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No need to have a debate about it. It’s just a matter of fact that many in Spain refer to “pulsacion” as something different than action. We may decide to simplify the concept or to make an effort in understanding what there’s behind. Let stick to the video here above: some guitars offer an ideal response to your right hand while other guitars don’t. The same set up (action or string tension or even the whole geometry) do not make two guitars equally responsive/comfortable. Even guitars made by the same maker are not the same as wood is uneven in density by nature ( a bulb inside your guitar may show darker areas inspite the same thickness). I suppose is common experience that some guitars play better with higher/lower action or different string tension as we try to set up guitars to balance their natural equilibrium towards our preference as players. A skilled player just adapt and doesn’t care, while a luthier has a different insight about that, as is searching about the idea point of balance. No need to go further.
ORIGINAL: Ricardo She is speaking Spanish, her SPANISH description of how to deal with pulsación is precisely what in English we say is SETTING THE ACTION. She is not only daughter of a famous Luthier but one herself.
I haven’t even searched for the quote, but I recall Amalia writing that she had built ONE guitar, not many. I don’t think this makes her a luthier.
My Abel Garcia and Romanillos classicals have the same strings, the same scale length, the same action at the 12th fret and the same bridge saddle height. The Romanillos requires a far more precise and somewhat lighter right hand touch than the Garcia, to get its best tone. Both are great guitars. I conclude that some factor or factors other than action contribute to the marked disparity in feel (pulsación) between these two instruments.
From the Diccionario de la Real Academia de la Lengua Española
Pulsación — accion de pulsar
Pulsar. 2.Tocar, palpar o percibir algo con la mano o con las yemas de los dedos.
In this context, “To perceive something with the tips of the fingers.”
I have further thoughts on this matter, but I’m going to refrain from long explanations and divert into one of my main personality faults.
I’m from the generation that was indoctrinated first to see advertising as deception, a wave of this thinking began in the 70’s ( 1970’s) due to writers like Marshall McCluhan et al. Our grade school education taught us to deconstruct advertising, and propaganda, my teachers used USSR news papers like Pravda to give examples of propaganda. ( it’s not ironic to that the US had its share of propagandizing through our papers too, and teachers pointed this out, but for the dumb kids with ‘yee haw’ redneck parents citing Pravda kept them from coming to school and calling our 3rd grade history teacher a communist)
Starbucks coffee, AKA ‘Charbucks’ because they over roast the coffee berry, forces customers to speak a corporate argot. In past when I had gone to this shop I would ask for a medium coffee, the person behind the counter would say “We don’t have medium coffee, we have a Grande.” Ok I would like the medium sized cup, you have large, medium and small cups on that shelf and I want the medium sized cup. “Sorry, you’re going to have to specify which you want, Grande, small dick sized or huge dick sized.” Can you just give me a coffee and not force me to act like this is McDonald’s? It’s bad enough we have to call hamburgers Mc WTF’s now we have to say Mc Grande too?
You where this goes? Eventually Starbucks told servers to stop antagonizing customers who don’t want to use corporate speak to order coffee. It was at that point I decided that saying grande was ok, but I still patronized a small independent coffee shop.
Whenever someone comes out with a buzz word or gimmick phrase for a phenomenon we all know about, but never assign a name to, I categorically reject it on the grounds of my personal experience with 3rd grade history and the deconstruction of corporate argot, the lies about the Vietnam War, the truth manipulation in Pravda and the sexual innuendo in early Woody Allen movies that e we gun over my head as a child. ( as it should)
I don’t like the term lateral stiffness’ I reject this notion.
How am or why am I like this you ask? I take no responsibility for how I turned out.
I blame society.
P.S.
You never heard of Andy Rooney? Tough tacos buddy. That’s not my problem, that’s on you.
We may decide to simplify the concept or to make an effort in understanding what there’s behind.
It looks like pulsacion is a word that can be interpreted differently. Another word is compas. In flamenco, compas means meter or rhythm depending on the context.
We should draw the conclusion that pulsacion means both action and lateral stiffness.
