Empire Guitars 1996 Paul Reed Smith Santana 1

Summary: Carlos Santana had been on a life-long quest to find the “perfect” tone. Simultaneously, guitar maker Paul Reed Smith had the ambition of making a guitar for his hero: Carlos Santana. Luckily, the two met, and guitar history was made. Although he loved the guitar, Santana cautiously termed it “an accident of God”. There were several things that made this PRS guitar a good fit for Carlos, including the reachable high notes, as it allows a full four octaves without bending any notes and they are all easily accessible. In addition, by using Mahogany for the body, Paul Reed Smith provided the enduring sustain and thick, woody tone that was so critical to Santana’s style. This is truly an amazing instrument that almost plays itself.

Body: Solid Mahogany with a book matched flamed Maple top.

Neck: Mahogany with a Rosewood fingerboard, 24 frets, Abalone Bird inlays, 24.75” scale length, 1 5/8” nut width.

Pickups/Hardware: Two original PRS Santana humbuckers, Schaller locking tuning keys, PRS tremolo system, master volume/master tone controls/two mini switches (both switches down: treble pickup/both switches up: bass pickup/forward switch down, back switch up: both pickups/forward up, back down: standby).

Cosmetics: This guitar is in excellent condition with very littles signs of use. There is a tiny little scuff on the back of the body (See Photos Please) and a couple very small dents on the top of the body that was hard to photograph. The frets are in great shape and the back of the neck is clean. This guitar is in great shape for a guitar that is almost 30 years old.

Playability: Our in-house guitar tech has inspected, setup, and restrung this guitar with a new set of 10’s. The neck is straight, the truss rod is fully functional, and the action has been setup low and comfortable. The frets are in great shape with no major grooves or divots from use and it plays beautifully up and down the fretboard with no dead spots or choking out.

Weight: 8.585 lbs.

Case: This guitar ships in the original hardshell case, professionally packaged, and fully insured.