Thanks, Doug. I had heard a few things about ping pong balls to
reinforce nails. I am averse to doing something like this right now
but then I haven't encountered a great deal of trouble with my nails
up to now. Ideally, there would be some supervitamin that would double
the strength of one's nails!

Miguel

--- In Ralph_Towner@yahoogroups.com, doug crabtree
<imaxrangerdoug@y...> wrote:
> Miguel,
>
> While I can't speak for Ralph, I do know what some
> other guitarists do here in the Dallas area. It
> sounds a little un-orthodox to be sure, but HEY, IF IT
> WORKS...
>
> Try using a ping-pong ball and cut it up with an
> exacto knife. Use the exacto to get all of the ball
> cut into about 8 equal pieces. Then, use a pair of
> miniture scissors, like one that is used to trim,
> uh...nose hair. Haha!
>
> Place a larger piece of the cut-up ball under the
> finger nail and trim it to size using the
> scissors...some experimentation is going to be
> mandatory.
>
> A few drops of super glue (applied very judiciously,
> too) will keep the the plastic in place. Make
> sure-absolutely sure- before hand, that Your hands are
> CLEAN of all body oils as that will minimize the
> plastic sticking to the underside of the nail.
>
> I do recording and this is what some classical and
> flamenco players use here. This could be the solution
> the the problem...but if it doesn't work for You...oh
> well. Hope it helps.
>
> -Imaxrangerdoug
>
> --- Miguel Marcos <mmarcos@y...> wrote:
>
> > Hi, everybody. Does anyone have information on what
> > Ralph does to take
> > care of and toughen his nails? I remember reading an
> > interview where
> > he joked that he hads nails like a horse.
> > Nevertheless, I'm wondering
> > what he does to reinforce them mostly because I
> > would think the
> > 12-string can really chew them up.
> >
> > I took some flamenco classes years ago. Flamenco
> > players can shred
> > their nails with their strong attacks on the strings
> > and, so, many of
> > them would regularly layer SuperGlue on their nails,
> > something I would
> > never dare do.
> >
> > Miguel
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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