Martin
Brand Martin 
Type D-42
Year 2000
Serial number 752823
Additional info The logo CF MARTIN inlaid at the headstock, stamped internally: Martin & Co. / EST. 1833 / D-42 / 752823

The first Martin that Mark Knopfler was seen playing on stage was this D-42, used live for Who's your baby now and Speedway at Nazareth during the Sailing to Philadelphia tour 2001.

Originally provided as a courtesy loan from C.F. Martin & Co. ahead of the tour in February 2001, Knopfler liked the guitar so much that he purchased the instrument after the tour in December 2001.

The Japanese magazine The guitar featured a great article in 2001 listing all of Mark Knopfler's guitars which he used on the Sailing to Philadelphia tour 2001. The article featured seperate photos of each of these guitars. Click here for a photo of this Martin D-42.

This guitar was auctioned at Christie's in London on 31st January 2024. It was sold for 69.300 Pounds.

 

Brand Martin 
Type HD-40 MK Signature Edition
Year 2001
Serial number Unknown
Additional info All the songs on The ragpicker’s dream were written on this guitar, as were several songs on Shangri-La and All the roadrunning. The guitar was released as a limited edition, just 251 ones were made. Mark Knopfler's unique signature is inlaid in mother of pearl on the neck of the guitar. On 24th January 2001, the dinosaur species Masiakasaurus knopfleri was found and named after Knopfler by paleontologist Scott Sampson and his crew because they were listening to Dire Straits recordings when they discovered the species. Nice detail of this Martin guitar is that the neck block has laser-etched dinosaur Masiakasaurus knopfleri on it.
 

Mark received the first prototype on 25th July 2001, the guitar went in production in January 2002.

Click here for another nice picture of Mark and this guitar.

 

Brand Martin 
Type HD-40 MK Signature Edition
Year 2001
Serial number Unknown
Additional info Mark used this guitar for Marbletown at the AOL Sessions, New York, USA, 15th November 2002. It is a similar guitar to the one above, but this one has block inlays instead of dot markers on the neck. It seems they changed that once they went in production.

 

Brand Martin 
Type 000-40S "Ragpicker's Dream" Signature Edition
Year 2006
Serial number #2
Additional info The logo CF Martin & Co. inlaid at the headstock, labelled internally CF Martin & Co. / EST. 1833 / OOO-40S Mark Knopfler / "Ragpicker's Dream" Signature Edition / #2 of 155 / C.F. MARTIN & CO., INC. / Nazareth, Pennsylvania • Made in USA and signed Mark Knopfler / CF Martin IV, stamped internally on the neck block 1146138, the guitar fitted with an L.R. Baggs pickup, of a natural finish.


The guitar has a special “Ragpicker’s Dream” designation laser etched on the neck block (this picture is not from this actual guitar, Mark's guitar has numer 1146138 on it). Mark Knopfler's unique signature is inlaid in mother of pearl between the 18th and 20th frets.

Click here for a photo where you can see Mark with his new signature Martin acoustic being photographed by Simon Tutchener, the lighting designer from the All the roadrunning tour. The photo was made during Production Rehearsals for that tour, May 2006. Click here for some more info. And see here a nice picture of Mark with this guitar together with Joe Brown on 24th September 2009.

This guitar was auctioned at Christie's in London on 31st January 2024. It was sold for 88.200 Pounds.

 

Brand Martin 
Type Unknown
Year Unknown
Serial number Unknown
Additional info On 27th April 2016, John McCusker was presented with the Good Tradition Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Mark Knopfler joined John and his band to play Haul away at the awards ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall.

Mark played on a Martin guitar which is different compared to the Martin listed above. This guitar has no number under the logo on the headstock. See another picture of that performance here.

 

Brand Martin 
Type Size 5 Mini Martin
Year 2006
Serial number Unknown
Additional info This is a Size 5 Mini Martin (Terz 12-Fret) made by C.F. Martin & Co. Mark used this guitar on the recording of Remembrance Day for the Get lucky album (2010). The screenshot on the left is taken from that actual recording session. It can also be seen on the Tracker EPK and is pictured on the litho print in the Tracker box-set.

The guitar is one of a run of just 295 made.

 

Brand Martin 
Type OO-30
Year Circa 1917
Serial number 12560
Additional info Stamped C.F. MARTIN & CO / NAZARETH, PA to the reverse of the headstock and internally, also stamped 12560 internally, of a natural finish. And see here another internal stamp.



Production of the OO-30 model began in 1899 and ended in 1921. In these intervening 23 years, C.F Martin would produce only 101 of these small rosewood bodied guitars. A total of 12 were built in 1917, with this example being one of a batch of five made that year with the serial numbers from 12558 to 12562.


Purchased in 2007 from Fat Dog’s Subway Guitars in Berkeley, California, Mark Knopfler used this rare antique instrument to record the song Good as gold on his 2009 solo studio album Get lucky, recorded at British Grove Studios from October 2008 to March 2009.

See here and here for other pictures of this guitar.

American multi-instrumentalist Greg Leisz used the OO-30 during recording of the bonus track Fat chance dupree, featured on the 2024 album One deep river.



 

 

This guitar was auctioned at Christie's in London on 31st January 2024. It was sold for 63.000 Pounds.

 

Brand Martin 
Type D-18
Year 1935
Serial number Unknown
Additional info This guitar is featured on some promotional pictures for the Get lucky album and the screenshot on the left is taken from the Privateering EPK. Mark Knopfler got this guitar as a present from his friend Paul Kennerly. Vintage Guitar magazine (February 2014) published a nice photo of this guitar. It can also be seen on the Tracker EPK and is pictured on the litho print in the Tracker box-set. Click here for a stunning picture of this guitar.

 

Brand Martin 
Type D-28
Year 1951
Serial number 119213
Additional info Bearing the logo C.F. Martin & Co / EST. 1833 at the headstock, stamped C.F. MARTIN & CO / NAZARETH, PA and D-28 / 119213 internally, of a natural finish.



Mark Knopfler purchased this acoustic guitar from the Vintage Guitar Emporium on New Kings Road in London in April 2017 and immediately put it to use in the recording studio.

Knopfler used the Martin D-28 to record the song Nobody’s child and bonus track Pale imitation at British Grove Studios for his solo studio album Down the road wherever, released in November 2018. Knopfler has since recorded three tracks on the D-28 for his tenth solo studio album One deep river.

And there are 20 or so musical numbers Knopfler wrote and recorded during a 2018 project to rewrite his acclaimed Local Hero soundtrack for the stage, of which Game over was recorded on this guitar. Most recently, the 1951 acoustic was photographed by keyboardist and album co-producer Guy Fletcher as one of a group of guitars used during album recording sessions at British Grove Studios in 2022. Knopfler used the D-28 to record the song Smart money..

 

This guitar was auctioned at Christie's in London on 31st January 2024. It was sold for 81.900 Pounds.

 

Brand Martin 
Type Unknown
Year Unknown
Serial number Unknown
Additional info This guitar is played by Mark Knopfler on the 2019 documentary "A life on the road" by Brian Johnson. One of the songs played on it was Matchstick man.

 

Brand Martin
Type Unknown
Year Unknown
Serial number Unknown
Additional info Mark used this guitar during the meet and greet before Mark Knopfler's gigs in London, UK, May 2008. Type of this guitar is unknown to me.

 

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