The Mark Knopfler Songbook — Featured on MK's official YouTube channel

[Pierre]

Great one! Superb playing, I know this version, I know I do (I remember the "mistake" at the end) but I can't seem to place it. What version was it, that you played here?

This is the version! I hope I understood your question correctly.

yeah, thanks, I found it

[quizzaciously]

Can I play cool guitars for a change? Yes, I can! When visiting @yigittop76 in Istanbul, for instance. To be honest, it’s quite difficult to record not on your gear, as you’re not used to it, and I hoped to record 10 or 12 solos, but decided to make just one and concentrate on that to sound good. Video and audio recorded through an iPhone — not the most professional approach, but you do what you can. Tabs as usual in the description. Enjoy!

Equipment

Guitar: Suhr Standard Legacy
Amp: Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III
Edited in Final Cut Pro & Logic Pro
Camera & Microphone: iPhone 11 Pro

[dustyvalentino]

Great job and a beautiful guitar!

[Robson]

Beautiful!

[quizzaciously]

Great job and a beautiful guitar!

Thank you! The guitar is really impressive. Great stainless steel frets, flawless electronics, remarkable build quality. And great sound too!

[quizzaciously]

Another beautiful solo I managed to record back in Istanbul was Sailing To Philadelphia on MK Signature Stratocaster. The amp is Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III. And I’m happy that despite my very short meetings with these guitars, especially Gibson MK Les Paul, I still recorded a little postcard with these great instruments. Thanks again to @yigittop76 for an amazing guitar and the opportunity to record something! Pavel.

[primi]

Great job and a beautiful guitar!

Thank you! The guitar is really impressive. Great stainless steel frets, flawless electronics, remarkable build quality. And great sound too!

I'm shure it's a great guitar, I noticed they made a (somewhat) limited series of them recently, both the quilted trans caramel version (only not carved top) and also black. Both of course inspired by what MK was playing back in the day and since you don't have to custom order it they are a bit more affordable. And they come with or without floyd rose. I'm not exactly sure why Mark suddenly started using Floyd rose. I loved the look of that thing back then though.

[quizzaciously]

Great job and a beautiful guitar!

Thank you! The guitar is really impressive. Great stainless steel frets, flawless electronics, remarkable build quality. And great sound too!

I'm shure it's a great guitar, I noticed they made a (somewhat) limited series of them recently, both the quilted trans caramel version (only not carved top) and also black. Both of course inspired by what MK was playing back in the day and since you don't have to custom order it they are a bit more affordable. And they come with or without floyd rose. I'm not exactly sure why Mark suddenly started using Floyd rose. I loved the look of that thing back then though.

I think it was just down to tuning stability. I hate tuning issues like any other musician who is obsessed with recording things precisely. Chet Atkins would often talk about how tuning stability has always been one of his "problems", meaning he cared about being perfectly in tune unlike anyone else. As they say, a guitar player spends half of his life tuning guitar and the other half playing guitar. The electric guitar is an especially difficult beast because of constant bending.

Floyd Rose with its locking mechanisms and micro adjustments is perfect for this job of delivering the most stable guitar possible. Looks like somebody was annoyed not only with constant guitar changes but tuning issues as well because it's obviously easier to just install a hard-tail bridge than a Floyd Rose, let alone maintain it. And icing on the cake is the fact Mark never even used it like it's supposed to be used, MK-1 always had a fixed bridge, but they fixed it for the auction.

It's great that guitars of this magnitude are somewhat affordable, unlike Pensa, that are seems to be on another lever for established professionals.

[primi]

That's the thing, he had it blocked anyway.

Out of interest, I think Mark had mid boost as a push/pull option on one of the knobs, did you perhaps check if this one has that as well?

As far as I can tell a Suhr is every bit as good a guitar as Pensas are. And most likely better than those old Pensa-Suhrs. They are just making many more of them than Pensa is which could affect desirability. But shouldn't. I don't know who plays a Pensa guitar, I've only ever seen an odd Suhr on stages from time to time, not once a Pensa (except of course with MK) and Pensa-Suhrs are probably more collector's items now anyway.

[quizzaciously]

That's the thing, he had it blocked anyway.

