Guitar in general, Misc

Shubb capo for vintage Strats

I have been using the great Shubb capo for some years now. I love it because it is not only easy to use, but it also allows you to set the tension on the strings very precisely so that you have hardly any problems with detuning. Of course it is available for curved or flat fingerboards. However, until recently I have not been aware that there is also a special version available for vintage-style Strats or other guitars with a neck radius of 7.25″, the Shubb deluxe S4. And this version is in fact much better on a Strat. The normal version (I guess it is for about 9″ radius) has not enough tension on the outer strings, or you can set it to more tension which results in too much on the inner strings. Unfortunately Shubb capos are not cheap, but they are really worth the money.

Amps, Effects, Mark Knopfler gear

Mark Knopfler’s Amp and Effect Settings on the On Every Street tour

A lot of people wonder how to adjust all the controls on the guitar amp or on effect devices to recreate the sound of song xy. Such questions are common in guitar forums all over the internet. Of course it is almost impossible to say which setting someone needs to recreate an authentic sound with his individual gear. Besides, even if you use exactly the same kind of setup with the same setting as on the original song, this does not guarantee to get the same sound because the probably most important sound factor is the playing technique, the old saying “the sound is in his fingers”.
Nevertheless, to know the original setting of a sound can help you to come as close as possible within your playing ability. In the studio, most engineers take photos of amp settings in case a part of the recording has to be fixed with later overdubs, but these pictures almost never get into the public. On Dire Straits’ On Every Street tour (1991/92) however, Mark Knopfler’s then-guitar technician Ron Eve allowed a few interviewers to copy his chart with most settings for the amps and effects. Such a chart appeared in a Mark Knopfler interview in Germany’s Gitarre & Bass magazine, and another one was from the England tour (unfortunately I must admit I downloaded it some years ago but cannot find it anymore).

Ron Eve changed the settings for the two amps and switched between the effect programs for each song. They used two Soldano amps, one is the active amp for a song so that the other amp can be in advance adjusted for the next song. In fact, only the pre-amps are alternated, the power sections of both amps feed a stereo signal into the two Marshall cabinets.

This chart is not really self-explaining, but with some research most parameters can be identified. Here is the chart:

click to enlarge in new window
click to enlarge in new window

What exactly do all the columns and figures mean?

Title

The title of the song, nothing to add here except that Tunnel of love was not always played. If not, it was replaced by Telegraph Road.

No.

Just the number of the song.

Guitar

This column does not only list the guitar for the song but also the pick-up combinations or control settings. The denotion of the pick-up combinations is a bit inconsistent: while ‘b2’ seems to be ‘second position from bridge’ = bridge & middle, and ‘n2’ for ‘second position from neck’ = neck & middle, on Planet of New Orleans it says ‘b4’ which might be be ‘fourth position from bridge’ = neck & middle (why not ‘n2’ here ?). On Walk of Life it says ‘cent.’ which is center position (bridge & neck), and on On Every Street ‘n c’ should be ‘neck & center’ (the Schecter Strat has three individual switches, so something like ‘n2’ makes less sense here).

In addition to the pick-up combination we find notes like ‘on’, ‘out’, ‘off’, or ‘in’. On the Pensa these should have to do with the active mid boost (avtivated with a push/pull poti, I guess ‘out’ is on, ‘in’ is off). I am not sure what ‘on’ and ‘in’ might stand for, it seems only the tone control is left as a candidate (?). Please make your suggestions using the comment function.

Gain

This might be the gain setting of the pre-amp in the Cornish rack system that was the container for Knopfler’s 19″ rack effects.

TC prog

The TC was the 2290 delay, these numbers should be  of the program in which they saved the settings for each song

Del

This should be another delay, presumably the Alesis Quadraverb (or it is the Zoom 9010, see Rev/FX). Here we only find ‘checked’ (on) or not. I suspect this effect had a fixed setting and was just switched on for an additional delay effect.

Rev/FX

Maybe the Zoom 9010, or the Alesis Quadraverb, see Del above.

Reverb

The Yamaha REV 5

Wah

The fixed-psoition wah wah (a Dunlop Cry Baby) was only used for Money for Nothing, it was built into the rack.

Lead

Lead (=overdrive) channel of the Soldano amp, if not checked, the normal channel was used, see below.

(Amp)

The two Soldano SLO 100 amps were denoted with A and B.

