2023 Salinas Bajo Quinto – Used

This bajo quinto was made in 2023 by Jacob and Soroya Salinas, a young husband and wife team who build and restore guitars and bajo quintos in San Marcos, Texas. The back and sides on this striking bajo are made from Hounduran mahogany and the top is redwood that was harvested from a house in San Francisco that was built in the 1870s. It’s fitted with a Salinas-designed magnetic pickup.

This instrument is built in the traditional style with a large neck and strings that loop through the ornate bridge. Jacob and Soroya have earned a reputation for doing excellent work and these days are the first choice for musicians who want to restore classic instruments by Macias and Acosta, the two builders who helped create the modern bajo in the 1930s and 1940s.

For those of you who don’t know what it is, the Bajo Quinto is a 10-string bass guitar that is tuned in fourths to A-D-G-C-F, with the A and D doubled in octaves and the G, C and F tuned in unison. The Bajo Quinto is used as the rhythm instrument in a number of Mexican musical styles, particularly Norteño and Tejano music. And while it’s well-suited to Mexican music, it has a unique sound that will find a home in many other styles. All it takes is an adventurous musical spirt.