"For the most part Carlos' set up has stayed the same" says Rene Martinez, who along with Ed Adair, watches after Santan's tonal arsenal. "His main guitar is a stock, green PRS Santana model which he has used consistently for the past year. From his guitar, the signal goes to a switcher box that allows Carlos to choose between Two Dunble Overdrive Reverbs and a mid-70's Mesa/Boogie Mark I head. The Boogie and one Dumble are dialed in with a fair amount of overdrive for sustain, whereas I try to dial in the other Dumble for a cleaner tone. All of the amplifiers are ready to go when Carlos steps onstage, and it's up to him to decide what he wants to hear. Sometimes, he'll use all three amps at once. The only effects Carlos uses are a Dunlap 5350 wah and a T-Rex Replica delay pedal. As for speaker cabs, the Mesa/Boogie Mark I runs into a 1x12 cabinet loaded with a JBL E120 outfitted with a Hempcone for it's slightly mellower tone and added durability. The first Dumble Overdrive Special powers two Marshall 4x12 slant cabinets with Celestion V30's and Celestion G12M-65's. The second Dumble drives an A Brown Soun 4x12 open back cabinet loaded with Tone Tubby 12" Alnico Hempcone Speakers.

"Carlos records with this exact stage setup," says Adair, who assisted Santana at Berkeley's Fantasy Studios while the guitarist was recording his two new records.