The guitarrón mexicano (Spanish for "big Mexican guitar", the suffix -ón being a Spanish

augmentative) or Mexican guitarrón is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican six-string acoustic bass
guitar played traditionally in Mariachi groups. Although similar to the guitar, it is not a derivative
of that instrument, but was independently developed from the sixteenth-century Spanish bajo de
uña ("fingernail[-plucked] bass"). Because its great size gives it volume, it does not require electric
amplification for performances in small venues. The guitarrón is fretless with heavy gauge strings,
most commonly nylon for the high three and wound metal for the low three. The guitarrón is
usually played by doubling notes at the octave, a practice facilitated by the standard guitarrón
tuning A1 D2 G2 C3 E3 A2. Unlike a guitar, the pitch of the guitarrón strings does not always rise as
strings move directionally downward from the lowest-pitched string (A2, which is the 6th string
from the lowest-pitched string, is a perfect 5th below its adjacent string E3).

The guitarrón was the inspiration behind Ernie Ball's development of the first modern acoustic
bass guitar, released on the market in 1972.[1]

Use
Traditional uses

Nelson Gómez performing.

The guitarrón is used in Mexican Mariachi groups, which usually consist of at least two violins, two
trumpets, one Spanish guitar, a vihuela (a high-pitched, five-string guitar-type instrument), and the
guitarrón. A strap is usually used to keep the instrument up and playable. The guitarrón is the
principal rhythm instrument in the mariachi group, and it serves as the bass instrument, playing
deep pitches. The rhythmic propulsion of the basslines played on it help to keep the other
instruments together. It is unusual for a group to have more than one guitarrón player.

Guitarrón players need good left-hand strength to stop (press down the strings onto the
fingerboard) the heavy strings of the instrument and a strong right hand, specifically the index,
middle finger, and thumb, to pluck the thick, heavy strings (usually a metal and a nylon string). The
right hand is typically used to pluck two strings at a time, to play the bassline in octaves, even
though it is notated as a single note bass part. Since the strings are so thick, the player has to keep
on or a bit ahead of the beat, rather than behind the beat. The instrument is used to play basslines
that "walk" through the chord progression with rising and falling arpeggio figures and scales. The
instrument plays more ornamented lines to embellish cadences and key, meter, or tempo
changes.

Non-traditional uses
Mexican composer Julián Carrillo adapted the guitarrón for microtonal music by adding frets to
enable it to play eighths of a tone. He scored for this instrument, under the name octavina, in
several compositions, most notably the Preludio a Colón (1922).
The guitarrón is played by Roy Estrada on the 1966 Mothers of Invention album Freak Out!.
Randy Meisner of the Eagles also plays the guitarrón on the track "New Kid in Town" from the
album Hotel California (1976; in the credits the name of the instrument is anglicized to
"guitarone").[2]
One American player using the guitarrón in a non-traditional context is Aaron Goldsmith, formerly
of the New York-based multicultural acoustic ensemble Luminescent Orchestrii; he uses a
modified guitarrón with an elongated neck that allows him to play melodically.
Played by Simon Edwards, the guitarrón was a defining element of the 1980s British folk-pop band
Fairground Attraction. In addition, Edwards plays the guitarrón on the Talk Talk album Spirit of
Eden (labelled "Mexican bass" in liner notes.)
Design

In this photo, the wooden bridge can be seen. A member of Citadino Son demonstrates a guitarrón
at the Museo de Arte Popular, Mexico City, in 2012.
The back of the guitarrón is made of two pieces of wood that are set at an angle making the back
shaped like a shallow letter V. This design feature increases the depth and overall size of the
instrument. The arched shape helps the instrument to project a strong, deep tone. The sides and
back are made from Mexican cedar and the top is made from tacote, a wood that is both
lightweight and strong. Tuning machines with worm gears serve to increase or decrease the
tension on the strings, which is how the instrument is tuned.