By the late '70s,
Carlos Santana had met
Paul Reed Smith and begun using one of the original PRS guitars. It wasn't until about 20 years later, however, that the two teamed up to design, build and sell the PRS Santana model guitars.
Why did it take so long? One reason may have been that Carlos had no way of knowing that he'd be playing these guitars for over four decades, with no end in sight. Also, once he and Paul Reed Smith had made the decision to create a signature Santana model, it could have taken a
very long time to lock in all the specs..
High-profile artists are generally very careful when attaching their names to products, and their exacting wishes must be balanced with instruments that can be reasonably built and afforded by other players.
However the process began, it culminated in the mid '90s, with the guitar originally called simply the
Paul Reed Smith Santana Signature guitar. Eventually, in order to distinguish it from later models, it became known as the
PRS Santana I model.
Santana I (1995 - 1998)
Santana II (1999 - 2007)
Santana III (2000 - 2008)
Santana MD (2008 - 2009)
25th Anniversary Santana (2009 - 2010) (2010 - ???)
Santana SE (2001 - 2002)
Santana SE II (2002 - 2007)
Carlos Santana SE One Abraxas (2009 - 2010)
(note: the SE One was modified for a SE anniversary Santana edition)
SE Santana (2011 - ???)
Santana MD Model
I want one ..
colors = Black Cherry, Black Sunburst, Blue Matteo, Cherry Sunburst, Gray Black, McCarty Sunburst, McCarty Tobacco Sunburst, Natural, Orange, Santana Yellow, Tortoise Shell, Vintage Natural, Whale Blue
(note; MD stands for "multi dimensional" circuitry)
25th Anniversary Santana
colors = Angry Larry, Charcoal Burst, Fire Red Burst, Matteo Mist, Santana Yellow, Sapphire Smokeburst, Smokeburst, Smoked Amber, Smoked Black Slate
I think Santana 1st started playing a PRS after he started playing with John McLaughlin (who played one, and still does at the age of 76) ..
