'Way up top here is a link to a thread with pictures of a 14-string bandurria. It looks very very much like the 12-string Virtuosa cuatro-menor I bought in Paracho, Mexico a few years ago on one of our drives back stateside from Guatemala. Size-wise, it is like a thick mandolin. (The car was too stuffed for anything bigger!)
I consider it an 'uke-like object. It has four triple courses steel-strung
GGG-CCC-EEE-aaa like a low-G 'uke. I often tuned it
GGG-CCC-EEE-ggg for slack-key playing. I currently string it
GgG-cCc-EEE-ggg for a 12-string-guitar effect, often played bottleneck. One of these days I will have to shoot some video of it.
So, what is it like? Those triple courses of steel strings are quite easy on the fingers. The sound is shimmering, flowing, sweet. And yes, it is a bear to keep tuned. Intonation is also tricky; Virtuosa isn't the highest-quality of brands. Maybe that's why I bottleneck it, eh? Anyway, I now own 'uke-like objects with 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 strings. I plan to build a 3-string 'uke to fill out the list -- just
CEA, who needs a low or high G string? Pesky bugger just gets in the way...
I think I'll skip 14- or 16-string 'ukes. But I *do* want a 10-string charango, yet another sorta 'uke-like object (ULO). And then a ronroco, a big charango. And then... I am doomed.