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Ricardo -> RE: Lateral tautness (Nov. 27 2025 15:51:51)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: eccullen
Does varying string tension affect what is meant by "pulsacion"?
Assuming you use the correct definition of that freaking word!!! [:D]
Simply put: if pulsación=action, then YES.
if pulsación= magical unicorns, then NO.
Amalia translates it to string height over the fingerboard which is called "action" and the answer is YES, in the sense the strings of higher tensions versus lower tension (not by package listing necessarily but AFTER you have tuned them to the correct pitch, cuz that matters too), will FEEL similar to when you raise the bone saddle, even though you did not do that. To push the string down on the left hand will feel harder to do, just like when the strings are the same tension but you have lifted them up higher above the frets. And vice versa, a high action guitar can give the illusion of easier play by changing to a lighter tension set of strings. This ALSO LIKE ACTION, affects the volume...hard tension and higher action will give more bass response and seem like louder notes, or more dynamic range etc. Remember Carlos Montoya tuned his guitar way down and that makes the strings like rubber bands, super butter easy.
The issue for flamenco is we need the "snap" of a low-enough action trebles to do rasgueados that don't sound like mud, but have brilliance and percussion. It is a balance to discover on a specific guitar what is the best set of strings by experimentation, because we also need clear pitches that ring out for melody. I am sure there are cases of hybrid sets where the basses are hard tension and the trebles light and snappy, or vice versa. That is a bit easier than changing a saddle, but that is not too hard to do either, and the decision should be based on right hand as well...too low saddle and your picado will bang into the soundboard, too high and you will bleed on your guitar after some dance accompaniment.
If you want to use some other hazy definition of "pulsation" such as the "stiffness of the cross grain of the top" and the unicorn result of THAT physical reality affecting the subjective ease of play of your guitar (what your fingers do to strings), then NONE of the above of what I said matters, and we need to find a NEW definition of "action" and new definition of whatever the heck this paragraph is about, and put that word "pulsación" into the ground.
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