Amp Settings (note that the Soldano controls go up to 11)

SW

These arrows correspond to the Bright (upper arrow) and Crunch switches (down should be off, up should be on)

N1 / OI

Gain control of the Normal or Overdrive channel

M / M / T

Bass / middle / treble

MO / OO

Master volume of the Normal or Overdrive channel

P

Presence control

Notes

It seems on Calling Elvis the overdrive channel was switched to the normal channel during an arpeggio (which?) , N5 and N9 can be the setting of maybe normal gain and normal master

XL 115W is the string set for the red Pensa on Two Young Lovers.

Maybe a black-out, but I have no idea which Washburn can be meant.

Some general notes

As said there were one or two more of these charts around from other concerts. What is striking is the high setting of the bass control, mind he uses two closed 4 x 12″ cabinets which have normally plenty of bass.

Amps, Mark Knopfler gear

Mark Knopfler’s JTM 45 Marshall amp of Money for Nothing and Brothers in Arms

In Guy Fletcher’s last recording diary he had a photo of Mark Knopfler’s old Marshall amp with the matching cabinet. This seems to be the same amp that was used on the original recording of both Money for Nothing and Brothers in Arms.

Marshall’s first amps were basically copies of the tweed Fender Bassman. They had the same circuit and consequently the same controls, although they looked completely different. The Fender Bassman was a combo amp with four 10″ speakers, while the Marshall was just a head that was set on a cabinet with four 12″ speakers which Marshall originall intended to be used for bass.

This first model was the JTM 45. JTM is said to stand for Jim + Terry Marshall (I have sources that say Terry was Jim’s wife and another that says it was his son), while 45 stands for 45 watts. This power came from two 5881 tubes (a military version of the 6L6 used in most Fender amps) , which was later replaced with the KT66, and again with the EL34. Generally these first amps went through many minor changes, it seems Marshall bought parts in small supplies, and when the next time a component was not available at the same value, they simply took a similar one. The first amps had a rectangle metall or plastic plate with the Marshall logo, as Knopfler’s amp has the later white plastic Marshall script, it seems to be from not before 1965.

The controls were (from left to right): presence, bass middle, treble, volume bright channel, volume normal channel.

The cabinet might be from the same period.  On stage Knopfler often used Electro Voice 12L speakers in his 4×12″ cabinets, and Guy Fletcher added in his forum that he believes that there are also EVs in this cabinet (he seems not to be 100% sure). On the other hand, it might be possible that Knopfler left the original Celestion 20w speakers in this vintage cabinet, at least this is what I would have done. The EV12L has more treble than the Celestions, however, the Celestion are softer but have a distinctive presence peak. And the EVs weigh a lot more, a roady’s nightmare.

The combination of Marshall amps and 4×12″ cabinets with Celestions is what made the British rock sound famous, a warm and soft distortion with natural compression from the amp.

Note the little patch cable that connects the second input of the right channel with the input of the left channel. This trick allows you to use both channels at the same time which results in a fatter sound.

Guitar in general, Misc

Featured artist – Richard Thompson

Let’s feature another artist today: besides Mark Knopfler, I admire the work of Richard Thompson. Richard played with England’s folk-rock band Faiport Convention in the late 60ies, and started a solo career afterwards. His first records were with his then-wife Linda Thompson who is a great singer.

Thompson has a lot of similiarities with Mark Knopfler: he is a great song writer, he is British, he has strong roots in folk music, he is a Strat hero (playing his vintage ’57 Fender Stratocaster for decades now), he often uses pick-ups 1 + 2 and often plays clean sounds over a Fender Twin Reverb, he is truely different from the mass of other players, …

Some differences: he plays with a pick plus his right-hand middle and ring fingers (like Albert Lee), he sometimes played rather weird stuff, he sells less records, …

If you don’t know him, check him out, there is a lot of stuff on youtube. I personally favour what he did in the middle-to-late 70ies or early 80ies. I put together a survey of his work over the decades, enjoy.

The first clip is for us Dire Straits + clean Strat lovers, don’t miss the guitar solos, and turn it up 🙂 Unfortunately no video, just slide show 🙁 :
– – Video not available on youtube anymore – –

Here is something melodic with Linda Thompson, folk style, a beautiful song:

… and here some more weird stuff – don’t miss the last solo (from 3:38 on) and watch how he uses the tuners for that low e string note. Note that he plays totally different from everyone who uses standard scales. By the way, the drummer is Dave Mattacks, one of my favourites. Mark played with him on a session for Joan Armatrading, on a song called ‘The shouting stage’:

– – Video not available on youtube anymore – –

Here is Richard playing solo acoustic guitar:

and another old one from Rockpalast, lots of guitar from 3:45 on:

and a more recent one:

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2006, Richard Thompson got an award from …

(picture courtesy Bryan Ledgard)

Guitars, Mark Knopfler gear, Misc

Dream Guitar album on Strat-talk.com – real or fake?

