How do you wear your fingernails?

[packhowitzer]

I know classical guitar(d)ists are always filing their fingernails to get a picking sound on their strings. How do the rest of you deal with your nail for playing the bass? I keep mine short on both hands with nail clippers. I try not to cut them too short, but I can't stand playing if they get too long. Is it a factor in your playing?

In my weekly church gig, I play with fingers and a pick, and occasionally a thumb. In fact the reason I got to thinking about this was that as inefficient as it is for me to play with my thumb using downstokes, I have noticed that the few songs I do it on sound nice as the edge of my thumbnail and the skin of my thumb pull off of the string. It's a sound I can't get with fingers or a pick. I don't use it much of the time either. Just got me wondering how much the rest of you think about (or don't think about it).

This topic may have come up in another thread, but I couldn't find one specifically like this, so I started a new one.

[Cycho]

I cut them short. If I want a lot of attack I use a pick.

[Staccato]

Short, it helps since the fingertips are not meaty!

[jabsys]

I bite mine so they're always very short.

[Tracebassplayer]

I keep mine short as well (on both hands) and I refuse to use a pick unless I have to.
Could have made this a "poll" question.... I'll bet 80% will say "Short"

[pedroims]

short, I cut them every three days, cant stand the clanky sound of long nails.

[littlepope]

Short, just like my height. That way nothing is out of proportion. And it is easier to poke people in the eye (like guitarist who think bassist do nothing)!!

[Pilgrim]

Mine are short - picks are your friends.

[Tracebassplayer]

Originally Posted by littlepope

Short, just like my height. That way nothing is out of proportion. And it is easier to poke people in the eye (like guitarist who think bassist do nothing)!!

now THAT'S ... funny!

[BullHorn]

Originally Posted by jabsys

I bite mine so they're always very short.

Same here. It's impossible to stop.

[KenHR]

Short. I also bite my nails...

[funk generator]

short, cant stand nail clank!

[diehard70]

Originally Posted by KenHR

Short. I also bite my nails...

Ditto+. Mom tried the hot-sauce-on-the-nails trick as a kid...I'm now addicted to hot sauce.

[tekdiver500ft]

Originally Posted by funk generator

short, cant stand nail clank!

Exactly!

[Exploiter8]

Short, using a trimmer. I try to keep my pinky longer for digging out my nose!

Just sayin'!

X8

[Kbone_ATL]

Keep them short people, the ladies really don't care much for long fingernails!

[packhowitzer]

All good responses! Thanks for playing along everybody. So short is the overwhelming majority so far.

For argument's sake-- anybody wear 'em long (other than for nasal exploration/ upkeep)?

[brane]

Short, I bite them almost daily. My ex wife was an esthetician who specialized in manicures, and it drove her absolutely nuts. BUT! My nails grew so fast I had to be constantly biting them. Turns out, she told me, that because I play bass, I encourage blood flow to the fingers, causing the nails to grow faster.

So we clip our nails to play bass, and playing bass makes the nails grow! If I hadn't gotten the "tooth" method down to a science (I don't even leave a jagged edge any more), I'd have to keep clippers in my gig bag or on my key chain.

[Waterpilot]

Short.

[joe vegas]

short all the time to eliminate nail clank, except for a small area on the left side of my right thumbnail, which i use to bring out the bottom note in chords during 3-finger banjo-style rolls and to extract very useful "zings" and artificial-harmonic sounding colors from a string, right above the bridge. it's almost like a small built-in pick, for this sole purpose.

i bite 'em- more accurate than a clipper.

i also ate Milk Bones a lot as a kid, in fact was known for it, but have passed through this phase now in middle age, without much longing for the crunchy, autumnal bone-meal taste of this wondrous little biscuit.