Santana model comparison, and new guy here saying hello

[okstrat]

Long time PRS guy here, currently have a dozen or so Cores. Love short scale instruments so bought a Santana SE for grins just to check out the scale length and general tone and shape/feel.

Gigged it and it killed. Absolutely punches way above it's weight class for sure. Tried out a 25th Anniversary Santana at a local GC - for the price ($3200) it had a lot more wear than I wanted, but played and sounded amazing. So I regretfully passed on it. Was wormed pretty badly on the back, some of my PRS are as worn or worse, but *I* did the wear.

So I see there is a Santana I, II, III, MD, anniversary, and retro. I'd like to keep my investment amount tamped down to $4k or less (under 3k preferably), I've found some decent deals on IIIs but the lack of neck binding and the body inlays bug me a bit. Also read the III has a slightly rounder radius fingerboard. The anniversary looks awesome, but I'm not a fan of hollow birds. I know it's a minor thing, but when you spend this much for something...

For you guys who have more than one USA Santana, I'd love to hear the differences you've found, and if you have a favorite which model it is.

 

[SinSir]

Wise choice. Here's a helpful chart

PRS Santana Guitars: Specifications Chart | Ultimate Santana

Specifications and comparison chart of the Paul Reed Smith (PRS) Santana signature guitar line

www.ultimatesantana.com

 

[Greywolf]

That site is missing the Westie and KL33 too ... silly people

I'm blessed to have 2 . A cherry Westie and a PS Semi Hollow Retro rosewood neck made for the head of HR for PRS.
Both are spectacular , I prefer rosewood necks for the feel and tone.

The I,II,KL33 ,and Retro are the more preferred models , I'm sure Sergio can give his esteemed perspective.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Wise choice. Here's a helpful chart

PRS Santana Guitars: Specifications Chart | Ultimate Santana

Specifications and comparison chart of the Paul Reed Smith (PRS) Santana signature guitar line

www.ultimatesantana.com

Interesting that the Retro is not in their list! There is a "contact the webmaster" if you see corrections needed or additions, so I sent them a note to add that one in ;~)) Nice comparison table though, thanks for linking that!!!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I think perhaps the best value is the Santana “Signature” model that ran from about 2014-whenever the Retro came out.

They feel a little more “svelte” than the I,II,& III (lighter likely because of the advances in PRS’s wood drying process) and felt like a continuation of the concept of the III to make Santanas more of a production run, but came with all the purfling and a more generic version of the headstock eagle.

 

[okstrat]

Wise choice. Here's a helpful chart

PRS Santana Guitars: Specifications Chart | Ultimate Santana

Specifications and comparison chart of the Paul Reed Smith (PRS) Santana signature guitar line

www.ultimatesantana.com

Thank you, that's a fantastic resource.