L.H. Nail Length and Ligado Technique

[Bryanm]

I saw this mentioned in another thread about Segovia's LH nails, but it doesn't seem like anybody answered it. Does your nail length affect your hammers and pulls? CG's are not alone in this technique and at first glance, it seems the majority of non-CG players have quite short nails on the left hand. Do you pluck the string with the left hand when you pull off? If so, wouldn't the longer nail make a difference?

Thanks for any insight....

[wianno]

Bryan,

I get a bit more snap on pull-offs with nails long enough to support the flesh, yet short enough to not interfere with fretting. Experiment!

Jack

[Ralfewiz]

I also find a little LH nail helps pluck the string and make a crisp sound during a pull-off. Unfortunately, I can't stand any LH nail at all for other LH work. So I trim them totally every few days.

[Jeffrey.C]

I keep my LH nails trimmed all the time so that it doesn't touch the strings at all. For me, if the nail makes contact with the string, I'll get an ugly sound or a buzz so I just keep my LH nails as short as I can to avoid that and maintain a consistent tone.