hahaha. He has to say his own name in his songs so people will think he's relevant to the guitar scene. Maybe 20 years ago....maybe.

Totally past it. Hasnot changed his style since 1969.

*UPDATE* Ya know, I'm going to eat some major crow here and up the score on this guy for his great tone. Sorry to be so hard on you earlier, Carlos!

best soul guitarrist ever! a god of swing..

great

Listen to 'Europa' and 'Jingo' for starters!

An all-round great guitarist. A master of acoustic and electric guitars and many styles.

The one and only.

I can't believe Carlos Santana is so lowly rated.

A master of the acoustic guitar and an inspiration for so many guitarists that have followed.

All u people who are talking sh** about carlos santana need to shut the f*** up!! all u b**** deserve to get slapped!!! wut the f*** is wrong with u?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! he is one of best guitarest in the world!! mark my words!!! and a Guitar can't play it's self it takes talent which a lot of u losers dont have so if ur gonna have the nerve 2 sit here n run ur f***in mouths then i wanna c u make it bigger than santana!!

cool vibe but even though out much earlier,he is still a dim light in dimeolas shadow

Pretty good player, but if I hear "Oye como va" or "smooth" or "black magic woman" one more time I am going to hurl! Way overplayed!

Carlos is starting to lose it completely. Maybe he has dementia. Like the Rolling Stones, he should hang up his instrument and retire gracefully before he becomes a total clown.

Santana rocks. I am a long time fan of his music.

Carlos Santana is one of the greatest classic rock guitarists of all time bar none.

Gad! have you people even listened to him? He is another way-overrated player. What is so great about this guy? The only thing great about him is his guitar.

Has evolved into a terminal fart

Technically good - maybe even great. But if the music isn't your favorite then the point is moot. (Geez, thanks for sharing Ashleys...I think that falls under the heading of TMI.)

After Hendrix, he is simply the best. I dont know why he isnt at the top 3. He plays better than Clapton, Knopfler and all those guys. It's just because he isn't american and because he has a very diferent style, but no one have done better than him in over 30 years!!! Just listen to songs like Samba Pati, Black Magic woman, Smooth, Corazon espinado, Maria Maria and you will see what he can do with his guitar. Simply a pure guitar god!!!

not bad

can't compare him as a guitar god SANTANA CAN KISS MY ***

I don't care for the awful MOR hits he's had since the mid 70's at all, but his early stuff is astonishing, revolutionary, and quite different from virtually all of his contemporaries. Moby Grape's Jerry Miller, the Airplane's Jorma Kaukonen, Steve Miller, Jerry Garcia, and others were fine players, I like their work and respect their ability greatly, but out of all the 60's San Francisco scene guitarists, Santana, at his best, trumps them all.

An unmistakable style with the ability to send shivers up the listener's spine with his controlled sustain and the fury that is later unleashed. For his early work with the Santana Blues Band, he deserves 5 out of 5 stars and a place at the top via his blistering version of his own "Soul Sacrifice" played by the young Santana at Woodstock. A true gentleman with the soul of a musical poet. It is only for his latest 'bum of the month club' collaborations that has me turning his rating down a notch. Stay pure Carlos. There is no need for you to prostitute yourself so shamelessly.

class. and was awesome on guitar...im not into pure solo stuff with a few exceptions but this guy is somethin special

(On this list)I vote for Carlos Santana

Probably 4 1/2 stars. On the plus side he's a master of the long sustain and feel and also has a very recognisable tone. A slight niggle I have is that he's not as ecelectic as players like Eric Johnson and Danny Gatton

Absolute master of the SUSTAIN...check out early recordings...any live version of Jingo.

Santana is a good guitarist not the best though. If you are one of the idiots who believes he is the fastest guitarist then check out yngwie malmsteen. Not only is he faster than santana, but his speed is untouchable. Santana has the spanish guitar but not the fastest.

Has good tone but too much of the Am scale

amazing

he's not the BEST but i love his style

definitely overrated,He needs to take some creative lessons from Vai.

The man is insane when you listen to him talk - like he's on another planet - but when he starts picking that guitar, it is just pure magic.

Irishboy, how could he POSSIBLY be underrated. In my opinion he's overrated, he was good in his glory days, but last few times i saw him live, he was amazingly sloppy on his technique.

Carlos Santans is a stunning guitarist.He plays a very wide variety of styles.Too bad he's been recording commercial garbage with flavor of the week pop groups recently...What a WASTE!!!

he is underated as a guitarest

overrated!