Hey GMC... well I was browsing just now some country lessons... and decided I want to improve my hybrid picking. so what I want to ask is ... How is it better to hybrid pick? With the nail of your finger or with your meat..??? well for me, it fits me best with my nail but I heard that the tone is better if you do it with the meat..!! :\ What do you think?

I've always done it with the meat, as you say I just couldn't use my nails for plucking the strings at all.. there's just too much to go wrong !!

Also, the meat lends more attitude, positivity and strength to the 'pulled' or plucked' notes to my ears.. it also feels more satisfying because you get instant feedback from the string by using your finger, making it easier to guage the rhythm of your hand.

I use hybrid picking a lot (pretty cool technique btw!) and I prefer to use the meat.
I don't like the sound of the nails, at least on the electric guitar!

By using the meat you also get a fatter tone & you can "pop" & pluck the strings better in my opinion ...
But it's just a matter of taste after all!

Hey mate mainly in country music, you'll notice that people tend to pick using both their meat and their nails or usually, false nails, stuck to the fingers

I've naturally grown mine and cut them sideways so that they can rest easy on the string and only brush it, without grabbing it when picking (that allows a more fluid motion of the nail over the string)

As we discuss hybrid picking, here's a lesson I made some time ago :

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Lead-Hybrid-Picking/

You'll find some sequences/licks using pentatonics, major scale & arpeggios!

Hope you enjoy!

I think if you let your nails grow too much they can get in the way to do other stuff

been there I accidentally scratched a lot of people and also torn apart some fabric you have to pay attention to the size, otherwise, you can poke someone's eyes out

This stuff writes itself !

Now I think I understood the meaning behind your big grin Mr. B no pun intended anyway sorry to spoil the fun

We're lucky Mudbone can't see this

Good timing on this thread cause I'm just now startiing to get into hybrid picking. I've been working on a tune for about a week now. At first my nails were just cut so I was using the meat of my fingers after which I quickly developed a blister on my ring finger from not being used to it. Then after a few days I noticed my nails were starting to grow so it gave a welcome relief from the pain of playing with a blister. With nails, I notice that the tone is of course brighter and more like a regular pick. Then a couple of days later I noticed that my nails were starting to catch the strings so I trimmed them at an angle to prevent it. Then one broke yesterday so I cut them all short again. So I guess I've tried several ways. I'm hoping that my fingers will get used to it cause I think playing with the meats of your fingers gives a smoother tone and more control over the overall sound especially for this tune I'm currently working on. But it's fun to experiment and I noticed that the nails don't have to be excessively long to start being useful in picking. Especialy with hybrid cause your hand is sort of set up with everything close to the strings so that you can still do both picking and finger picking. I'm hoping to get good at hybrid cause it seems to open doors to a lot of variety like double stops with the fingers and root note rhythms with the pick and then you can jump right back into some change strumming, alternate picking etc.

My vote also goes for - meat!

Nails will provide something "special" to the tone, a bit of high-end sizzle, but it's a bit hard to have nails all the time, and possibly it can look weird too, since nails are usually associated with women.. well you get the idea