Carlos Santana tone in Zebop

[igfraso]

I am a big fan of Carlos' tone and this is the reason why I bought my first Boogie back in 1985.

I really like his tone in "The Sensitive Kind", in his Zebop album. The album was released in April 1981 so he was surely using his Mark I.
I have a '77 Mark I and a PRS Santana I (the yellow one) and I am trying to mimic that elusive tone but cannot quite nail it. Of course I am aware that, at that time, Carlos was probably using the Yamaha SG2000 or the Gibson L6S instead of the PRS.

Does anybody know if there were any special settings on the amp or a distinct pedal he was using at the time to get that sound?
Thank you all for keeping alive this wonderful forum.

 

[sduck]

Who knows what kind of studio magic was employed. I think that equipment-wise you've gotten as close as you need to get - the rest of the way is from your fingers and your heart.

 

[RR]

Yeah, I think he was using the Yamaha SG2000. I think his Gibson L6S was much earlier.

I saw him in concert about the Zebop era and he was using a pair of Mark I ( or was it II), combo each with 1-12 extension. I think his speakers were Altecs at the time.

I read his setting on Mark I are all three volume on "7". This is loud but you have to push the power stage tubes too.

 

[kdorsey]

...I read his setting on Mark I are all three volume on "7". This is loud but you have to push the power stage tubes too.

That's the key. Pushing the channel to clip will require enduring the SPL, so consider adding more speakers to the equation. A 2x12 or 4x12 will spread that power out and keep one driver from becoming ice-picky or overly ragged. And if you have EVs, that effect is really unpleasant, to me. Lower wattage speakers in a bigger cab make the difference for me. Like WGS ET-65s in a vert 2x12 cab. Break up is earlier, controlled and not such an aural assault.