A Mark In Time
Mark Knopfler Discussion => Mark Knopfler Discussion Forum => Topic started by: qjamesfloyd on October 16, 2023, 11:40:00 AM
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We all know Mark has a history with wonderful guitar tones, but I was wondering what peoples favourites are, so, list some of your favourite tones from Mark's guitar over his whole career, studio or live, so to get started, here are 3 of mine:
1. Golden Heart.
2. Planet of The New Orleans.
3. Wild Theme (On The Night)
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The Strat tone between Making Movies and Alchemy was the peak for me. Don't get me wrong, he always had great tone but the Schecter sound just seemed to have a bit more grit to it. It helps as well that MK was at the peak of his creative powers at that point.
I know he still used Schecters on the BiA tour but for some reason they just didn't sound quite as good to my ears.
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Whoa, it's too hard to pick favourites as they are all great.
I love Mark's tone on the 2006 tour with Emmylou Harris. Even on songs like Why Worry, which he played with a capo in an ungodly position (8 fret or something), it still would sound like a dream. Les Paul was also great, Tele on one of Emmylou's songs was awesome. Can't even start to talk about the tone of the Romeo outro played on Pensa. Unbelievable.
This string of live shows — Real Live Roadrunning, Berlin 2007, and Prince's Trust 09.09.09 are masterclasses on tone, guitar playing and musicianship. Love it.
On albums, it's usually watered-down compared to live versions, so I would say my favourite tone on the album is Shangri-La.
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- You And Your Friend OTN
- Telegraph Road 92 / 96
- SoS with the white Partscaster in 86'
- LP tone on 96 tour, mostly DP, Rüdiger and Je Suis Desolé.
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I love the tone achieved through the MK Strat of course espeically with a little bit of echo ala Hank! So my fave album that showcases this is KTGC...
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I love the tone achieved through the MK Strat of course espeically with a little bit of echo ala Hank! So my fave album that showcases this is KTGC...
Was it not actually more the Teisco on the record?
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I wouldn't be able to point to a particular record or guitar and say that is my favourite. My best experiences of Mark Knopfler's unique tone have been at live concerts. And not only on the tracks we expect to hear but in a sudden phrase here or there not to be found on the records and seemingly comming out of nowhere adding new dimensions and feel to the track. There is something really wonderful about the way Knopfler plays a Les Paul but I still prefer his sound on S-style guitars.
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I don't know how to say it, but for me there is something specific about the sound since 2007. The first album recorded at the British Grove and all subsequent albums are very similar in sound. I'm not just thinking about the guitar, but about the depth of the entire album in general.
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I love the tone achieved through the MK Strat of course espeically with a little bit of echo ala Hank! So my fave album that showcases this is KTGC...
Was it not actually more the Teisco on the record?
true love is the Teisco
the fizzy is the Gretsch
wild is strat (lead) and duo sonic on rhythm
monkey is strat (lead) and gretsch (rhythm)
let it all go is the strat
behind with the rent and mme geneva are the ES 330
in the sky is the gretsch
https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/kill-to-get-crimson-de-mark-knopfler-sortait-il-y-a-15-ans/
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I love the tone achieved through the MK Strat of course espeically with a little bit of echo ala Hank! So my fave album that showcases this is KTGC...
Was it not actually more the Teisco on the record?
true love is the Teisco
the fizzy is the Gretsch
wild is strat (lead) and duo sonic on rhythm
monkey is strat (lead) and gretsch (rhythm)
let it all go is the strat
behind with the rent and mme geneva are the ES 330
in the sky is the gretsch
https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/kill-to-get-crimson-de-mark-knopfler-sortait-il-y-a-15-ans/
Bravo, JF, great piece.
Although, and with all due respect to the artist, this drawing reminded me more of Richard Attenborough as the murderer in 10 Rillington Place...
(https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/M-K-kill-to-get-the-crimson-1117x1536.jpg)
(https://arnolfini.org.uk/app/uploads/2022/10/10-rillington-place-IMAGE.jpg)
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that first pic looks like Winston C. playing da guirarrr
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I love the tone achieved through the MK Strat of course espeically with a little bit of echo ala Hank! So my fave album that showcases this is KTGC...
Amen to that. Add to that use of a pick too. Although I don’t think it contains any of the songs I’d consider my favourites, KTGC has to be my favourite album cuz of the overall sound.
