OK. I have a NICE Gibson SG (deluxe! with HUMBUCKERS!) and I bought a cheap transistor practice amp, which is driving me NUTs. I have a Santana Music book with "Black Magic Woman" and "Samba Pa" and others. Vintage Santana. I would LIKE to get a TUBE amp that will make me sound like Santana! (well, OK, I can always dream). Anyway, you get the idea.

Any other suggestions on what to do to give my setup the Santana sound would be appreciated. Keep in mind, this is a PRACTICE environment. They say Santana used a Mesa Boogie, which would probably have to be turned UP so loud it would make me deaf.

I guess I need a rythmn and a lead channel.
I dunno, is there a solution? A Mesa Boogie Mark I and stomp box? LIke I say, I don't know.

Thx in advance. I love playing the guitar.

Mesa Mk 1.

There's also couple of Mesa amps that have a Mk 1 voice in them (my amp has one and it is a seriously FAT sound).

Also, if you got something like a THD Hotplate, you'd be able to drive that amp really hard at less than earbleed levels.

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R. Mutt

Guitar -> Wah -> Amp -> Cab

yeah... my friend has a jcm 800 and thats all, he uses it everywhere.... the way they work is that you put them inbetween the cord from the output from the amp (where the tubes are driven) to the speaker (where the sound comes out!) so if you turn up the volume the tubes are still driven at the selected volume, but then you adjust the volume on the hotplate and that reduces the signal to the speakers... that way the tubes are still driving but speakers aren't... that's been one of my most helpful "effects"

OK. I have a NICE Gibson SG (deluxe! with HUMBUCKERS!)

As opposed to a nice gibson SG with humbuckers?

jk, nice man

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CURRENT RIG::
Fender Telecaster (A#D#G#C#F#A#)
Frankenstrat w/ EMGs (DGCFAD)

digitech whammy WH4
Digitech XDD digidelay
Boss Tr-2 tremolo
Boss DS-1
Dunlop Crybaby wah

Crate GFX 30 (Must...trash...)

::Need::
Peavey Triple XXX w/ hotplate

try one of the mesa f-series amps

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Guitar.Cable.Amp.

Santana knows how to work his axes too... use the bridge and the neck pickup for different tones.

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Proud user of Godin, Gretsch, Lace Sensor and Hughes and Kettner.

Check out the geek rig diagram!

You can't dust for vomit.

get yourself a Mark 1, with a tubescreamer, now ur kickin ass!

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The world disgusts me.

You won't be able to get practice-amp sound levels out of a Mark I. See if you can't find a Studio 22 or a Subway Rocket Reverb. They go for $400-ish and will come close to the trademark sizzle sound. The point of these amps is the overdrive structure of the preamp - 3 12AX7 tubes, the last of which can be clobbered into major overdrive.

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Axes: Fender Custom Shop Strat (Fred) / MIJ Strat (Fralin '54s) / MIJ Tele / Dillion LP (Fralins) / Dot (SD Ants) / PRS: McCarty Brazilian / Custom 22 Rosewood Artist / Archtop II
Rig: -> 535Q wah -> DOD FX56/ProCo RAT -> E13 TBD -> loop { Digitech RDS 3.6, phase inverted { dry -> 3-knob EHX Bad Stone -> ADA Rocket 20}} ->
Mesa Maverick, or GarageBand.
* BC Rich ST3 (SD Custom) -> Boogie Mark IIC+; 2 1x12 EV 12S's
I gave the Maverick to nyrkickazz1, and man, I miss that amp. IT SURVIVED! I have it back now.

Other stuff: a Ric 360/12 in baby blue; an '83 MIJ Squier P-bass; a Martin HD-28V; and now I have a Mesa Mark IV long head too.
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"Arise, goddess; invest thyself in these, thy shining raiment, and ensconced in Phaeton's chariot float your starréd way to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario."

What's the difference between the Studio 22, the Subway Rocket, and your Maverick? I can't remember which one it was I tried, but it was damn nice.

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-Martin
A Man, A Plan, A Canal featuring my equipment and songs

Fender Jazzmaster/Univox Rickenbacker 360-12 copy/reissue Danelectro U2 -> Zoom Ultra Fuzz, Boss TU-2, Ibanez DE-7, Digitech PDS 2000, Boss DD-20 -> Fender Ultimate Stereo Chorus/Gibson Discoverer

Got a real decent classic Santana tone the other night with my Les Paul through my Peavey Classic 30 at low volume. Pre-amp on 7, reverb on 4, neck pickup. It was pretty inspiring, played along with "Greatest Hits" till past midnight.

