It’s all about the sound

Jacob Salinas is an unassuming craftsman, yet he’s a master at what he does.

Five years after launching Salinas Guitars, a San Marcos shop that specializes in creating custom bajo sextos, his instruments are being used by Grammy Award-winning artists as well musicians yet to make their mark.

A native San Marcan who plays guitar “a little bit,” he picked up his craft through hands-on experience, pleading with a San Antonio company to allow him to watch an instrument he ordered being made. Finally, he was told that, “if you want to order one more I’d be more than happy for you to come and build one.”

He did, then “basically went home and started putting wood together piece by piece.” When they began dating, he brought his future wife Soraya into the business.

With a nearly completed bajo sexto on his workbench, Jacob Salinas gets the instrument ready to be strung. The instrument was built over the course of seven months for a pastor in Edna.

Salinas uses the classical method of building stringed instruments, which basically means everything is built and slotted into the neck, compared to building the body first and then attaching the neck. Though he can build and repair any stringed instrument, his love and specialty are the bajo sexto.

Though not used outside Latin music, the bajo is endemic to many styles including Conjunto, Tejano and Norteno. “There are so many genres that use it it’s hard to characterize the genre — certain instruments can change the genre,” he notes, and the bajo is foremost among them.

Moreover, the instrument itself has changed over time. Historically a 12-stringed instrument, it is sometimes modified to 10 strings, a bajo quinto. Explains Salinas, “They traditionally used 12 strings because it was a rhythm and bass instrument — they didn’t have bass guitars in those days.” With the advent of the bass guitar, the bajo’s bass string became unnecessary.

Jacob and Soraya Salinas have grown their business together, with the couple working hard to learn how to craft each instrument. They started the business in 2014.

Crafting an instrument from scratch — which includes skills from woodworking to applying a finish  — takes six to seven months. “It’s a lot of learning and skill involved. You have to be able to sand the wood, know the measurements and you have to learn how to be painters as well.”

Salinas Guitars start at about $2,400 and the shop has filled orders from all over the country, with the most notable clients including the Grammy Award winners Los Palominos and La Mafia and “up and coming groups from around San Antonio, Austin and Seguin.”

Current projects include a child-size bajo, three-quarters of the size of a full-size instrument, that is going to a client in Seguin, and an almost ready to ship full-size bajo for a pastor in Edna.

A child’s bajo sexto is laid out on a workbench. Unlike a regular bajo sexto, this one is built three-fourths full-size. The instrument is bound for Seguin.

All his works feature custom touches, like herringboning made with pieces of mahogany and walnut, and custom made bridges. Increasingly in recent years, he said, there have been requests for themed instruments with special paint jobs paying homage to the likes of college mascots and even superheros like Spider-Man. 

He does no advertising except for a Facebook page. Otherwise, his clients come to him primarily through word of mouth. Of his famous clients, he says, “We try not to get big-headed. If someone wants to use our instruments, we’re excited about that.”

Jacob Salinas signs the inside of every instrument produced by his business. 

The excitement shows as his face brightens whenever he is asked to further explain his devotion to the craft and the music. For example, can he recognize one of his creations? “Yes, actually in a video last week … I’m like ‘man, I wonder who made that bajo?’ It just sounded awesome — real crisp and clean.”

That’s not by accident. Everything he does to create his instruments starting with the bracing inside their bodies is to one end — the sound. “Everything is shaped for its sound.”