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Chronologically:
A) lead guitar:
—News (studio, Communiqué)
—Smooching (LH soundtrack)
—Brothers in Arms (studio, Brothers in Arms)
—Railroad Worksong (studio, NH album)
—You and your friend (studio, On Every Street)
—Kingdome Come (studio, OES outtake)
—Redbud Tree (studio)
B) Rythm:
—Skateaway (studio), and its twin tone: This is Us, studio
—when it comes to you (studio)
—Every single guitar on Sucker Row (studio, Shangri La)
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Yes, the tone of the guitar on Smooching is gorgeous.
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Yes, the tone of the guitar on Smooching is gorgeous.
+1000 :thumbsup
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studio :
- smooching
- Angel of mercy : both 12strings solo and lead stratocaster
- What it is and Sailing to philadelphia
- lead Ride across the river
- Boom like that : all guitars
- lead Small Potatoes
- rhythm on one way gal (NHB)
live :
- autumn 78 (e.g.Chorus) especially neck PU
- Alchemy especially Once upon a time and TR
- BIA Mandela
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The LP tones on "My claim to fame" and "Metroland" are hard to beat.
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I love the tone achieved through the MK Strat of course espeically with a little bit of echo ala Hank! So my fave album that showcases this is KTGC...
Was it not actually more the Teisco on the record?
Yes what I meant to say was the KTGC Showcases (Berlin, AVO etc) that showed off the beautiful tone of the Strat NOT the album! Although three tracks on the album MK uses the Strat....
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The thick LP tone in BIA from A Night in London, Sultans of Swing from the SL tour, What it is (apparently the red Schecter strat’s last appearance) and Single Handed Sailor.
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Bravo, JF, great piece.
Although, and with all due respect to the artist, this drawing reminded me more of Richard Attenborough as the murderer in 10 Rillington Place...
(https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/M-K-kill-to-get-the-crimson-1117x1536.jpg)
(https://arnolfini.org.uk/app/uploads/2022/10/10-rillington-place-IMAGE.jpg)
I can’t unsee this! :lol
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Are We in Trouble Now—both the studio tone and the A Night in London one are glorious velvety perfection to my ears.
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Down to the Waterline (studio)
News (studio)
Precious Angel (Dylan song)
Sultans of Swing (Studio, Old Grey 78, Chorus 78, San Francisco 79, Sydney 86, Live in 2005)
So Far Away (Wembley 85)
MFN (Studio)
You and Your Friend (On the Night)
Tunnel Of Love (Studio/Sydney 86)
Brothers in Arms (Studio, Sydney 86 and Mandela 88)
Will You Miss Me (Studio)
Are We in Trouble Now
Sailing to Philadelphia/ What It is (live 2001 and Estúdio)
Boom Like That (live 2005)
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Well, there are some things in my perspective.
MK's tone, in my opinion, tended to be more generic after 2005.
To my ears, the Alchemy tone, by itself, is awful, but fits perfectly to the songs and the rest of the instruments.
The Dortmund '81 tones are terrible too. In Overall perspective, all the 81 bootlegs tones are, in my opinion, pretty bad. EXCEPT for that Skateaway live from some TV show. That tone, my friends, are strong, powerfull and has a lot of sustain.
The tone that is unbeatable, uncopied and never used by any other guitar player came from the First Record. Congrats to Muff Winwood.
That middle pickup, two channel, near saturated, vibrato mirroed... Well, that is THE TONE. Its mythological.
After that, came the rest.
THE TONE: First Album.
Strat (Fender, Schecter)
- Once Upon A Time In The West (Studio)
- Follow Me Home (Studio)
- Tunnel Of Love (Studio)
- Romeo (Studio)
- Smooching
- T Road (Studio)
- White Strat (Live 86)
- On Every Street (On the Night)
- Wild Theme (On The Night)
- STP (Studio)
- What It Is (Live 2003)
- Shangri-La (Studio)
Les Paul
- Brothers In Arms (studio)
- Darling Pretty (Live and Stutio)
- Are We In A Trouble Now (Studio)
- 96 Tour
- 2001 Tour
- Why Aye Man (Studio)
- Boom Like That (Studio)
obs: I dislike almost everything after Mark started to use both pickups simultaneos on a LP.
