PRS Santana Retro Orange

Carlos Santana bought a guitar from Paul Reed Smith back in the days when the manufacturer toured local gigs with its first models and offered prototypes to musicians and their sidemen to try out. What the company's instruments would have looked like had these two guitar greats never met, we can only guess today. What is certain, however, is that PRS can largely thank this phenomenal guitarist for the success of its guitars.

The Santana Retro Orange Signature model follows in its specifications the very first, non-production guitars of the early 1980s, from which it takes the deeper body cut, the original neck foot shape, headstock design and zero fret placement. The ergonomically shaped mahogany body of the guitar is adorned with a carved figured maple top. A rosewood fingerboard with twenty-four frets is glued to the one-piece mahogany neck with a custom "Santana Retro" profile. Orientation on the fingerboard is facilitated by the trademark PRS position markers in the form of mother-of-pearl bird silhouettes.

Two "vintage-voiced" Santana signature humbuckers give the guitar a warm, clean tone that you'll appreciate in a wide range of musical styles. The character of the sound can be adjusted using the volume knobs, tone shutter and three-position toggle switch. Stable tuning is guaranteed by the Phase III Locking tuning machines with a mechanism that prevents unwanted string movement. Also worth mentioning is the elaborate Gen III tremolo system. All the grooves and screw holes are shaped to ensure maximum contact between the individual components, or the optimum string break angle, so that even the finest vibrations are transmitted to the body. The stones are fixed against sideways movement, and the exact position of the vibrato lever can be adjusted with a built-in screw.

The luxurious workmanship is accentuated by the mother-of-pearl inlay on the headstock (Eagle) and the top pickguard. The guitar comes in a hardshell case.

The PRS Core series brings together American-made instruments. So you can expect exceptional quality, craftsmanship down to the smallest detail, and generally some of the most exciting guitars available in the field of new instruments today.