RE: Manufactures choice of strings on a guitar

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kitarist

Posts: 1715
Joined: Dec. 4 2012

RE: Manufactures choice of strings ... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)

quote:

The scale lengths are the same. Despite the very slightly higher trebles of #329, D'Addario EJ-46s have a slightly softer pulsacion than the same strings on #325.

Thank you for the info, Richard. I've been reading again about 'pulsacion' ever since you mentioned it above. For some reason it is awfully hard to remember what it stands for; I always have to go back and look at older threads.

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Konstantin

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 12 2020 7:32:58

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: Manufactures choice of strings ... (in reply to kitarist)

I won't pretend to be an expert on the meaning of "pulsacion." Like a great many words, it may mean different things to different people.

To me it means the effort required to produce a good sound. Of course, some guitars produce sounds I like better than others. Some may seldom or never produce a sound I really like.

When guitars are of reasonably comparable--and high--quality, it's a combination of the effort required of the left hand to fret a note, and the effort required by the right hand to sound it.

But it's still an imprecise term. For example, my Romanillos responds best to a lighter, more precise right hand touch, while I prefer a "deeper" right hand stroke on others. The Romanillos feels a little stiffer. To displace the string by a given distance requires more force, yet when played the best way, the Romanillos requires no more right hand effort than the others.

Still, Spanish speaking players, makers and dealers use the word freely, and expect it to convey useful information.

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 12 2020 23:24:28

Echi

Posts: 1131
Joined: Jan. 11 2013

RE: Manufactures choice of strings ... (in reply to kitarist)

Pulsacion is a well known concept in Spain. It basically means how quick the string comes back after the stroke and therefore how fast you can play a picado or the guitar is ready after a rasgueado.
It also refers to the stiffness/bounciness of the top: you may have a guitar with a stiff top you have to push hard or a guitar which opens up with a light touch.
Things get even more complex because there is always a certain modulation depending by the geometry of the guitar and the kind of torque bridge/top.
Anyway, given a fixed action (at the -12th fret and the bridge saddle) two guitars may have a different top flexibility/bounciness/way to pump air/ pulsacion. A certain player may prefer a certain pulsacion.
Usually the guitars in Madrid have a hard pulsacion (they are stiffer) while in Andalucia softer.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 13 2020 10:56:12

Tom Blackshear

Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008

RE: Manufactures choice of strings ... (in reply to Richard Jernigan)

"pulsacion." to me means a number of things connected to the top's vibration, inner dimensional vowel tone, and how the top responds to string toque, which incorporates sustain from each builders personal stamp.

In other words, not all tonal properties are the same. It would be more like many guitars display different tones yet operate with-in certain qualities of articulation, and dimensional levels of voicing, yet hold to a feel of the guitar doing what you tell it to.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 13 2020 19:11:43