Carlos Santana was the sound that rocked the world. No one's guitar sound has effected the music world like he did except Jimi and his Marshalls. Brad Gillis was the MKII ambassador of the early 80's. Other players played boogies but didn't exploit the gain (ie. Keith Richards, Larry Carlton, Gerry Garcia, etc.) like these guys did. I actually never cared for Santana and was more into guys like Blackmore. But for years no one touched the unique sound Santana had.
Younger guys have no idea how shockingly different Carlos Santana was when he came out playing this modded fender. Guys were scrambling in shock trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
I've listened to Metalica and I remember a guy who worked for me back in the 80's telling me how good this guitarist in the band was... I listened to it and asked him if he'd ever heard Alan Holdsworth play?
For different generations there are different heros... but your boys would never have heard a Mesa to even know what one was if it were not for Carlos.
Santana is the ONLY reason Randall Smith and Mesa became huge... He took a nobody to the world when Fender, Vox, and Marshall amps were the ONLY amps most stores would sell. In fact back then you could only order a Boogie by mail.
in my opinion, Carlos is the foundering mesa player because he gave Mesa a coat tail to ride. And Mesa made Carlos bigger than life for years because they gave him a unique sound no one else could. They took each other to the world when no one else could or would... One of those lightning strike moments in history.
