Press conferences were a dime a dozen at last month’s NAMM conference, but one in particular injected a bit more heartfelt emotion than the rest. In the Paul Reed Smith Guitars’ booth, it was obvious that the 28-year old company didn’t just have faithful consumers - it had dedicated disciples.
The impressive panel of guitarists that showed up to support PRS’ 12 new models included everyone from Godsmack’s Tony Rombola to the recently endorsed Mike Mushok of Staind, but there was one individual who stole the show. The legendary Carlos Santana delivered an eloquent and passionate commentary, which indicated just how much of a spiritual experience playing PRS guitars has been for him.
The main feature at the press conference was the introduction to PRS’ new
Santana MD, and it was evident that the namesake felt a strong connection to guitar guru Smith. “
I was very moved by the enthusiasm in his eyes,”
Santana recalled. “
It’s important for me to let you know at this moment, miracles occur or manifest when you have a willingness to change your perception. He changed the perception of Gibson or Stratocaster to Paul Reed Smith.”
When it came to designing the
Santana MD, the man behind such hits as “
Black Magic Woman” had a distinct sound in mind. Interestingly enough, reaching that goal involved finding inspiration from a few competing companies’ guitars. Santana explained, “
I played on a Smokey Robinson CD that’s going to come out in early spring, and as soon as I plugged a Strat straight into the Steel String Singer - there it was. So I said, 'Well, I want to get the Paul Reed guitar to sound like that.”
It wasn’t easy recreating, let alone improving upon an iconic tone. Smith said that Santana returned the MD at least 10 times before getting it right. The end result features a carved maple top, a mahogany neck, a 3-way toggle, and a new feature called Multidimensional Voice Control.
Guitar historian Tom Wheeler explained, “There’s a circuit in there that also shows up in the McCarty II. It’s basically like a little studio mixing circuit. Imagine having a switch where you can just throw and go from a modern sound that sounds like a stack or subwoofers to a Holy Grail, early 60’s classic single coil tone.”
That additional switch on the
MD has aided
Santana in his continuous search for the perfect tone, which he emphasized as being the most important aspect of his playing. While he called
Stevie Ray Vaughn his “
tonal reference point,“ Santana’s past work in so many genres has taught him that the perfect tone will always depend on the situation.
“One thing that a multidimensional person does is that you adapt to the situation and you adjust to the situation,” Santana said. “Like Miles Davis said: 'Don’t play what you hear. Play around what you hear.’ You’re the one who has to internalize. What should you do to complement what’s in front of you?”
“
Multidimensional” was the term of the evening, with
Santana making reference to it several times throughout the course of the press conference. While the title of his upcoming compilation and the “
MD” model get their names from the term, the meaning behind multidimensional went a lot deeper for
Santana.
“You see 5 things in one pond. Most people are not aware that a note should be the same way. Soul, heart, mind, body - and excuse me - cojones. That’s why I called the CD multidimensional. The guitar is like that. It’s like a box of crayons when you come up with a tone. It’s really about altering people’s perceptions about themselves. That’s the goal.”
So is the MD the end-all, be-all of guitars? According to Santana, just about. When asked which of the PRS line was his favorite to play, he actually chose the SE One. “That guitar is unbelievable,” said Santana. “I play it with any amplifier. It’s the guitar that you pick up off the rack and it does what it’s supposed to do. It very clearly expresses what you’re feeling.”
To learn more about the SE One, the Santana MD, and the new PRS models for 2008, visit prsguitars.com.
Article by Amy Kelly
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2008