Today I surfed into the Strat-Talk.com forum where I found a photo album with 12 famous dream guitars. Among these were some Strats and Teles of David Gilmour, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, and three guitars of Mark Knopfler (the red Schecter Strat and Tele, and the red Fender), all in the same high resolution.

The question: Are these real or are they fakes? You can use the comment function to express your opinion.

Guitar in general, Misc

How to avoid RSI for guitar players – part 2

In the first article on this subject I explained what RSI is and where it results from. This second article should focus on what you can do to overcome it in case you already have problems.

Since I am not a medical doctor and do neither work in this field, I might not be competent to write about such a complex thing. For this reason everything I recommend must be “on your own risk”. Besides, everyone is different, so what worked for me might not be the right thing for you. Nevertheless, some years ago I had myself some problems with RSI, but I found help and some good ideas about it. Consequently I got rid of it rather quickly.

So, what exactly happened? At that time I was working self-employed and spent all my work time at the computer: typing and mouse clicking all day long. And after work I played guitar, which of course put more stress upon my arm muscles. One day I got a sharp pain in my right forearm, even when doing simple things like mouse-clicking, not to mention picking a guitar string. I thought it was better to stop with it for that day, but it was not better the next, and neither the day after. When I finally went to a doctor, it had become even worse, a constant pain in my arm.

What did the doctor say? He said it came from working too much, I should make a break for some time, and he prescribed some pills to reduce the pain and the inflammation, but these had a lot of unwanted side effects, which was why I was reluctant to take them (besides I never ever take pills). Not working meant no money by the way, and stopping guitar playing was a nightmare anyway, and for how long? A horror scenario.

I consulted  a second doctor, and he did and said completely different things than the first (!?). He said a tendon on the upper side of my arm was inflamed and even bounces with a little click when doing certain movements. Hmm, didn’t I tell him that I have pain mainly on the inner side of my forearam, and not on the upper side? Do they never listen? He gave me some injections – at least with a homeopathic medicament. And he prescribed some massages. He emphasized that I had to go to a particular masseur who would be the best for some reason.
I couldn’t get an appointment there before a couple of days later, so I had the next appointment at that doctor’s (for some more of these injections) before I had a chance to get the massages. I remember that the first thing the doctor asked was if I had already been to the masseur and what was his opinion about my pain – which sounded like a rather strange question to me because HE was the doctor, and a masseur, well, just massages, I thought.

The reason for pain – contracted muscles

The next day I had my first appointment for the massages. The masseur said he first had to examine my arm, and he also asked what *exactly* lead to the problems (something the doctors did not want to know). After this examination he told me that I had overused my flexor muscles, while my extension muscles were too weak. For this reason the balance between flexion and extension was disturbed, as a result my flexor muscles remained in a slightly contracted or even cramped state. The contracted muscles in the forearm lead to more tension on the tendons, which means more friction at the joints, and this is the reason for the inflammation. The pain in your wrist is a direct result of a problem somewhere else, it is simply that the tendons and joints are the weakest link in the chain and thus more susceptible for pain and inflammation.

He ‘showed’ me these contracted muscles – which means he pushed on them which resulted in a typical dull pain. This problem was not restricted to my aching forearm, there were contracted muscles also in my upper arm and at the base of the thumb in my palm (and basically all over my whole body as well, see below).

Flexor and extensor muscless are antagonist and must be both in a balanced state

This was at least some logical explanation (remember, the doctors did not explain anything at all). Within the next sessions he also pointed out to me that such a disbalance results to more disbalance, even at distant locations of the body: it changes the position of the shoulders, which again has an effect on the back and the neck, this again leads to a different body posture, which again means you are standing differently, and so on. See the body as a physical model of your skeleton, and your muscles as springs that are attached to the bones. As long all muscle tensions are balanced, everything is alright, but as soon as only one single muscle has an increased tension, all other muscles – or springs in this model – change their position a little bit to compensate the changed forces.

What to do against contracted muscles?

The remedy was easy: moving the arm. I simply had to move it as much as possible, in all directions, every muscle of the arm should be moving. By the way, this was the opposite of what the doctor ordered: he said I should rest my arm in a slope  – which I first did, but when this did not help and I felt I could’n stand it anymore, I ended this therapy. It gave me a bad feel and the pain got even worse.

