adorshki
Reverential Member
My nails are kept pretty short on fretting hand, too.I certainly think so - a few people over the years have actually said to me, "why are your nails so short?" And I know I play pretty hard.
I remember Frono's recounting of the ideal "shredder's" technique being to only press the string hard enough to stop it at the fret, but I think that's only appropriate for electrics, where one almost has to use a very light picking/strumming technique.
The generally lower tension of electric strings is also more compatible with that "shredder's technique."
In my experience, and yours too, I suspect, the reason we fret so hard on acoustics is because when we use even just a mildly aggressive attack, the strings tend to buzz unless they're held as hard against the fret as possible, and you can' hold 'em any harder than right up against the fretboard, except for bends... :biggrin-new:
I wonder if string gauge may also play a role.
It occurred to me a few years back that maybe the reason my frets got notched so quickly was because lights are effectively a sharper edge than mediums when rubbing against frets.
But maybe mediums make a "bigger rasp" when rubbing against a fretboard?
But I seem to recall you favor lights too?
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