While they also use words like Pulsacion, basically all they talk about to influence the Pulsacion and they can do, is indeed the action. Specially this part:
quote:
Cada guitarrista, una pulsación distinta
No hay una única acción ideal para todos los guitarristas. Algunos prefieren una pulsación más dura para mayor control, otros buscan ligereza y agilidad. Por eso es clave que la guitarra se adapte a la mano del intérprete. En Conde-Atocha lo sabemos bien: por eso escuchamos a cada músico, analizamos su técnica y ajustamos el instrumento a su medida.
La acción y el ajuste en una guitarra flamenca no solo afectan a la mecánica del toque, también influyen en el color del sonido. Una acción demasiado baja puede restar volumen y cuerpo, mientras que una acción más alta puede aportar mayor presencia, pero a costa de esfuerzo. Encontrar ese equilibrio es una cuestión de experiencia, oído y sensibilidad.
Basically what it says it, some prefer "heavy Pulsacion" and some "lighter Pulsacion", and there is no perfect "action" for all guitars, so we adjust the action accordingly to player's need to achieve their desired Pulsacion So more or less what Ricardo is saying is the way to achieve the desired matching Pulsacion, is what I'm understanding, but also what I always understood, which is basically that it is individual depending on player's style, heavy or light hand etc. But basically it all comes down to mostly action and setup, and not some stiffness on soundboard etc.
So yes, if there is such a thing described in one word "Pulsacion" is different from guitar to guitar and player to player, but the tools or means to influence it is mostly action/setup ?!
What I found noobish in this post, is that they don't even mention height of strings over soundboard. Just the typical 12th fret thing ..
And before that discussion starts, yeah I get it, Atocha and fleet of robots building them in the hidden basement in Valencia with fully automated machines and all that , but that is not the point
...Basically what it says it, some prefer "heavy Pulsacion" and some "lighter Pulsacion", and there is no perfect "action" for all guitars, so we adjust the action accordingly to player's need to achieve their desired Pulsacion So more or less what Ricardo is saying...
Guitarbucks we’re happy to serve you with all the pulsacion you want. Just specify what pulsacion you’re looking for. We’ll set you up with Demi-Pulse through Trenta-Pulse.
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I conclude that some factor or factors other than action contribute to the marked disparity in feel (pulsación) between these two instruments.
My hypothesis would be 1.neck angle, and 2. humidity, either giving the perception of hard or soft response, but what it can NOT be, which you ruled out by measuring, is its Pulsacíon aka ACTION, (assuming same strings as well). What you can do is on the stiff guitar LOWER THE ACTION , so even more, and it will probably feel like the same pulsación "magically".
Do guitarists and luthiers misuse the term "action"?
The string height is the correct term for guitar. The term "action" comes from piano.
"The “action” is the mechanism inside a piano that transforms the player’s touch on a key into a hammer strike that produces musical sound. Modern piano actions are often composed of over 8000 individual parts that all work together to translate the subtle movements of the fingers into expressive music that inspires."
Do guitarists and luthiers misuse the term "action"?
The string height is the correct term for guitar. The term "action" comes from piano.
"The “action” is the mechanism inside a piano that transforms the player’s touch on a key into a hammer strike that produces musical sound. Modern piano actions are often composed of over 8000 individual parts that all work together to translate the subtle movements of the fingers into expressive music that inspires."
That is the origin, but people began using the term action to describe how guitars respond players and how much effort is needed and over the years the word shifted to what we use today, which is string height. The word was copied most likely because string height is what determines how easily or difficult the instrument plays, just like action on piano I suppose. In any case, it is not "misused" if everybody knows exactly what it means (i.e. string height)
Do guitarists and luthiers misuse the term "action"?
They are generally imprecise as they typically only refer to the 12-fret string-height, and ignore the NECK ANGLE, which affects the response and feel on the right hand. It seems flamenco players and sometimes builders, have just as much if not MORE concern about that geometry.
When I was working on piano in college, it was only after I gained some "speed" and timing under my fingers that I even noticed the action of the different pianos in the practice room area (there were about a dozen rooms with different type of pianos). There was this one slightly out of tune old piano that had an amazing response, and I started noticing several students rejecting the others and waiting patiently in line for that ONE. Anyway the "feeling" is the same deal regardless if the action playabily/response is adjusted by a different mechanism. The resulting touch of the keys has the same thing as when we have high or low action on guitars.
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