Contributors: Jean-François Convert, Ingo Raven
Guitars
There is hardly information available that tells us anything about the gear on the famous first Dire Straits album.
Amps and effects on this album
It seems likely that the brown Fender Vibrolux – an amp that originally belonged to Dire Straits’ bass player John Illsley – was used on this album. Mark Knopfler used this amp on stage before and after recording the album in February 1978. Other amps that are commonly suggested here are a Roland Jazz Chorus and a Fender Twin Reverb. It was myself who set this into the world with my first Dire Straits Guitar Page. My source was an article in the Guitar Player magazine from around 1988. The writer of this article was Andy Brauer who runs a gear rental service in Hollywood. He wrote a column about legendary guitar sounds, and named these three amps together with the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor and a Fender maple-neck Strat as the gear used on this album.
Much later I had a short email conversation with Andy and asked him about his source for this info. He replied that these were the amps which Mark Knopfler rent from him for some rehearsal sessions for the recording of Randy Newman’s Land of Dream album, so not really a direct confirmation that this was used on the first album. However, maybe Mark told him that he wanted this gear in case they wanted to recreate some of those early Dire Straits sounds, or confirmed in some other way that these amps relate to the album, I don’t know.
Fact is that Mark Knopfler started to play a Fender Twin Reverb on stage about summer 1978. Also Rhett Davies, the engineer of the album, is known for loving the sound of Roland chorus devices, so it seems likely that they had a Jazz Chorus down at the Basing Street studios.
The echo on e.g. Down to the Waterline might have been added in the mix and was probably not a guitar device (Mark was asked about this in an interview and replied that it was probably something brought in by Rhett Davies). Except reverb (most studios used plate reverbs back then) there are hardly any dominant effects. Of course Mark Knopfler used a volume pedal on some songs, probably a Morley.
Track 1 – Down to the waterline
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – lead – left channel | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | bridge + middle | standard | compression/limiter, reverb | no info available |
Guitar two – rhythm- right channel | David Knopfler [100%], strummed | probably Fender stratocaster (bare wood finsih, later refinished black) | standard | Phaser, reverb | no info available |
Related blog posts:
Dire Straits Down to the Waterline explained: licks – chords – solo – no tabs
The Foghorn Chord in Down to the Waterline
Down to the Waterline on 1961 Fender Stratocaster Sonic Blue
The bridge section between Expresso Love and Down to the Waterline on the Making Movies tour
Track 2 – Water of love
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – slide solo – left channel | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle, bottle neck | National steel guitar [~100%],1928 Tricone or 1937 Style-O | – | open tuning, most likely open G (d,g,d,g,b,d), capo’ed 7th fret (live: open A, capo’ed 5th fret) | reverb | – |
Guitar two – solo licks – center | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | acoustic guitar, no info available | – | probably standard tuning | reverb | – |
Guitar three – strummed chords – right channel | David Knopfler [>90 % ] | acoustic guitar, no info available | – | probably standard tuning | reverb | – |
Related blog posts:
Dire Straits Water of Love guitar tutorial
Track 3 – Setting me up
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – lead – center channel | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~50%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 or Fender Telecaster Thinline [~50%] | bridge ? | ? | compression/limiter, reverb | no info available |
Guitar two – riff – right channel | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Telecaster Thinline [~100%], | bridge | open A tuning | reverb | no info available |
Guitar three – strummed chords – left channel | David Knopfler [~100 % ] | possibly Fender stratocaster (bare wood finsih, later refinished black) | probably standard tuning | reverb | no info available |
Related blog posts:
What tuning is Setting me up by Dire Straits, and what guitar?