The important thing about moving the arm is not to use any force, moving without the smallest hint of force. This is because the muscles are often even cramped, and it doesn’t make sense to pull on the cramped muscle, you rather had to let go instead of ‘doing’ something. It is similar to That Chi, the ancient Chinese art of moving (basically of fighting, but you are doing fighting movements in slow motion so to say). Here the key is also to reduce muscle tension (which enables you to move as fast as a lightning in a combat).

The second thing was stretching: with the help of some exercises the contracted muscles were carefully stretched, but again, it is important to release the muscle tension.

And thirdly, the antagonist muscles (those used for extension) had to be strengthened, again with some exercises.

In my case my arm was better very soon, and the pain never came back up to today – seven years later. I admit I did not really do much of the strengthening exercises, it was rather the idea of moving the arm without any force which loosened the cramps it seems.

I also got two Qigong balls – two iron balls of about 1.5″ diameter which you simply circulate around each other in your palm. This flow-like motion of all your finger joints made the hand muscles feel much smoother again – and they cost just a few dollars.

After this experience I was much more sensitized for such muscle contractions, and I suddenly managed to feel them at many places of my body. I did the same, moving these areas without any force. I even tried out That Chi and Qigong exercises, and they had a wonderful effect. Besides playing guitar, another hobby of mine is playing football (=soccer), and suddenly it happend that I could play like never before in my life. I was in a ‘total flow’, and also mentally never felt better.

I might cover some more details – like the stretching exercises – in a coming part of this article series.

Dire Straits/ Mark Knopfler live pictures and videos, Mark Knopfler gear, Misc, Misc

Pictures of Dire Straits, Live at the Zirkus Krone, Munchen, May 29, 1979

For your enjoyment, here are a few rare pictures of Dire Straits. They are from a concert in the Zirkus Krone building, Munchen, Germany, on May 29, 1979. After February 1979, they returned to Germany in May, still on the Communiqué tour.

The gear used on this part of the tour has changed slightly against February: Mark still played the #80470 maple-neck Strat (see also this article on his two red Fender Strats) and the black Fender Telecaster on Water of Love over the Morley Volume pedal, and the MXR analog delay, but now he played two of the Music Man HD 130 amps, David played a Peavey T-60 guitar, David’s black Strat was used by Mark for Setting me up now, John played two Ampeg SVT amps.

While watching these pictures in the slide show, you might want to listen to a sound clip from this concert (date and venue are probably this concert, it is sometimes denoted as Frankfurt, Loreley, June 23, 1979, which is most likely wrong). As this recording runs at a wrong speed (many shows that were recorded on cassette recorders in those days are +/- 5% wrong speed), I corrected the speed.

 

Dire Straits 1979 Munich

Mark Knopfler gear, Misc, Misc, MK guitar style and licks

Mark Knopfler on Bob Dylan’s Slow Train Coming

In May 1979 Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers were invited to play on Bob Dylan’s new album, Slow Train Coming. This was not the first session Mark Knopfler was asked to play on (he already played on the   Steely Dan song Time out of Mind and with Mavis Staple before), but it was the first session for a complete album.

The idea came from Barry Becket and Jerry Wexler, the producers of Dire Straits’ second album Communique, which was recorded in December 1978. Becket and Wexler were als the producers of Slow Tran Coming and suggested the Dire Straits lead guitarist and drummer to join the band for that session (Becket himself played the  keyboards, and Tim Drummond was on bass). Dylan saw Dire Straits first on their first US tour in the Roxy, Los Angeles, in March ’79. He was deeply impressed and agreed.

Slow Train Coming was Dylan’s first album after his conversion to Christianity (he was Jewish before), so “all songs were about God” (quote Mark Knopfler, who seemed to be puzzled a bit by this circumstance). The sound and the arrangements of almost the whole album are not too far away from Dire Straits’ first two albums. The 9 songs feature some superb guitar playing by Knopfler, and Pick Withers creative drumming adds a lot of colour and underlines his importance for the Dire Straits sound of that time.

The album was recorded at the famous Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama.

