Where did I put those picks?

In keeping with my no-maintenance approach using carbon fiber guitars, I have gotten to normal length nails and no fingerpicks. Back in the early 80s, I really got into Leo Kottke, John Fahey, and that style of fingerpicking. I used a thumbpick and those metal fingerpicks and really made a racket. I am sure I gave banjos a run for the money.

I got to the point where I didn't like having to strap on all that stuff just to play guitar. It just seemed as if I was putting too much needless hassle between me and the guitar. I ditched the fingerpicks and thumbpick and instead grew my nails a bit longer. I fortunately never went in for all that fake nail stuff such as gluing pieces of ping pong ball to my fingers or putting all manner of hardening chemical on them, and going to a nail salon seems more of a woman's territory to me.

Over time, especially when I started playing keyboard, I cut my nails shorter and back to a normal length for a man. There is much freedom in not having to remember where picks and all that stuff is, leaving just the guitar which is too big to lose easily.

Edit: I can definitely see the use of a thumbpick especially if you mix chords and single note leads.  I have a bunch of Fred Kelly thumbpicks just in case.  I just purchased the complete library of courses by Steve Crowell for jazz guitar, and will use a thumbpick and fingerstyle instead of a flatpick for those.  Of course, classical guitarists play single line runs a lot and do it with alternating fingers, so I will experiment and see which works best for me.

Tony

Wow.  Even on your classical?

Ah, that makes sense.  I don't have a classical or nylon string guitar, never did; so I keep forgetting about the wound strings.

I've always had to keep my fingernails short so the only finger style I do is with my finger tips or pads of my fingers.  I tried the finger tip pick things a few times but just could never get used to them.  Ended up throwing them out and just sticking with my finger tips. 

It's a nice sound actually, especially for the "softer" songs.

ladyssolo , Do you use anything to reinforce the nails? I wouldn't advise acrylic nails unless you are plagued with psoriasis (as I am), but Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails will strengthen your nails and make them less likely to split or break.
I don't often use picks for guitar, and don't think I'd recommend them for nylon strings, but there are some picks (Propik Fleshtones) with open bills that feel less like picks and take less getting used to. I like the flexible blue Herco thumb picks.  I've tried these on banjo and Autoharp and they are quite comfortable.

Jim, I don't use anything on my nails, I used to use nail polish, but since I garden all summer (no gloves, of course!) anything I put on my nails gets cracked or worn off really quickly. I have been getting used to fingerpicks and thumbpicks fairly well (the thumbpick is easier to adjust to than the fingerpicks.) jamesM, I will read the Leo Kottke article - thanks!