Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler is known to use the Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman guitar. This is evidenced by a photograph taken at the Chet Atkins Musician Days in Nashville on June 24, 1998, where Chet Atkins presented the guitar to Mark as a token of appreciation for his role in organizing the event. Additionally, a picture taken by Guy Fletcher at a soundcheck during the Shangri-La tour at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on July 13, 2005, shows Mark using the guitar. This event was in support of the Chet Atkins Music Education Fund, and Guy Fletcher noted, "On a couple of tunes, Mark and Richard used two of guitars which belonged to Chet. These came out of the Hall of fame for the evening." The images and details are sourced from a Premier Guitar article from November 2009.

Mark Knopfler acquired a Gibson ES-175 Electric Guitar from Rudy Pensa in the 1980s. He used this guitar on the track "Would You Could You" from Willy DeVille's album Assassin of Love (1987) and also on the Brothers in Arms album. Additionally, the guitar can be seen in the background during Mark's participation in the "Let It Be" session in 1987, as shown in the image from Equipboard.

Mark Knopfler received this guitar as a gift from friend and music store owner Rudy Pensa in late December 1985. Mark appears delighted with his new ES-175 in a rare personal photograph of the jolly occasion at Rudy’s Music Stop on New York’s West 48th Street, fingering a tune as his pal Rudy enjoys a festive tipple.

Mark Knopfler is confirmed to use a Gibson ES-350T, which he acquired in the mid-1980s from Rudy Pensa. In an interview with Neil McCormick for The Telegraph in 2012, Knopfler reflected on his early musical influences, stating: “I fell in love with songs when I was very, very small. Chuck Berry made a huge impression, where the rhythm of the lyrics is as important as the music, there’s a ricocheting effect.” Furthermore, Knopfler utilized this Gibson ES-350T while producing Willy DeVille's 1987 album Miracle, specifically playing it through a Fender Vibrolux for his solo on DeVille’s cover of Van Morrison's "Could You Would You?" These details are corroborated by the source "Mark Knopfler and his guitars" on Oneverybootleg.nl.

In 1990, Mark used a Gibson ES-5 on the 1990 UK tour of The Notting Hillbillies.

Mark Knopfler acquired the Gibson Custom ES-5 Switchmaster Hollowbody around 1990 and has used it for occasional home and studio purposes, as documented on the website "Mark Knopfler and his guitars."

Mark Knopfler used a Gibson L-3 1926-1933, which is actually owned by Steve Phillips, on The Notting Hillbillies album "Missing... Presumed Having a Good Time" (1990), as evidenced by an image on Equipboard.

Mark Knopfler is confirmed to use the Gibson J-50 1947-1954, as he purchased this guitar through Pete Townshend’s late guitar technician Alan Rogan in the late 1980s. He utilized the J-50 during the recording sessions for Dire Straits' "On Every Street" in November 1990 at London’s AIR Studios, specifically on the tracks "The Bug" and "Iron Hand," the latter being a live take. Additionally, in December 1993, Knopfler recorded the acoustic part for "Nobody’s Got the Gun" from his 1996 album "Golden Heart" with the J-50 at AIR Lyndhurst Hall. He continued to employ the J-50 for the title track of "Metroland" and several unreleased recordings, including outtakes from the albums "Get Lucky" and "Privateering." Furthermore, the J-50 was used in 2018 for a project to rewrite the "Local Hero" soundtrack for the stage, where tracks such as "A Barrel of Crude," "I Hope You Haven’t Changed on Me," "A Cheeky Wee Pint," and "Big Mac" were recorded. This information is substantiated by the source titled "Mark Knopfler and his guitars."

Bobby Salomone, the brother of Mark Knopfler’s ex-wife Lourdes Salomone, sent this singular guitar as a gift in 2005, anticipating that Mark would get a kick out of it.

In this photo, Mark Knopfler is seen using a Gibson SG Standard during Dire Straits' "Love over gold " 1982-83 tour.

According to this website, Mark Knopfler used a Roland SRE55 Chorus/Echo effect unit whilst touring with Dire Straits in 1985/86.

According to Mk-guitar's section "Mark Knopfler's Guitar Effects," Mark Knopfler used the MicMix Dynaflanger Model 265 during his tours with Dire Straits in 1985 and 1986.

Mark Knopfler used a Boss CE 300 rackmount effects unit during his tours with Dire Straits in 1985/86, as documented by Mk-guitar.

Mark Knopfler is confirmed to have used a Boss DM-2 analog delay pedal during his tours with Dire Straits in 1985/86, as documented by Mk-guitar.

According to Mk-guitar, Mark Knopfler used a Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer pedal during his tour with Dire Straits in 1985/86.

Mark Knopfler utilized a pair of Boss CE-2 Chorus pedals during his 1985/86 tour with Dire Straits, as documented on Mk-guitar's "Mark Knopfler's Guitar Effects."

Mark Knopfler used a Boss BF-2 Flanger pedal during his 1985/86 tour with Dire Straits, as documented by Mk-guitar on their "Mark Knopfler's Guitar Effects" page.

Mark Knopfler used a Boss PH-2 Super Phaser pedal during his 1985/86 tour with Dire Straits, as documented by Mk-guitar on the webpage titled "Mark Knopfler's Guitar Effects."

Mark Knopfler is confirmed to have used a Boss OC-2 Octaver pedal during his tours with Dire Straits in 1985/86, as documented by Mk-guitar on their website titled "Mark Knopfler's Guitar Effects."

Mark Knopfler utilized a TC Electronic 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay rackmount effect unit during his tours with Dire Straits in the early 1990s. This equipment was integrated into a system specifically built for him by Pete Cornish, as confirmed by Mk-guitar.

Mark Knopfler used an Alesis Quadraverb effects unit during his tours with Dire Straits in the early 1990s. This information is confirmed by the website Mk-guitar, which notes that the unit was part of a system constructed for him by Pete Cornish.

Mark Knopfler used a Yamaha REV5 Digital Reverberator during his tours with Dire Straits in the early 1990s, as part of a custom system designed by Pete Cornish. This information is corroborated by the website Mk-guitar.

Mark Knopfler uses D'Addario EXL115 Nickelwound Guitar Strings 11-49 on one of his Stratocasters, as confirmed by Michael Astley-Brown in the article "Mark Knopfler’s 2019 guitar rig has been revealed" on Guitar World.

Mark Knopfler uses D'Addario EJ21 XL Nickel Jazz Light Electric Guitar Strings on his Danelectro 59 DC guitar, as reported by Michael Astley-Brown in Guitar World's article titled "Mark Knopfler’s 2019 guitar rig has been revealed."

"Knopfler’s use of modern Strat-alikes was perhaps just practical: success had afforded him indulgences that he rarely took on the road, such as an all-original sunburst ’54 Fender he called the ‘Jurassic Strat.’"

Mark Knopfler is confirmed to use a 1959 Gibson ES-335, as evidenced by his own account in an interview with Guitar.com. He mentions that this particular guitar, which he obtained through Rudy Pensa, features prominently on the track "Baloney Again" from the album Sailing to Philadelphia. Knopfler describes the instrument as having a "nice, fat neck," highlighting it as one of his favorites.

"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."

In the video titled "Mark Knopfler's Three Most Iconic Electric Guitars on the Eve of Their London Auction," Kerry Keane of Christie's is seen discussing the 1983 Gibson Les Paul Standard '59 Reissue at 0:16. This guitar is confirmed to be one of three belonging to Mark Knopfler and is featured as part of the auction on January 31, as highlighted in the video.