Pensa MK (HSS with EMGs)
- Your Own Sweet Way (Studio)
- Feel Like Going Home (Studio)
- Planet Of New Orleans (Studio)
- How Long (Studio)
- BIA (On The Night)
- Telegraph (96 Tour)
obs: I hated that A Night In London tones. Too mudd
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Agree about the horrible 1978-83 horrible live tone. And also we could add that tone becomes horrible again in 2019 with those kempers. Another kind of horrible, but horrible anyway. I am also quite positive that Are We In Trouble Now in studio is played with the Pensa. Not live, as we all know. But in studio I bet that he usted the Pensa. Sabe case with Rudiger: studio is the Pensa, live is Les Paul. Maybe he bought his LP after recording those two songs (remember that Golden Heart took years in the making).
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Agree about the horrible 1978-83 horrible live tone. And also we could add that tone becomes horrible again in 2019 with those kempers. Another kind of horrible, but horrible anyway. I am also quite positive that Are We In Trouble Now in studio is played with the Pensa. Not live, as we all know. But in studio I bet that he usted the Pensa. Sabe case with Rudiger: studio is the Pensa, live is Les Paul. Maybe he bought his LP after recording those two songs (remember that Golden Heart took years in the making).
I Believe that 'Trouble Now' on Studio was a Les Paul. Neck position.
Rudiger is cleary the Pensa. I love that tone too.
I forgot to mention the Live At BBC. Huge tone.
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Strongly disagree about AWITN. It seems to me as it is almost the same tone we can hear in Feel Like Going Home (studio) which we all know is clearly a Pensa, as we all know. Pensa has some thinner qualities about it, and Les Paul is always a monster
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I agree that tones on 80-81 tour are too thin and not really good,
but in 78, I love his tone. That neck PU in e.g. chorus TV show is gorgeous imho
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I think the last tour was when they finally nailed the MFN guitar sound. It’s never worked for me live compared to the studio sound.
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Agree about the horrible 1978-83 horrible live tone. And also we could add that tone becomes horrible again in 2019 with those kempers. Another kind of horrible, but horrible anyway. I am also quite positive that Are We In Trouble Now in studio is played with the Pensa. Not live, as we all know. But in studio I bet that he usted the Pensa. Sabe case with Rudiger: studio is the Pensa, live is Les Paul. Maybe he bought his LP after recording those two songs (remember that Golden Heart took years in the making).
Oh god, that Kemper Pensa Telegraph Road tone. Absolutely abysmal.
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That Kemper touring decision is demented at least. The thing sounds terrible. I asked Guy about that and he said MK felt confortable with that crappy sound and also he said that the tone sounded pretty good to everybody in their stage in-ears. Go figure. Also, I have to say that one of MK's last great tones is that blue Pensa dynamite sound in Tracker, particularly on Laughs and Jokes and also on Oklahoma Ponies.
And I also would like to add, in the negative side, that I deeply dislike some of his "new" tones from 2000 and beyond, and I'm talking about that Gibson 335, very uneven, kind of muddy tone: Baloney Again, Behind with the Rent, Blood and Water, Go Love, and some more. Great songs all of them nonetheless. Just don't like the tone, but I dont know if I'm the only one who dislikes it.
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That Kemper touring decision is demented at least. The thing sounds terrible. I asked Guy about that and he said MK felt confortable with that crappy sound and also he said that the tone sounded pretty good to everybody in their stage in-ears. Go figure. Also, I have to say that one of MK's last great tones is that blue Pensa dynamite sound in Tracker, particularly on Laughs and Jokes and also on Oklahoma Ponies.
And I also would like to add, in the negative side, that I deeply dislike some of his "new" tones from 2000 and beyond, and I'm talking about that Gibson 335, very uneven, kind of muddy tone: Baloney Again, Behind with the Rent, Blood and Water, Go Love, and some more. Great songs all of them nonetheless. Just don't like the tone, but I dont know if I'm the only one who dislikes it.
I think Go love is the 58 LP, not the 335
are you sure about Oklahoma Ponies ? I thought it was the Les Paul. Kind of cleaining my gun tone
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Maybe Go Love is the Les Paul but the guitar/amp/effect configuration is in the Baloney/Behind with the Rent/Madame Geneva/blood and water line of sound, which I don't like. And Oklahoma is Blue Pensa for sure. Les Paul has its unbeatable tone but it's not as versatile, IMHO. It's in the Kingdom Come (Pensa again) tradition of messing with a Satriani approach, as if he was in a guitar store enjoying himself
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I thought the 2019 live tone was fine, at least at the actual gigs I attended. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it as well. :)
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I thought the 2019 live tone was fine, at least at the actual gigs I attended. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it as well. :)
It's a never-ending war between purists and innovators. I too loved the live 2019 sound, HOWEVER, I can understand where the frustration comes from.
