Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler is well-known for using the Soldano SLO 100 100-Watt Tube Guitar Amplifier, especially in live performances. In a performance featured on Max Jansson's YouTube video, "Mark Knopfler - What it is - Parkinson - BBC," he is seen using this amplifier. Notably, his use of the SLO 100 reportedly influenced Eric Clapton to adopt it as well.

The speculation that Mark Knopfler used the Marshall JTM45 in the studio has spread to many forums across the web, but validation is difficult to prove. The Mark Knopfler Guitar Site article Mark Knopfler’s JTM 45 Marshall amp of Money for Nothing and Brothers in Arms presents an image of the JTM45 amp and cab assumed to be the same used on recording of both albums as referenced in Producer Guy "Dr. Fletch" Fletchers recording diaries with the photo.

Unfortunately, the diary entry from Dr. Flecth currently presents a 404 error.

At :48s in this video, you can just make out an Imperial Tone King center stage.

At 0:51 in this 2010 video for "Hill Farmer's Blues," Mark Knopfler can be seen using a Reinhardt The Storm 33 amplifier.

Mark Knopfler started to play Music Man amps around September 1978. These amps were used for all live gigs from then on until the end of the Making Movies On Location tour in 1981. The Music Man amp was used on some studio recordings from this era, probably also on Making Movies, but it was most likely not used on the first album, and neither on Communiqué (here amps borrowed by Robert Palmer, probably Fenders, were used).

it has now been made official mark knopfler is using kemper on his live dates.

Mark Knopfler is seen using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, likely a Deluxe I or II, in a screenshot from a 2007 AVO Sessions show in Basel. The amplifier in the photo features a knob panel, distinguishing it from a 112 HRD cab, and lacks the narrower nameplate characteristic of the Deluxe III model.

Mark Knopfler has described the Crate VC 5212 as an essential component of his recording setup, highlighting its regular use in creating records. This insight is supported by a user-uploaded photo on Equipboard.

This amp was a Fender Vibrolux from the early 60’s from the brown-tolex era. Fender called this model 6G11 for first revision, or 6G11-A for the second revision. The brown Vibrolux is a really wonderful amp with about 30 watts from two 6L6 tubesit has enough power to be played in a band with drums and bass. It has one 12” speaker an Oxford 12L6 or 12M6 and a tremolo effects.

Mark played this amp live in 1977 and early in 1978, there is only a limited number of live pictures from 1977 and most do not show any amps. We have the following sources from this period that mention the Vibrolux. First Knopfler himself said in a an interview that “Sultans of Swing” was first written in open tuning on a National steel guitar, but it was totally changed when he got his Strat and played it through the Vibrolux.

Source: https://direstraitsblog.com/blog/

2-weeks into the 2019 Local Hero tour, longtime Mark Knopfler producer Guy "Dr. Fletch" Fletcher confirmed the use of Kemper Profiler amps in his 13th May 2019 - Cologne diary entry.

Mark’s long-serving guitar tech, Glenn Saggers along with Mark (when he wasn’t in Edinburgh with me preparing the Local Hero musical) has devoted much of his time in the past 6 months to recreating Mark’s unique sounds has done an amazing job. This switch from ‘real’ amps to digital devices is not for the feint-hearted and it wasn’t without its doubters.

The diary entry included an image of 2 rackmounted Kemper Profiler PowerRack 600-Watt Profiling Amps.

In a July, '79 interview with Guitar Player magazine, Mark Knopfler mentions playing through a Selmer Thunderbird Twin 30 with his early band, the Cafe Racers:

It was great doing that," he recalls. We just played pubs in London. I was using my Hofner and Gibson, and I bad a 30-watt Selmer Thunderbird amplifier. It had a little green light that stared out at you like an eye. And I didn't use any effects; it was just straight in, no messing about. The group was just guitar, bass, drums, and a singer.

Guitar Player Interviews: Mark Knopfler, Innovative Leader Of Dire Straits

Mark Knopfler has used various amplifiers throughout his career, as detailed in Guitar.com’s Guitar Legends series. Notably, the Mesa/Boogie Mark III Guitar Combo 1x12 is part of his gear roster, alongside other amps like the Fender Vibrolux and Fender Twin Reverb from his early albums. The article mentions his transition to a Mesa/Boogie MkIIB around 1982, highlighting his evolving amp preferences. Additionally, a Mesa/Boogie Mark II, believed to be part of Dire Straits’ touring rig, was found on Reverb, offering further insight into his equipment choices.

Mark Knopfler owns and uses a Divided by 13 SJT 10/20 amplifier, as listed on the Divided by 13 Amplification's clients page. However, he rarely uses it live due to commitments and endorsements with other companies.

In this, you can see Mark Knopfler using his Marhsall JTM 45 which runs into his Handwired Marshall 4x12. He used it on Brothers in arms and on Money For Nothing. You can see him using it live either at Live Aid 1985, or at one of his gigs in 1979.

In this photo from VGM, Mark is seen with his ‘59 335 and Bassman.

"A Fender Vibrolux and a Fender Twin Reverb were the backbone of early albums. Then he had a Mesa/Boogie MkIIB (around 1982) and he later switched to Soldano SL0 100s. Perhaps surprisingly, he’s now started using Kemper Profilers as his stage amps."