Mexico Six-Strings

Guitar-related stores, such as Amezcua’s, fill the main street of Paracho, the guitar-making capital of North America. (CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS / Los Angeles Times )

Sept. 15, 2014 12:41 PM PT

One of the many guitar shops along the main street of Paracho. (CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS / Los Angeles Times)

Guitar-maker Jesus H. Fuerte in his workshop. He and other guitarreros in Paracho manufacture as many as 80,000 guitars a year, which retail for $50 to $3,000.

Guitar-maker Jesús H. Fuerte in his workshop. He and other guitarreros in Paracho manufacture as many as 80,000 guitars a year, which retail for $50 to $3,000. (CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS / Los Angeles Times)

A celebrant at the town’s annual guitar festival. (CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS / Los Angeles Times)

Twenty miles from the revelry of the Paracho guitar festival is the Hotel Mansion del Cupatitzio, a pleasant river-side hotel in Uruapan.

Twenty miles from the revelry of the Paracho guitar festival is the Hotel Mansión del Cupatitzio, a pleasant river-side hotel in Uruapan. (CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS / Los Angeles Times)

After shopping for several days and paying a Paracho guitar-maker $400, the writer plays his new instrument in a Morelia hotel. The guitar would normally retail for $1,200 in the United States. (CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS / Los Angeles Times)