"The tone of Carlos Santana's Yamaha SG guitar can be heard on a number of landmark recordings, one of the most notable being 1977'sMoonflower. From that record came the studio version of "She's Not There," along with live versions of "Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)," "Let the Children Play / Jugando," and "Europa," all of which blew away the previously released studio versions. Some of Santana's straight-ahead rock hits, like "Open Invitation" and "All I Ever Wanted" were also recorded on the SG2000.
Carlos continued to use the Yamaha until the early '80s, both in concert and on albums including Inner Secrets, Marathon, Zebop!, and Shango. By 1982 he had migrated totally to Paul Reed Smith guitars, which he continues to play to this day. However, his years' playing the Yamaha SG guitar were pivotal in his development of the smooth, round, endlessly sustaining tone which has become his trademark"

Not intended to derail the thread but...

I've been away from Gibson's for a long time- are those P-90's on the LP and SG in the photos?
I'm currently building a neck-thru Strat type and the P-90's may good choice?..thoughts?

i love the p-90's.

it's a different sound for sure.

but if you're looking for something unique, to separate yourself from the crowd, that's an excellent choice.

many many pros, thru the years, have use p-90 loaded guitars, to play some classic stuff.

a good choice would be the bill lawrence p-90 voiced pickup....

another, would be the P Rails, by Duncan.

me, i'd go noiseless, before i'd deal with hum.

Rumor is that Carlos used a solid state amp at Woodstock.
OMG!

Another good choice for a P-90 type sound is the Fender Jazzmaster pickup.

We need to get one thing right here,
As far as getting that Santana sound to be honest anybody can get that sound!
I'm not talking about just the fingers at work. I'm talking about the combination
of guitar, amp and of course the Altec 417-8H speaker which produces that pearly sound.
The fingers and the heart is another story but even those who know Carlos personally have told me
I manage to pull it off as far as being the closest to getting that sound. Do I want to sound like Carlos?
"Hell no". Many guitar players struggle with trying to get that sound when they should really be looking for
their own stamp and not somebody else's.
The real reason many guitar players like that sound because the  guitar's tone range which is the true tone range is the (Midrange) tone. it's a sound or a range that cuts through a live mix with a full band. If your guitar eq setting has a bit too much treble or too much bass or that eq V shape like scooping the mids does sound great-
when you're playing solos or power chords,.. but with a band it's very difficult to cut through a mix with any settings with not enough mids. This link shows an example guitar tone with the right amount of mids:
http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=channel_video_title

Willieguitars

We need to get one thing right here, As far as getting that Santana sound to be honest anybody can get that sound! I'm not talking about just the fingers at work. I'm talking about the combination of guitar, amp and of course the Altec 417-8H speaker which produces that pearly sound. The fingers and the heart is another story but even those who know Carlos personally have told me I manage to pull it off as far as being the closest to getting that sound. Do I want to sound like Carlos? "Hell no". Many guitar players struggle with trying to get that sound when they should really be looking for their own stamp and not somebody else's. The real reason many guitar players like that sound because the guitar's tone range which is the true tone range is the (Midrange) tone. it's a sound or a range that cuts through a live mix with a full band. If your guitar eq setting has a bit too much treble or too much bass or that eq V shape like scooping the mids does sound great- when you're playing solos or power chords,.. but with a band it's very difficult to cut through a mix with any settings with not enough mids. This link shows an example guitar tone with the right amount of mids: http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=channel_video_title Willieguitars

If I were playing in a Santana cover band I would think about trying to cop Santana's tone. Can't think of any other reason to want to sound like Carlos Santana.

Thanks to anyone who refrains from sounding like Santana - he makes me feel physically uncomfortable like no other musician - not sure what it is but it's like a mix between vertigo and scratching my bones with rusted nails. I don't hate him, I don't think he's not good - I'm simply allergic to his playing. Kirk Hammet would be a distant second.

I'M VERY HUMBLE :-(..............
NO ONE HAS EVER MISINTERPRET MY WORDS BEFORE UNTIL I JOINED THIS FORUM.
I GUESS I WONT BE ABLE TO BENEFIT ANY MUSICAL INSIGHT FROM OTHER FELLOW GUITARISTS HERE.
SINCE THERE IS SOME OF THAT NEGATIVITY THING GOING ON FROM OTHERS WHICH IS PRETTY SILLY RIGHT?
I'M CONFUSED. IS THIS 'THE VIEW' OR 'GUITAR PEOPLES COURT?'.