Legendary Tone: Mark Knopfler

Legendary Tone:

Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits

I have loved Mark Knopfler's style ever since I first heard, 'Sultans of Swing,' by Dire Straits. His playing is very smooth and melodic, much like David Gilmour. His tone is very Blues oriented and very clean much of the time.

Like most blues players, Knopfler primarily preferred playing Fender Stratocasters. He played a few other guitars here and there like his Les Paul's but his Strat gave him a very unique sound. He was specifically fond of 1950's and 1960's models.

Amplification included Marshall and Fender amplifiers. Fender amps like Twin Reverbs and Vibrolux were his favorites for his spanky clean and sometimes twangy tone. For Overdrive he would at times incorporate his Marshall amps. But because of the nature of his tone, his fender amps were used most of all. The sounds of these amps can be heard on songs by Dire Straits such as: 'Tunnel of Love' and 'Sultans of Swing.'

Knopflers preferred BOSS choruses and flangers for achieving his modulation tones. These pedals give off a swirly stereo sound to make his guitar tone a little bigger and wider. This allows for some interesting sounds during buildups in certain songs.

as for his choice in delay, like many players, he used analog. Analog delay is a more organic sounding delay than that of digital delay which is much more cold and precise. Analog delay gives a more organic and natural sound than digital delay. this is why many guitarists prefer analog.

Compressors are very important in achieving Knopfler's tone because they are what make it so smooth and clean. He preferred using the BOSS CS-2 for his compressed tones.

These effects I have mentioned will do well in delivering the type of tones desired while playing Mark Knopfler's music.

Click Here for an example of Mark Knopfler's Tone!