Guitars on Slow Train Coming

Knopfler took the following guitars to the session:

1) A red Fender Stratocaster (my source does not mention which of his two, but since his maple neck Strat (# 80470) was much more used around this time, I would vote for this one)

2) his sunburst Telecaster Custom (the same that is today used for high G-tuning , picture courtesy of Guy Fletcher))

3) a National (he had two at this time, the Style-O of Brothers in Arms fame, and a Tricone from the late 20ies, both are possible)

4) three Ovations ( a 6 & 12 string Adamas – see picture, from the Love over Gold recording session in 1982, and a Custom legend)

5) He also played a Gibson 335 on at least the title track, which was suggested by Barry Becket for a different sound and was borrowed from someone down there)

There is no information on effects and amps available. Knopfler used the Music Man HD 130 212 on stage at this time, from what the ears can tell us, the Music Man might be used on Slow Train Coming, if not then a Fender seems likely.

The songs

1. Gotta serve somebody

A rather simple tune with just the chords Am, Dm, and Em. Knopfler plays a subtle rhythm riff with the neck pick-up of possibly the sunburst Telecaster (the red Strat should sound fatter due to the DiMarzio FS-1 it had in the neck position around that time). This guitar part features bits of Knopfler’s typical staccato picking on two or three strings and is worth a listen.

2. Precious Angel

This song in the key of Eb (chords are Eb, Ab, Bb, and Cm) features two acoustic rhythm guitars, both strummed with a pick. I guess Knopfler played both, or one is played by Dylan (he is credited for guitar as well in the cover notes).

There is a wonderful two-string riff that opens the song and appears between the single verses. It makes use of the Memphis Scale. It is one of my all-time favourite guitar sounds. For a long time I thought it to be the red Strat with the neck pick-up, but meanwhile I tend to believe it is the Telecaster Custom (same argument as for Gotta serve somebody, also a friend once came up with a beautiful 1967 Telecaster in Candy Apple red which had exactly the same sound). Besides the riff and Knopfler’s typical licks between Dylan’s vocal lines, there is a great solo before the last verse, and another one in the outro.

3. I believe in You

Again a strummed acoustic rhythm guitar – I guess it is Mark Knopfler, the timing is close to perfection so it must be him ;). Just like in Precious Angel a lead guitar with the neck pick-up position plays fills and a few wonderful solos. To me it seems to be the same guitar and amp as on the song before. Obviously a volume pedal is used on both songs.

4. Slow Train Coming

The lead guitar is a Gibson 335. The sound is a typical blues sound a la Albert King, but there is just a bit of subtle distortion. The song is in the key of Am and has the chords Am, Dm, Am F, Dm, Am (you will hear when the changes are, it is a really simple song). The rhythm guitar on the left channel is surely Knopfler, here it seems to be the red Strat.

5. Change your way of Thinking

This song build on Mark Knopfler’s three-string riff (over the chords Am, Dm, Em, however, all are played without thirds, see this article about the no-thirds business). Possibly this guitar is the same as on Slow Train Coming (the Es 335), however, a Telecaster with some distortion seems possible as well. The lead guitar has a similar sound, it might be the same guitar as well. Much great lead guitar, many blues and rock licks.

6. Do Right to me Baby

This is a rather hidden diamond on this album. Knopfler’s picking on the National is superb, listen to the way it blends with Pick Wither’s tasteful drums. Chords are B, E, D. The National might be open G with a capo at the 4th fret.

7. When you Gonna Wake up

Not too much guitar in this song with – again – the chords Am, Dm, and Em. The refrain-like part has a few nice D, C, G, F chords thrown in. Knopfler plays the rhythm guitar – I vote for the red Strat – on the left channel, that nicely counteracts with Becket’s keyboards on the right channel.

8. Man gave Names to all the Animals

This one sounds like a children song with a nice reggae groove. Knopfler plays a strummed acoustic reggare rhythm on the left channel.

9. When he Returns

Just piano and vocals here.

Just for the record: Three more songs were recorded on this session and made it to a single b-side or to some bootlegs. These were Ye shall be changed, Trouble in Mind, and Ain’t No Man righteous.

The CD Slow Train Coming has been available in the CBS Nice Price series for a long time, and still does not cost much. If you like early Knopfler guitar work and don’t have it, it is an absolute must have. You won’t regret it. You can follow these links to buy it directly at Amazon.

Amazon.com  . . . . . Amazon.co.uk . . . . .  Amazon.de

Misc

How to hear more on a recording than normal ears can hear

Have you ever tried to transcribe a solo from a recording and you wished you could hear that guitar better in the mix than you actually did? Or did you ask yourself if there is chorus or not, or any other effects? Instead, the vocals, the bass, the drums, everything is louder than what you are trying to listen to, and for this reason you have no chance to hear what you want. Wouldn’t it be great to have a tool with which you can only hear that guitar alone, without the other instruments?

