One of Carlos' iconic axes ..the SG soapy from Woodstock all mahogany,,,
Yes.
Much like my beaten up ‘65 nasty-modded-bridge SG Special…
I believe Santana's was also modded for a Tune-O-Matic, but he still had the trem arm and trem base plate on the guitar, basically doing nothing. His also had Grovers, mine has the original Klusons.
The case is the original from 1965, incidentally. It's in better shape cosmetically than the guitar by a mile!
My brother learned to play guitar on this instrument, as did I, as did my son! He has it with him in LA now. I had the bridge installed in 1971, when I was still playing in my college band. The guitar has some miles on it! It also hasn't needed a setup or neck adjustment since 1972, but the frets are worn enough that if you're not careful, it'll fret out.
Please take note of the original 1965 oval plastic buttons, all of which are still firmly attached; I point this out to annoy the plastic tuner button haters who think plastic tuning machine buttons always fall off. Two of the tuning machines have bent shafts that happened along the way as the guitar got played without worry about stuff happening, and the buttons are still on.
It was my only electric guitar when I started in the ad music biz, and I didn't add another one for a couple of years. Its amp-mate was a '67 Black Panel Bassman head and cab, bought new like the guitar. Just crank the damn thing all the way up, and no distortion pedal needed.
Um...earplugs would have been a good accessory! I got them later on.
It's a mess, but it's a wholesome, earned-its-relic-finish guitar.
