suggestions for Glucosamine.

I think George Beasley hit on an important point about keeping the nails to the right (short) length. I was reading in Parkening's Guitar Techniques, Vol 2 a little while ago, and he mentioned keeping the nails at 1/16 to 1/8 inch beyond the tip of the finger. He also mentioned using a clear nail polish for the nail, with the polish removed from the last 1/8 inch of the nail. He also talks about proper filing techniques ... to me, this one little appendix was worth the purchase of the both volumes (about $15 from Amazon).

I know my playing is much, much better when my nails are the right length (about 1/8 inch beyond the nails). All too often I let them get a good bit longer than that, partly because the index finger wears down when I use it "too much" on the fourth string (easy to do when playing much of Reed's stuff).
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Re: Flexinail

Postby thenorm » Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:15 pm

I read somwhere once that Sabicas painted his nails with Duco Cement.

Doesn't sound too out of line when you realize that the acrylic nails as we know them are a fairly new application.
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Re: Flexinail

Postby Richard Hudson » Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:07 am

I like the part about keeping them filed smooth. It makes a difference.
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Re: Flexinail

Postby RandeDager » Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:38 pm

What I miss the most about my regular nails is the flexibility. I've been using acrylic nails for going on 12 years. They no longer break and I love my tone, but the lack of flexibility has a strong negative effect on many of my rolls, such as banjo type rolls and rolls like on the ending of "Blue Angel". I used to pull that one off much better than I can now.

If I could get that flexibility back and still preserve my nails in the process, I'd do just about anything.
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Re: Flexinail

Postby Paul Rauch » Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:11 am

On the Flexinail website, there is a short video that shows a guy with pretty long nails that are strong enough to cut a greenbean and a small carrot. Yet they are flexible enough to bend considerably. Maybe this product will work for some people and not for others.
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Re: Flexinail

Postby thenorm » Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:36 am

Maybe this product will work for some people and not for others...."

You may be right, Paul.

That and following the directions.
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Re: Flexinail

Postby Paul Rauch » Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:54 am

There are some are some flexinail videos on Utube. I had not seen one of them. Maybe this qualifies as an over-the-counter medicine. Some work great for me. Others seem to have no benefit, expecially when it comes to cold medicine.
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Re: Flexinail

Postby RandeDager » Sun Feb 20, 2011 11:56 am

I wasn't even considering this, but though I'm not as busy here in Michigan as I was in California, I'm not sure that I'll have enough time between performances to wait for the transition from my present nail situation to a new one.
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Re: Flexinail

Postby billhodges » Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:28 pm

I agree with Norm that you have to give products like this several months to see if they work for you. I have had good luck with a product called Nutra Nail 5 to 7 Day Growth formula. It really does speed up nail growth tremendously when you break a nail. I use it twice a day and also use hoofmaker every day. I get good results with these two and have been using both close to 2 years. According to flamenco guitarists on the forums, Onymyrrhe is a great product to thicken your nails.
Flamenco guitarists seem to put the most stress possible on nails. I purchased a bottle of Onymyrrhe and will let you know how it worked after about 6 months. The instructions say you need to let your nail grow from the base to the tip. You put a small dab at the base of the nail every day and work it in.

White iodine (decolorized) mixed with olive oil is supposed to really thicken your nails although I have not tried it. You have to add the olive oil because the white iodine by itself will make the nails brittle.
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