In fact this would be a dream for me, but such a thing does not exist, and despite all new technology maybe never will. But still there is something that sometimes does at least a bit of this and might help you to hear those things better – or at least to hear completely different – than you normally do: the Ingo Raven Super-miracle-transcriber-eliminator…

OK, let’s stop kidding, but in fact some years ago I accidentally came across something exactly like this: my headphones were damaged and for some reason I randomly heard everything completely different: some instruments totally disappeared, others were much louder, and I could hear guitar parts or notes that I didn’t really hear before. I examined what had happend and found a way to do exactly the same with any non-damaged headphones. What does this sound like. Well, listen for yourself:

 

Ever heard that over-dubbed guitar playing those chords in Southbound Again? – And that phrasing of the rhythm guitar in Skateaway? – A flanger on the reverb of the vocals in Calling Elvis! – Some notes never heard that clear on the riff in Setting me up – Listen to the thumb of the rhythm guitar on In the Gallery, and a Chorus in that “he couldn’t be” part

I guess this should be similar to what some karaoke machines might do – but I have to admit I never really tried out one of these myself. Actually all signals that are exactly in the center of the stereo panorama are cancelled out – often just their reverb cloud remains because this is normally stereo -, while instruments that are rather on only the left or right stereo channel become much louder.

I tried to achieve the same with software plug-ins, I was sure that it should be posible, but the results I got so far did not convince me (however I admit I stopped after a few attempts). My tool is simply a headphone cable adaptor. Plug it into your stereo or mp3-player, your headphones into the adaptor, and you will hear it exactly like on the sound clip above.

If you want one of these, I can send you the adaptor for 9,95 € + postage (2€ within Europe, 4 € for the rest of the world). There is a version for large (1/4 ” /6,5 mm) or small (1/8 ” / 3.5 mm) phone jacks, or versions with mixed jacks (large to small or small to large jacks). Please email me at ingo(at)mk-guitar.com to tell me which version you want, and your address. I will send you a Paypal request then. If you don’t want to use Paypal we can try to find another solution.

Amps, Dire Straits/ Mark Knopfler live pictures and videos, Effects, Guitars, Mark Knopfler gear

Amps and Gear on the Dire Straits Bootleg Leeds 1978

The bootleg Dire Straits – Leeds – January 30 (31?), 1978 is one of the earliest Dire Straits live recordings (actually the only earlier live recording is  only one song – Eastbound Train from the Hope & Anchor pub, London, December 1977). This bootleg concert was recorded about one week before the recoding sessions for the very first Dire Straits album. This gig was the last of a short England tour, where Dire Straits played support for the Talking Heads. For this reason they did not play a full-length concert set.

The bootleg is from a soundboard recording on a tape cassette and contains the following songs: Southbound Again – Eastbound Train – Down to the Waterline – In the Gallery – Water of Love – Setting me up – Me and my friends – Real Girl – Sultans of Swing

Unfortunately the original tape  was damaged in the solo of the first song – Southbound Again – the reason why the last part of this song is missing. It continues with Eastbound Train (first seconds also missing), but we don’t know how long it took to fix the tape problem (or even to notice the problem) so we don’t know whether there have been any other songs in between or not.

There are no pictures or videos of this concert, but there are a few pictures around from the concert one day before, January 29, at the Roundhouse in London. These pictures are all black&white, but on some you can see a part of the backline gear, which has been very likely the same for all concerts on that tour. The best picture is the following, a rather small picture from a story in Q magazine from 1987.

It is rather hard to see any details. What you can see are three amps. The one in the middle (behind Knopfler’s head) is the brown Fender Vibrolux (he still owns this amp and uses it in his British Grove studios). The square-shaped amp on the left of it is also a Fender, as it seems a black face, and according to the proportions a 4 x 10″ combo. I first suspected it to be a Super Reverb, but meanwhile think it is a Fender Concert Amp (no reverb). The amp on the right is a Music Man, and is probably played by Mark’s brother David. It is not the 212 Music Man that Knopfler used later this year because this would be higher than the Vibrolux. It must be a 2 x 10″ combo.

The guitar is Mark’s maple-neck Fender # 80470, with its white non-original pickguard (see this article for more information on the pickguard issue). The guitar behind Mark seems to be his rosewood Fender # 68354, I suspect it is still bare wood finish here, I assume it was painted red not before summer that year.

As it seems David plays his Fender Strat, the one that later was black, but here it is also still wood finish (possibly both were refinished at the same time). Unfortunately you cannot see any effects or other details.