Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana (born July 20, 1947 in Jalisco, Mexico) is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican rock musician and guitarist. He became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which created a highly successful blend of rock, blues, salsa, and jazz fusion. The band’s sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin percussion such as timbales and congas. Santana continued to work in these forms over the following decades. He experienced a sudden resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. Rolling Stone also named Santana number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in 2003.

Carlos Santana has been long associated with Mesa Boogie amplifiers and currently endorses Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars. Carlos prefers D’Addario .009-.042 gauge strings and has been known to employ a Mu-Tron wah wah pedal, Ibanez Tube Screamer, and a T-Rex Replica delay pedal but for the most part keeps his signal chain fairly simple. Santana also uses a custom made amp switch to switch between different amplifiers.

_{Source: Wikipedia
Image: Martin Cohen}