Out of interest, I think Mark had mid boost as a push/pull option on one of the knobs, did you perhaps check if this one has that as well?

As far as I can tell a Suhr is every bit as good a guitar as Pensas are. And most likely better than those old Pensa-Suhrs. They are just making many more of them than Pensa is which could affect desirability. But shouldn't. I don't know who plays a Pensa guitar, I've only ever seen an odd Suhr on stages from time to time, not once a Pensa (except of course with MK) and Pensa-Suhrs are probably more collector's items now anyway.

Nothing to me indicates any mid boost and other alternate configurations on these "stock" Suhr guitars, it wasn't present on a Suhr that I played as well. I think these are extremely specific things one can do after the fact or with a custom order, things like reverse polarity, kill switches, mid boost, Floyd Rose to be frank is also an option not everybody needs considering maintenance.

Judging by serial numbers and how active Pensa is on social media, uploading new guitars nearly every day and having multiple guitar builders, it's not like they are so rare after all. I think Marco Caviglia has a Pensa, as well as some guy named Mark Knopfler, and... That's it. So yes, not an impressive list of people, yet a lot of people have a Suhr. Everybody I know plays a Suhr, including JustinGuitar, and nobody owns a Pensa.

Pensas are just so expensive they filter out everybody who thinks about getting it but not buying it even if they can afford it, that's why I said it's mostly a niche professional instrument. Especially if you're just an MK fan dabbling on guitar from time to time. It's like buying a vintage Maserati just because Mark has one. A Suhr, on the other hand, is just a humble Mercedes

[jbaent]

Chet Atkins would often talk about how tuning stability has always been one of his "problems", meaning he cared about being perfectly in tune unlike anyone else. As they say, a guitar player spends half of his life tuning guitar and the other half playing guitar. The electric guitar is an especially difficult beast because of constant bending.

And that's why MK has always Glenn Saggers at hand 

[primi]

Nothing to me indicates any mid boost and other alternate configurations on these "stock" Suhr guitars, it wasn't present on a Suhr that I played as well. I think these are extremely specific things one can do after the fact or with a custom order, things like reverse polarity, kill switches, mid boost, Floyd Rose to be frank is also an option not everybody needs considering maintenance.

Went to check a review and yes, there is no mid boost.

In any case, keep up the good work with your channel, be it using Pensa, Suhr or just a petite Squier. It's in the fingers after all, I've been told. 

[quizzaciously]

Nothing to me indicates any mid boost and other alternate configurations on these "stock" Suhr guitars, it wasn't present on a Suhr that I played as well. I think these are extremely specific things one can do after the fact or with a custom order, things like reverse polarity, kill switches, mid boost, Floyd Rose to be frank is also an option not everybody needs considering maintenance.

Went to check a review and yes, there is no mid boost.

In any case, keep up the good work with your channel, be it using Pensa, Suhr or just a petite Squier. It's in the fingers after all, I've been told. 

Thank you, sir! I'll consider it a birthday wish

Yes, the fingers are important, but I have to admit, after playing the guitar as nice as Suhr Legacy, and through an amp as nice as Mexican-made tube Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III... I had a hard time switching back to my main axe. Fingers are important, but they still need to play an instrument, and if the instrument is great, you can't argue with that.

[quizzaciously]

Only Rocks And Water - Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Solo - From Local Hero Musical



I remember recording a lesson on Mark’s most recent song 5 years ago, back then it was “You Don’t Want To Get You One Of Those”, but what about his most recent solo? This solo is taken from a track not everybody is even aware of, a Local Hero Musical song “Only Rocks And Water” sung by Damian Humbley and written and played by MK.

For this solo, I recorded two passes of acoustic guitar: one with a capo on the 5th fret played with fingers, and another strumming with a pick and no capo. I also tried the state-of-the-art AI separation tool to separate bass and drums from the original recording, I think it sounds pretty good for the first try.

Pavel

[jbaent]

It sounds amazing...

The Local Hero musical has some wonderful jewels hidden to most of the fans that didn't attend the Edinburgh or Chichester representations, as there is not any official release of this, further than two audience recordings, one from each run.