PRS have had a pretty long run with Carlos Santana and it’s a relationship that has produced some nice guitars. Here’s the latest.

The Abraxas or, to give it its proper name, the Carlos Santana SE One Abraxas is, in PRS’ words ‘in celebration of Santana’s long history with PRS’.

It’s a guitar that harkens nicely back to the Les Paul Junior models.  A fixed, wraparound, stoptail and a single P90-style pickup in a nice, single-cut piece of mahogany is a recipe that promises sweet tone.

The hardware is nickel and it’s got a nice tortie pickguard over a ‘whitewashed’ body.  This whitewash is a partially translucent, white finish – you can see some of the wood-grain through it in a similar way to Fender’s blonde finishes.  It’s a lovely effect and, to my mind, that makes it all the more annoying that they’ve slapped on the big graphic of the bongo-riding, winged-lady from Santana’s Abraxas album.  I also take issue with the peace-sign inlay at the 12th fret.  Personally, I think these will alienate more people than the attract but, I admit that I could well be wrong on that – the Santana connection could prove to be a sufficient draw.

Like I say, I think it’s a beautiful guitar, marred slightly by being overly showy.  Personally, I’d just go for a regular old SE One which is, unfortunately not available in this, fetching, whitewash finish.

Dagnabbit!