If you listen very, very closely, or side by side with "proper" recordings, you can hear the sound is sort of "too perfect", a bit sterile, and overall very polished and digital. But it gets the job done and is cheaper. Generally speaking, the tone is as subjective as it gets.
As you can see in the examples people provide, most of the time it's a great song and/or great playing that makes the tone great, not vice versa.
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I thought the 2019 live tone was fine, at least at the actual gigs I attended. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it as well. :)
The use of the Kemper on the 2019 was not an issue for me either.
I liked the use of the LP on OUATITW.
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I thought the 2019 live tone was fine, at least at the actual gigs I attended. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it as well. :)
It's a never-ending war between purists and innovators. I too loved the live 2019 sound, HOWEVER, I can understand where the frustration comes from.
If you listen very, very closely, or side by side with "proper" recordings, you can hear the sound is sort of "too perfect", a bit sterile, and overall very polished and digital. But it gets the job done and is cheaper. Generally speaking, the tone is as subjective as it gets.
As you can see in the examples people provide, most of the time it's a great song and/or great playing that makes the tone great, not vice versa.
I’m not talking about recordings, I’m talking about live, in the room. We’ve been lucky to have the tour recordings but they are basically official bootlegs, not properly mixed and they never sound amazing.
I was aware he was using Kemper in 2019 so I was listening carefully. At the gigs it sounded the same as previous tours.
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There are many soundboard clips from 2019 in YouTube (many at Mark Knopfler Official Channel) and, in my ears, the tone is not good at all. Specially on the overdriven guitars. Once Upon A Time sounds bad, Money For Nothing even worse. It gets a little better on clean strat tones and maybe when the Les Paul is not so distorted (Your Latest Trick, for instance). But it is not worthy of MK. And I dont understand the economic side of the Kempers in MK case (I could play with Kempers because I am a nobody with no money and a small car to carry my amp). But not for Mark. After all, he is MK, a wonderful guitar player who also happens to be a tone perfectionist and who also is a millionaire who plays a 300.000 USD Les Paul.
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The soundboard clips are pointless, you had to be there.
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There has been a long talk about live tones between 79-82 and none of us where there, at those venues. And I guess that all this talk about the studio recording's tone is also pointless, since you should have been in the studio with Mark. ;D
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There has been a long talk about live tones between 79-82 and none of us where there, at those venues. And I guess that all this talk about the studio recording's tone is also pointless, since you should have been in the studio with Mark. ;D
Touché!
I would counter argue however that something like Alchemy was a proper recording unlike the mp3s they sold a day after the show in the last 15 years. And he was playing clean then, whereas the arguments around Kemper seem to stem from distorted tones.
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The soundboard clips are pointless, you had to be there.
I agree. By the way, raw stems from studio records without any "makeup" also sound like s*&%t despite all being recorded on state-of-the-art amps and guitars. I remember hearing a couple of raw tracks without any alterations whatsoever, and it sounds exactly like any modelling amp would sound prior to applying effects.
So you're right, it's a completely different story live. Should they tweak the sound just a tiny bit on soundboard recordings, it would sound like a dream.
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One of the most impressive pages on the internet for me is Fractal Audio's "Amplifier models list" and their other research on Fractal Audio Wiki: https://wiki.fractalaudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Amplifier_models_list (https://wiki.fractalaudio.com/wiki/index.php?title=Amplifier_models_list)
Once you realise these guys don't just fool around but know traditional amplifiers inside and out, more than anybody else, and try to emulate all these amplifiers for your listening and playing pleasure, making the experience more affordable and fun, one might think companies like Kemper and Fractal Audio are indeed heroes, not villains.
The sound doesn't just appear out of thin air, everything happens for a reason. It's just simple electrical circuits, speakers and tubes, you can emulate this.
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https://youtu.be/2R2Qtf3UeL0?si=Evgnis3x8g7Y6Gye
https://youtu.be/-n-0SOA-yuA?si=dqD9s8pY5oP38_x2
It’s hard to look past the playing which is noticeably worse in 2019 but I actually think the tone is worse here in 2015 (these were just the first two clips that YouTube threw up for me when I searched).