The Peavey C-30 could be a low-cost tube amp option for you, add a Tube Screamer if you want a little more sustain for newer Santana tones. Not as authentic as using a Mesa, but $$$ less.

By the way, Santana played "Samba Pa Ti" on a Strat. Listen closely, he switches to the snarky tone for just one phrase. How cool.

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"It's never too late to be who you might have been."

George Eliot

English novelist (1819 - 1880)

Use your neck pickup for that fat lead sound. Get a Mark I or II or something that you play that will get you a fat, smooth, even tone. Not too bassy or high. Plenty of mids i'm sure.

Im sure a Mark series mesa of any sort would do you well.

Or probably the Mesa Lonestar amp, maybe even the roadking.

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-Trent-

Gear:
Jackson DKMGT (Sh-5-Bridge/A2P-Neck)
Mesa Boogie Rect-O-Verb Combo
Boss Ge-7

Amp Clips and Songs: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/7/trentcarlmusic.htm

You would want a MuTron Wah too. He has it on all the time. From heel back it's all bassy and smooth, to toe down which is very articulate and has a lot of headroom.
That's part of the Santanna sound. Also pick up a Mesa. Especially my beloved F-series. Those are some of the best amps ever. The distortion on my F-30 is tangy responsive. And the clean....oh the clean....that's a clean channel to die for.
PICK ONE UP!!!!!!!!

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Sam
Rig, Artwork, Life shots. Updated 8/18/05.
My Gear Thread, Feel free to post.
Proud member of the Mesa family.

The only thing with the Mesa is that Santana says he will spend hours trying to get his sound out of that thing so don't expect it to be plug and play. Now he uses a Dumble head with a 4x12 cab loaded with Tone Tubby hemp speakers. You probably won't get a Dumble but I just thought I'd let you know exactly what it would take. Good luck.

ps, an EQ (maybe Sniper-mod) may be a great help instead of a vintage Mu-Tron.

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New Rig Pics!
Rig Thread-
http://guitargeek.com/chat/showthrea...threadid=92114

What's wah headroom? Anyway, aren't those things in the $300+ range?

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-Martin
A Man, A Plan, A Canal featuring my equipment and songs

Fender Jazzmaster/Univox Rickenbacker 360-12 copy/reissue Danelectro U2 -> Zoom Ultra Fuzz, Boss TU-2, Ibanez DE-7, Digitech PDS 2000, Boss DD-20 -> Fender Ultimate Stereo Chorus/Gibson Discoverer

Studio 22 is 22 watts, EL-84 based class A/B, made during late 80's. Subway Rocket is 20 watts, also EL-84 based, class A/B, made during 90's. These both were 1x12 cabs (Celestion or EV blackshadow speaker). They could get serious gain and were based on that old Princeton circuit that cranked through the 12AX7's and drove 'em to death. They also had the Boogie 5-band EQ (post-preamp, pre-poweramp) as an option, in addition to the usual tone stack.

My Mav is a 2x12, 4 EL-84s in class A, with two separate 12AX7-based gain stages, neither one the typical Boogie high-gain setup. And it has a pair of Vintage 30 speakers. Totally different animal.

For a very brief while Mesa made a 1x12 Maverick, but I couldn't find one when I was looking - I'd probably have bought it instead. The 2x12 Maverick weighs 98 POUNDS.

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Axes: Fender Custom Shop Strat (Fred) / MIJ Strat (Fralin '54s) / MIJ Tele / Dillion LP (Fralins) / Dot (SD Ants) / PRS: McCarty Brazilian / Custom 22 Rosewood Artist / Archtop II
Rig: -> 535Q wah -> DOD FX56/ProCo RAT -> E13 TBD -> loop { Digitech RDS 3.6, phase inverted { dry -> 3-knob EHX Bad Stone -> ADA Rocket 20}} ->
Mesa Maverick, or GarageBand.
* BC Rich ST3 (SD Custom) -> Boogie Mark IIC+; 2 1x12 EV 12S's
I gave the Maverick to nyrkickazz1, and man, I miss that amp. IT SURVIVED! I have it back now.

Other stuff: a Ric 360/12 in baby blue; an '83 MIJ Squier P-bass; a Martin HD-28V; and now I have a Mesa Mark IV long head too.
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"Arise, goddess; invest thyself in these, thy shining raiment, and ensconced in Phaeton's chariot float your starréd way to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario."