Guitar Evolution’s Missing Link: The Early 5-String

2022
AL#147 p.28               
James Buckland                                                                                           

▪ Baroque guitars were 5-course instruments. That is, they had ten strings in five pairs. Then suddenly here comes the 19th century and guitars had six single strings. Yadda yadda, now it’s today and everything is normal. The real story is a lot more interesting than that and it actually involves a “missing link;” the 5-string guitar. Luthier, guitarist, and scholar Buckland lays it all out for us.