Daily Challenge The April 2020 Challenge - day 23

Location
Switzerland
Name
Matt
Long story short:

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M.
 
A little history: Back in 1996, the chemistry and geology departments moved to our current building. The old building was over 60 years old and there was a lot of junk to sift through. One of those things was this old "relief map" of North America created with plaster and paper. It was discovered in the trash bin and was rescued by an indignant geology departmental secretary. It now hangs proudly in the geology department. Students still enjoy it and use it, as do the faculty, in this age of far more accurate computer generated models. I've tried to preserve the color as best I could as it has that "brown and ancient" look to it.
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With apologies to Tony Turley. Bonus points if you can correctly name the instrument.

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Cheers,

Antonio

First and foremost: this is a wonderful photograph, Antonio. For a lot of reasons.
Second: damn, I don't have a clue what instrument it is or might be. But---
Third: okay, what the hell, I'll go out on a limb.... ¿is it a Quatro?
 
First and foremost: this is a wonderful photograph, Antonio. For a lot of reasons.
Second: damn, I don't have a clue what instrument it is or might be. But---
Third: okay, what the hell, I'll go out on a limb.... ¿is it a Quatro?

Give the man his prize! It is, indeed, but it is spelled “cuatro” (like the number). It’s Puerto Rico’s national instrument.

It is smaller than a guitar and has 5 pairs of steel strings. It is tuned G, D, A, E, B high to low. The last two pairs (E and B) are tuned in octaves. It is typically played with a plectrum.

It is, predominantly, a handmade instrument and depending on the skill of the builder, they range from artisanal to luthier level quality instruments. The one pictured was made by one of the top cuatro luthiers in the island, Jaime Alicea.

Cheers,

Antonio
 
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