Solo Tone

Black Magic Woman

Santana

Guitarrock1970s

Original Gear

GuitarGibson SG Special (1968, stock P-90s, cherry finish)

AmpFender Princeton Reverb (blackface, modded for higher gain, mic'd in studio)

PickupsGibson P-90 single coil

Amp Settings

gain6

bass6.5

mid7

treble6

reverb4.5

presence6

Effects & Signal Chain

No effects used for this tone

Notes

Studio recording, 1970, Abraxas album. Santana used his late-60s Gibson SG Special with P-90 pickups into a blackface Fender Princeton Reverb, often modded for more gain. No evidence of Mesa/Boogie on this track; that came later. No evidence of live/touring PRS or Yamaha guitars for this era/recording.

Tone Character(10)

singing sustainwarm and smoothviolin-like leadrich midrangetouch-sensitivefluid and expressivemellow attackslightly overdrivenlong held notescontrolled feedback

Difficulty

The solo requires intermediate to advanced phrasing, expressive vibrato, and control of sustain and feedback, but does not involve extreme speed or complex technical passages.

Sources

Decoding Carlos Santana's supernatural soloing style - Guitar World Carlos Santana: “Feedback Is Good for You” - Premier Guitar

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