Carlos Santana’s longstanding creative partnership with Paul Reed Smith has done much to shape the destiny of PRS Guitars. Over the years, we have honored this pivotal alliance by offering variations of his signature model instrument. The 2011 Santana model again comes standard with a maple top, mahogany back, rosewood fretboard, 24 fret mahogany neck, 24 1/2” scale length, and PRS tremolo. Updates include V12 finish and a Pattern neck.

Finish should enhance the look, sound, and feel of a guitar by accentuating the wood’s inherent beauty and feel without hindering its natural resonance. And PRS Guitars’ new “V12” finish does just that. Introduced at Experience PRS 2010, “V12” is a very thin, hard, and clear finish that will not crack or react with thinners. After roughly 12 years in development, it is halfway between acrylic and nitro but with a classic feel all its own. “PRS models with this new finish feel like old instruments,” said Paul Reed Smith.

Neck shapes have always been a high priority for us and a hallmark of our quality. A guitar should feel comfortable, like “home,” as soon as you pick it up, and the neck is paramount to that connection. Perfected after years of prototyping, the new “Pattern” neck is an updated Wide Fat PRS neck style based on Paul’s pre-factory design. These necks were found on the instruments built for Carlos Santana, Peter Frampton and Howard Leese from the late 70’s to the mid 80’s.

Whether in woodworking, machining, or cast and die work, pattern making is the art of arriving at a perfect standard which can be duplicated or used to create new designs from by “offsetting.” All of our necks came to be as a result of offsetting from this original, Wide Fat design.

Santana Signature Model Specs:

Body
Top Wood: Carved Figured Maple
Back Wood: Mahogany
Finishes: Antique Natural, Autumn Sky, Antique White, Armando's Amethyst, Black, Black Gold Burst, Boyd Burst, Charcoal Burst, Dark Cherry Burst, Fire Red Burst, Gray Black, Gold Top, Jade, Livingston Lemondrop, Makena Blue, McCarty Sunburst, McCarty Tobacco Sunburst, Orange Tiger, Santana Yellow, Trampas Green and Whale Blue
Extras: Inlaid Purfling Strips

Neck
Number of Frets: 24
Scale Length: 24 1/2"
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Fretboard Wood: Bound Rosewood
Neck Shape: Pattern
Fretboard Inlays: Birds
Headstock Inlay: Rosewood Headstock Veneer with Inlaid Eagle

Hardware/Electronics
Bridge: PRS Tremolo
Tuners: PRS Phase III Locking Tuners
Truss Rod Cover: "OM Symbol"
Hardware Type: Nickel
Treble Pickup: Santana Treble
Bass Pickup: Santana Bass
Pickup Switching: Volume and Tone Control with 3-Way Toggle Pickup Selector

Options (call for pricing)
Top Option: 10 Top Flame
Hardware Option: Gold
Finish Option: Special Order Finish