SANTANA'S SOUND

well, most of santana's sound, is in his fingers.

then, his volume and gain/tone/speakers choices.

his original sound, using a mesa boogie mark I, isn't really where he's at right now....
but he still uses that amp in a multi-amp setup..

using other artists as a means to define a sound you're after, is cool and everything, but i think we're more interested in unique and new sounds, and how you get those.....

i remember when santana played a les paul and if im correct it
was fender amps? at that time he had a brighter sound and less
saturation. back at or before the tune "evil ways"

actualy his sound on "evel ways" to me was awsome. then at a later
time it was a yamaha sg 2000 guitar and i think boogie amps.
i have a yamaha sg 2000 and a boogie amp and a boogie preamp.
the boogie amp is more of a singing amp with lots of drive
and very "mid" sounding.

the boogie preamp is totaly different its more vintage sounding.
its interesting how different all the different boogie models sound.
i think he uses a paul reed smith guitar now is that right?

saw him in concert a few years back and he was even using fuzz
box sounds. seems he was using stomp boxes or something
maybe not but it sounded fuzzy. part of his sound to was or is
using a large traigular flat pick.

which has a very sharp tip. i think also the paul reed smith guitar has
something like a five position switch and is setup maybe similar
to the gibson 345 with some unique pickup configs.

i dont know what his set up is today. i still like him and have
the utmost respect for what hes done and is doing. but id prefer
a little less mid rangy guitar and more melodic content in his
guitar work.

it seems he used to work the whole guitar neck more
years ago ie low to high etc but then again maybe
hes still playing good as ever

Maybe it's just age, or boredom?

And he's headed to Sin City, Nevada for a long string of shows. Yawn.

I’m with you Bitflipper, I miss his good old Abraxis and Woodstock era sound, a Gibson SG or Les Paul straight through a cranked Fender or prototype GMT (at Woodstock) amp. He also supposedly used a prototype “Big Muff” pedal at Woodstock.

If you can manage to get your hands on GR3 or GR4, Ive made some really nice Santana tones with that, But half of it is his style of playing. If you find a tone that sounds similar, just listen to his songs and concentrate on how he plays lead, and just apply it.

just good ole volume, and the gain of the boogie is enough.

Old thread alert!

But with regards to Santana's tone... Locate a copy of TapeOp Nov/Dec '09 and read the interview with Dr. Daniel Levitin, the guy who wrote "This is Your Brain on Music". In the interview he talks about being in The Record Plant when Santana was recording there. Levitin asked if he could play Santana's guitar and when he did, guess what? It sounded like Levitin. Then he asked if Santana would play his (Levitin's) guitar and guess what again? Santana sounded like Santana.

He also talks about working on a mix for a day and a half, in a great room with a Neve console and just not being able to get it right. He called in another "hot mixer" (as he put it) and that guy started from scratch and in about 6 hours got an excellent mix. Same room, same gear. As Levitin put it, it's not the gear, it's not the room.

It's a great interview.