Mexico
Mexican

Woods, metal, paint, acrylic
Early 21st century
Length: 48 in; Width: 15.25 in; Depth: 3.5 in

Chordophone – Lute – Plucked

The bajo sexto and bajo quinto are paired with the accordion in (“Tejano”) and Norteño (folk) music styles.  The bajo sexto most likely evolved from the Italian baroque guitar, called chitarra battente (a baroque-era guitar) and was brought to Mexico during the colonial period.  At first there was the bajo sexto, with six courses (12 strings).  It was tuned an octave below the guitar, but the body was not large enough for the lowest E to sound well, so many players only played on 10 strings, 5 courses.  Luthiers recognized this and started making the bajo quinto.  What is seen here is an even larger bajo sexto, but with only 4 strings, making it a bajo (Spanish for ‘bass’) cuatro (Spanish for ‘four’).  Please know this is just my interpretation and not officially the name of the instrument: bajo cuatro.

This bajo (cuatro) with maker marking and number: Don Cortez, has four thick metal strings with silver metal tuning pegs and wide, flat grips. There are 24 gold metal frets on the dark wood fretboard. The neck, head, and body are painted red with a cracked black topcoat to create a unique pattern. The body has black and white chevron trim around the edge of the body (front and back) and sound hole. The body has the traditional Florentine cutaway design, with each of the tips trimmed with a light stained wood. The tailpiece is made from the same stain as the fretboard, with white acrylic to attach the strings. The bottom of each string on the tailpiece also features a numbered plastic bead.