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Is there a trick for preventing nail breaks?

raal

raal

Feb 5, 2008
1,077
690
Minneapolis / St Paul
#1
Double thumbing has been a challenge to practice in sustained fashion since i started using it for sixteenth notes runs over the past couple decades.

Granted, i don't have VW's biometrics but have tried everything i could come up with to prevent thumb nail break technique wise.

Is there a protection method out there that help strengthening those nails?
20211025_145418.jpg
 
#2
You might Google this, since it is not really bass-specific. I only dabble with double-thumb, and don't personally have issues, but my mom used to eat jello to "strengthen" her nails. Jello has collagen (ground-up horse hooves, or something). Other collagen supplements are commonly available.

Nails grow slowly, so a supplement like this would not take effect until your nails grow out from the cuticle/nail-bed.
 
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#3
OldSchoolFlats said:
You might Google this, since it is not really bass-specific. I only dabble with double-thumb, and don't personally have issues, but my mom used to eat jello to "strengthen" her nails. Jello has collagen (ground-up horse hooves, or something). Other collagen supplements are commonly available.

Nails grow slowly, so a supplement like this would not take effect until your nails grow out from the cuticle/nail-bed.
Click to expand...

Jello is a pretty cool idea. Thanks!
 
#4
OldSchoolFlats said:
You might Google this, since it is not really bass-specific. I only dabble with double-thumb, and don't personally have issues, but my mom used to eat jello to "strengthen" her nails. Jello has collagen (ground-up horse hooves, or something). Other collagen supplements are commonly available.

Nails grow slowly, so a supplement like this would not take effect until your nails grow out from the cuticle/nail-bed.
Click to expand...

Here's a better answer... 15 Ways to Strengthen Brittle Nails, According to Dermatologists
 
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#6
I remember having similar problem when I was learning double thumb; in my case, I kept brushing through the left border of the thumb nail, and the part between the nail and skin was really painful. Later I was able to learn to double thumb with very little force, so the problem went away. Frankly, I use this technique say twice a gig today, but it's a great way to help navigate through difficult improvised slap passages and keep a steady hand flow.
If I were learning it now, I would use the healthy approach that always works: do it every day, but only for a few minutes. Stop when it hurts. Track your progress.
Right food might perhaps help a bit, but it won't solve it, I think.
 
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#9
How could you break the tip of your thumbnail? I don't use the tip, but obviously there's more than one way of doing things. Also, why do you have your nail long in the 1st place?
 
#10
MYLOWFREQ said:
How could you break the tip of your thumbnail? I don't use the tip, but obviously there's more than one way of doing things. Also, why do you have your nail long in the 1st place?
Click to expand...
Happens through too much digging during upstroke. Challenge is with strength building comes more digging which is good for tone, up to the point nail can't take it.

The picture is confusing. What has grown is past the break, not the nail line. Keep those as short as possible
 
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#11
raal said:
Happens through too much digging during upstroke. Challenge is with strength building comes more digging which is good for tone, up to the point nail can't take it.

The picture is confusing. What has grown is past the break, not the nail line. Keep those as short as possible
Click to expand...

It's really hard to say why you break your nail without seeing your technique but I think if you keep yout nail short you'll be fine. I'm no way a pro at that btw. I get light scratching at the top of my nail if anything but that's about it. I keep my nails short.
 
#14
Super late to the party here, but I was Googling and stumbled on this thread because I'm having precisely the same issue.

Just started making some progress on double thumbing and been practicing a lot. Built up a callous on the fleshy part of the thumb for the downstroke, but now my nail is cracking in identical fashion from the upstroke force.

@raal were you ever able to navigate this issue, and if so, what remedies did you find?
 
#15
This is one reason why I'm not bothering to learn to double-thumb! My nails are definitely not up to that kind of thing without splitting longitudinally. The other reason is I prefer to bounce rather than follow through.
 
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