Much about an artists style can be learned by the music they listen to. Santana's heroes are people like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye. The Blues and Jazz are huge influences. As are the Mexican sounds of Tijuana, and the Mission District in San Francisco, where Carlos grew up. He is also a master of the sounds that come from the electric guitar.
Musicians get very different sounds from what is basically the same instrument.
Santana plays guitars built by Paul Reed Smith. While the sound of electric guitars vary from the raucous hard metal sounds of the Chili Peppers, to rock sounds by Sheryl Crow or the blues of BB King and his guitar Lucille, the function of how the guitar works is simple. Good Vibrations Guitars work by vibrations. To produce sounds on an acoustic guitar, a musician strikes the strings and makes them vibrate. The energy of the vibrations is transferred to the body of the instrument.