2010s Don Jose C-500 Electrified Puerto Rican Cuatro

Overview: This cuatro was traded to me ages ago and it languished upstairs in storage. I have been trying to get some of these trades back into circulation in my off-days and I like the sound of cuatros a lot so it was exciting to get this one back up to snuff. Post-repairs, I also electrified it with a lipstick single coil pickup and so it gets some of that retro, plugged-in, jangle sound you hear on old tropical albums.

Interesting features: This is a pretty typical, low-rent, student-model cuatro. It's ply through the body but lightly-built in the top, so it actually sounds pretty excellent acoustically. I've modified the stringing so that it's tailpiece-loaded (to remove pressure on the top and to give the strings a faster feel) and I cut-down the front deck of the bridge and cut a fresh saddle slot and new, fully-compensated saddle to make intonation better and action adjustments easier for the future (these usually have glued-in, straight saddles). These are tuned in fourths bB eE AA DD GG low to high (octaves on the first two courses) traditionally, but I've mangled an electric 12-string set and tuned the A pair as an octave, too. The low B is a full step up from guitar's A string.

Repairs included: Max gave it a level/dress of the frets and side dots. I did the rest of the work (bridge/saddle mods, wiring and pickup install, whatnot). It's playing spot-on and ready to serve!

• Weight: 3 lbs 8 oz
• Scale length: 20 3/8"
• Nut width: 1 7/8"
• Neck shape: med-bigger C/D
• Board radius: flat
• Depth at first fret: 15/16"
• Depth at seventh fret: 1 5/64"
• Body width: 11 3/8"
• Body depth: 3 3/8"
• Top wood: ply spruce
• Back & sides wood: ply mahogany-like
• Bracing type: fan
• Bridge: rosewood
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 42w-9, but you'll need nickel or steel-wound for the pickup
• Truss rod: non-adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium/lower-medium height

Condition notes: The decaled rosette is missing a portion on the treble side. There are some minor scuffs and scratches and whatnot here and there. Obviously, I've also modified it. The bridge has a little left at the back edge on the bass side but it's on there nice and tight -- and bolted in three places from the factory, anyhow. The tailpiece load means that you both don't have to worry about that and also that it's easier for the instrument to manage its tension. I do the same tailpiece-mod thing on non-Martin tiples.

It comes with: It actually has a thin gigbag.

Consignor tag: JW