Cover version of Setting me up by Albert Lee
Albert Lee – a recent live version of Setting me up
Track 4 – Six blade knife
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – lead – left channel | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | bridge + middle | standard | reverb | no info available |
Guitar two – rhythm – right channel | David Knopfler [~100 % ] | possibly Fender stratocaster (bare wood finsih, later refinished black) | … | standard | reverb | no info available |
Related blog posts:
Cover version of Dire Straits Six Blade Knife
Two interesting live clips of Dire Straits Six Blade Knife
Track 5 – Southbound again
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – lead – center | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | bridge + middle | standard | compression/limiter, reverb | no info available |
Guitar two – riff – left/right channel | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | bridge + middle | standard or open G | compression/limiter, reverb | no info available |
Guitar three – rhythm – right channel | David Knopfler [~100 % ] | possibly Fender stratocaster (bare wood finsih, later refinished black) | standard | … | no info available | |
Guitar four – chords – centeroverdubbed G and D chords | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle or pick ? | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster # 80470 | compression/limiter, reverb | no info available |
Related blog posts:
Track 6 – Sultans of swing
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – lead – center | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | middle + neck (FS1) ? | standard | compression/limiter,reverb | no info available |
Guitar two – rhythm -left channel | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | middle | standard | compression/limiter,reverb | no info available |
Guitar three – rhythm -right channel | David Knopfler[~100 % ] | possibly Fender stratocaster (barewood finsih, later refinished black) | … | standard | … | no info available |
Related blog posts:
Sensational: Sultans of Swing guitar track solo – without backing tracks – from Guitar Hero 5
Sultans of Swing: Studio version vocals alone, karaoke track, plus the last seconds – unheard before
Trying to recreate that Sultans of Swing sound – The gear I used on the Puresolo competition.
Rasgueado and other flamenco techniques in Sultans of Swing
Sultans of Swing – backing track for long live version available
The Circle of Fifths: What is it for? – plus: example analysis of Knopfler songs
Track 7 – In the gallery
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – lead – center | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | middle + bridge | standard | compression/limiter,reverb | no info available |
Guitar two – rhythm – left channel | Mark Knopfler [100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%], probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | … | standard | compression/limiter,reverb | no info available |
Guitar three – rhythm – right channel | David Knopfler[~100 % ] | possibly Fender stratocaster (barewood finsih, later refinished black) | … | standard | … | no info available |
Organ(during chorus only) | Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler or Muff Winwood (?) |
Related blog posts:
Which key is In the Gallery on the first Dire Straits CD? Am or Bbm?
Video snippet of Dire Straits – In the Gallery – Pinkpop Festival 1979
Jamming over “Dire Straits – In the Gallery” groove loop
Mark Knopfler licks using the b5 note
Mark Knopfler licks using the Memphis scale
Track 8 – Wild west end
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – lead – center | Mark Knopfler[100%],MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%],probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | middle+bridge | standard | compression/limiter,reverb | no info available |
Guitar two – rhythm – left channel | Mark Knopfler[~100%], MK fingerstyle | National steel guitar [~100%],1928 Tricone or 1937 Style-O | – | … | – | – |
Guitar three – strummed chords – right channel | David Knopfler[~100 % ] | acoustic guitar, no info available | – | … | – | – |
Pianofew notes at the start and just after “Chinatown” | Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler or Muff Winwood (?) |
Related blog posts:
Dire Straits – Wild West End – Cover by Ingo Raven
Version without backing tracks of my Wild West End video
Track 9 – Lions
| Musician | Guitar | Pick-up | Tuning | Effects | Amp | |
Guitar one – lead – center | Mark Knopfler[100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%],probably 1961 Stratocaster #68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | middle | standard | compression/limiter,reverb | no info available |
Guitar two – lead/rhythm -right channel | Mark Knopfler[100%], MK fingerstyle | Fender Stratocaster [~100%],probably 1961 Stratocaster # 68354 or 1961/62 Stratocaster #80470 | middle+ bridge | standard | compression/limiter,reverb | no info available |
Guitar three rhythm – left channel | David Knopfler[~100 % ] | Possibly Fender stratocaster (barewood finsih, later refinished black) | … | standard | … | no info available |
Related blog posts:
Mark Knopfler licks around the 7/9 chord
Audio sample from Hamburg 78 (speed corrected)
Links
3 thoughts on “Gear on album Dire Straits”
My first guitar teacher saw Dire Straits at a university gig in 1978 (Nottingham University I think he said). He told me Mark’s rig was the two early sixties strats, black tele custom, resonator. Amps and pedals were a fender vibrolux and possibly a twin. Only pedals were an morley volume, mxr compressor and a green mxr analogue delay (only used on the intro to down to the waterline) not on a pedalboard and running off batteries. To this day he said it was one of the best gigs he’s seen. I’ve seen quite a few pub band guitarists with more gear on stage than he had. Its the magician not the wand folks 🙂
..love the “magician not the wand” line Chris, and Knopfler was a great magician!
Reckon your teachers memory is right on the money..