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https://youtu.be/2R2Qtf3UeL0?si=Evgnis3x8g7Y6Gye
https://youtu.be/-n-0SOA-yuA?si=dqD9s8pY5oP38_x2
It’s hard to look past the playing which is noticeably worse in 2019 but I actually think the tone is worse here in 2015 (these were just the first two clips that YouTube threw up for me when I searched).
In my opinion, since 2010, Mark's tone are thinner and thinner. I don't know if was connected to some ear loss (high frequencies are more audible for musicians that suffer from hearing loss) but i really don't know.
Maybe is a matter of taste. Who knows?
Last tour was horrible in terms of guitar tones, except for some clean ones in STP and RJ.
WAM sound like a guitar inside a plastic tube. No dynamics at all.
I've seen people using Kempers, Fractals, Headrushs, Tonexes way better than MK's Kemper profiles.
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In my memories WAM sounded good at the venues.
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https://youtu.be/2R2Qtf3UeL0?si=Evgnis3x8g7Y6Gye
https://youtu.be/-n-0SOA-yuA?si=dqD9s8pY5oP38_x2
It’s hard to look past the playing which is noticeably worse in 2019 but I actually think the tone is worse here in 2015 (these were just the first two clips that YouTube threw up for me when I searched).
In my opinion, since 2010, Mark's tone are thinner and thinner. I don't know if was connected to some ear loss (high frequencies are more audible for musicians that suffer from hearing loss) but i really don't know.
Maybe is a matter of taste. Who knows?
Last tour was horrible in terms of guitar tones, except for some clean ones in STP and RJ.
WAM sound like a guitar inside a plastic tube. No dynamics at all.
I've seen people using Kempers, Fractals, Headrushs, Tonexes way better than MK's Kemper profiles.
Agree about WAM. Scary plastic tone and messy playing is a bad combination and you can hear it in the loud rubbery noises that MK made between fills, just by having his hands on the fretboard while not playing. First time ever heard in any MK gig. His guitar handling while silent has been always phenomenal in Mark till 2019.
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Lots of world class musicians are going digital these days and they all say there’s no noticeable difference on stage. I don’t think the Kemper is the real problem, Mark uses a few overdrive pedals live, including probably the best one currently in production, the Vemuran Jan Ray. Once I asked Guy if Mark was using less reverb and delay and he said yes.
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Regarding the Kemper sound, I was watching MSG 2019 last night and OUATITW sounds shitty in this recording, check out from 24.30:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF_gCy-4y3w
But it sounds pretty good at Cordoba. ???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB7LNZyEpMk
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Hi. I just found this forum and hope to meet some other guitar nerds! :)
I am wondering if anyone know how to get the guitar tone of his performance of Brothers in Arms 1988 Wembley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZXlQp0aKPU
It is clear that he uses a lot more gain than previous, along with the active pickups on his Suhr. And also some reverb and delay. But other than that I'm lost. If I turn up the gain/dist on my amp it just sounds metal. Any tips?
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Hi. I just found this forum and hope to meet some other guitar nerds! :)
If I turn up the gain/dist on my amp it just sounds metal. Any tips?
For this BIA tone, any Zoom 505 do the job. ;D
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Hi. I just found this forum and hope to meet some other guitar nerds! :)
I am wondering if anyone know how to get the guitar tone of his performance of Brothers in Arms 1988 Wembley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZXlQp0aKPU
It is clear that he uses a lot more gain than previous, along with the active pickups on his Suhr. And also some reverb and delay. But other than that I'm lost. If I turn up the gain/dist on my amp it just sounds metal. Any tips?
What amp and guitar are you using?
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Hi. I just found this forum and hope to meet some other guitar nerds! :)
If I turn up the gain/dist on my amp it just sounds metal. Any tips?
Speaking seriously now...
The Soldanos that MK used have a great variety of drive stages only messing with the knobs.
In my case, i never got or played on a Soldano.
I used some cheap amps like Vox Night Trains, Marshall MA50, Ibanez TSA... When i need the Knopfler 'Pensa' Drive, i turn on an EHX BIG MUFF with a minimal amount of gain before an Overdrive Pedal. Just to dry the atack. Both pedals are turned on.
To my ears, it can sound very similar for a cheap gear.
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The Mandela version of BIA is probably the best played version but there's just something about the guitar tone that irks me a little. It's certainly a lot better than it sounded on the OES tour but it's just not the lovely Les Paul sound from the BIA or later tours.
Jack of all trades - master of none. That's the Pensa-Suhr.