weird question (just asking for a friend)

 but...hey, you guitar players and mixers

suppose... i am trying to mix a guitar playing friend...who plays all these very relaxed, but rather ssstreched..., mellow guitar solo's all over the song, and it is his own song even
you know the type... @Leonard Scaper @GTB @Jurgen and @allyouguitarplayers

what effects to choose...
what things can one do..in the mix... @budhabuilding and @allyoumixers&producers

to make the electric guitar sound like ....Carlos Santana 

...i mean i want to keep it very..present... but in a smooth way

Serious question  , dont laugh 

any tips on that?

(oh and.. i am just asking for a friend  )

HI @Dutchbeat,

I would start with Guitarrig from NI (native instruments)

Check Carlos Santana setup ...



try to get the same stomp box functions 

Here's 3 honest answers for getting particular guitar sounds:

1: Look up the player (& song) you like the sound of and often you will find how they set up their guitar, amps & rig explained on the internet. To avoid buying all the same gear they use, look for hints to get a similar sound from common effects (tbh you don't need that many).  For live work (mostly pubs for me) I don't think there's a big difference between one pedal and another of the same type (e.g. two echo pedals will probably be capable of giving the same sound live). For studio recording you might get more picky.

2: Try to understand the basic sound you are seeking (e.g. high gain with valve feedback & some reverb, or clean with a little chorus etc) and experiment to find your own version of the sound with your own gear to fit your song.  I often discover my own sounds this way which fit just as well.

3: What most guitarists do... switch everything on and fiddle blindly while rocking out.  When the sound doesn't 100% meet your expectations buy more pedals and go round again - it's called GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) & I'm definitely guilty of this!

good luck
G

Trying to sound like Uncle Carlos huh?
Beautiful and simple thought, but devillish difficult to answer.

Carlos from what period? @Dutchbeat
In the beginning Gibson SG with P90's. Straight and simple.
Into Marshall amp and double speaker cabinets load enough to pierce your eardrums.
After that he sold his soul to Yamaha, but he had (or so rumour has it) the pups modded. Not bright enough compressed humbucker sounds was not to C's liking. Since he loved the needle more that his strings, it's anybody's guess what happened after that.

I would go with GTB's suggestion. Use your perfect ears. Untill you fall in love with the sound.....

Kind regards, Gus

Guitar is my third instrument so I don't consider myself a guitarist know-it-all. I have experimented with a lot of hardware and guitar software. I have been guilty of  plugging in a guitar and  just playing with knobs and software sims to get a sound I want. Going for a specific sound like the one you mentioned seems more difficult because I don't think pro guitarists always tell us everything they do. You could try to copy their setup as someone else mentioned and probably get pretty close.

When I use software sims I usually use IK Multimedia's Amplitube for that. It has lots of amps and pedals in it. They sell individual artist sound packs. I have Amplitube  Jimi Hendrix and a few others. Those are set to sound like that artist. I don't believe they have a  Carlo's pack though.

I think at least some of the responsibility for the sound should rest on the guitarist. Any guitarist who is serious has their own rig. I understand that it is easier to go in clean and add sounds later from a mixers view. If you record something they added it can't be changed.

@Dutchbeat
If I ask on behalf of a girlfriend, I get an answer.
If I ask for a girlfriend, I get to sleep on the couch for a week.

Just now I listened to the guy with the supposedly Carlos rig. And what I expected also came true.
I have a nighthawk and no way can I get Carlos sounds out of that.
A small humbucker (think Johnny Winter)
A single coil (hot) stratish pup (think Hendricks)
And a slanted humbucker (compressed and not enough sparkle for Carlos sounds)
So the outcome is not really a surprise to me. Sorry @budhabuilding !

Unless you use very fanatic modeling you’re not coming near Carlos.

Why not let the friend sound like himself? Or is this blasphemy?
An extra talk to a friend is never a bad idea, is it?
Kind regards, Gus

I have always liked Carlos' sound. I sometimes find myself in that neighborhood when I am in front of a couple of small tube amps that are driven to just before real distortions.

With Carlos, as with many guitar greats, it is all in the fingers. I bet if you gave him a Fender Mustang plugged into a 15 watt little Randall practice amp....he'd STILL sound like Carlos Santana.

I am really afraid this veered more and more off topic.
But nevertheless, I can only partially agree with you.

It’s in the fingers (plus all the other ‘build’ of the person playing) where musicality, phrasing, storytelling is under scrutiny.
But:
A guitar with HiLo’s (pick ups - primitive Gretsch) was involved in an accident with a motor. The motorist was better off than the guitar. And in the end the Hilo’s were mine. For almost 50 years they were screwed into and out of I don’t know how many guitars. Including a Yamaha tele clone cheapo cheapo.
And I can let you hear recordings I made with that combi . And you will swear on the head of your favorite guitar that what you hear is a Gretsch.

So the character or personality if you will, is in the fingers. The exact sound is in the pick ups. As long as it’s a plank of course. And the Carlos I was with on stage in 1970 (and I was not playing) was a plank.

And I know that I must be very very right before I can be stubborn.
That’s why (back on topic again) if someone want to sound technically like Carlos, it matters very much which Carlos, which period or album he is aiming at.
Kind regards, Gus

@Dutchbeat  @Leonard Scaper  @budhabuilding

@LePlongeur yep i have to agree 

My thoughts on the matter is just be yourself re guitar tone and style.

I'm not keen on doing covers for the same reason.

Write your own songs in your own style, sing /play and record them ... >>> repeat

It's what we songwriters do