Although of southern Mexican origin, these instruments are used primarily in norteño music of northern Mexico and across the border in the music of south Texas known as "Tex-Mex", "conjunto", or "música mexicana-tejana".
The bajo sexto sound provides a strong rhythm in the lower pitched end of a Conjunto band and also provides a strong projection of chord changes across songs.
Bajo sextos are traditionally tuned in fourths, what an anglophone guitarist would call all fourths tuning: E,A,D,G,C,F (from lowest to highest string).
Bajo sexto derives from the bajo quinto. Bajo quintos are tuned the same: A,D,G,C,F (as above).  Q The manufacture of bajo quinto and sexto reached a peak in quality and popularity in the 19th century, in the states of Chihuahua, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Nuevo León and Zacatecas.