Guitarrón mexicano

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").

The guitarrón is fretless with heavy gauge strings, most commonly nylon for the high three and wound metal for the low three.

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

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.

The instrument is used to play basslines that "walk" through the chord progression with rising and falling arpeggio figures and scales.

A close-up of a guitarrón being played.
A guitarrón player in a Mariachi uniform.
A Mexican guitarrón player in a traditional Mariachi uniform.
Nelson Gómez performing.
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.