Knopflers Auction Guitar list 31 jan

Haych

Oddly enough, I never really liked the quilted Pensa very much. It’s a nice thing to look at but it’s one of those guitars that looks more like furniture than a musical instrument. 

I much preferred the look and sound of his previous black Pensa. 

The quilted one also has a strange tone to me. It works for the songs on the OES album but when he used it on Money for Nothing and Solid Rock live it didn’t have the same energy somehow and sounded a bit thin and nasally. The cleaner sounds were quite good though. 

Still, must have been a treat to play it. I didn’t know that was an option or I might have asked if I could have had a closer look at the black Schecter Tele. 

Offset

A great gesture from MK as far as the charity contribution goes - really admirable and kudos to him.

For me, MK is a reverse mirror image of Eric Clapton.  I can't stand Dire Straits' music but I admire Knopler's playing and technique.  I don't like Clapton's playing or admire his technique, but I have liked a lot of his music over the years.

prowla

Well, I looked at some of the results on the BBC news and the estimates were ridiculously low (eg. estimate £10-15k, sold for $592k); I can't imagine any data resuting from them being remotely useful to anybody.

Voxman

Haych said:

Still, must have been a treat to play it. I didn’t know that was an option or I might have asked if I could have had a closer look at the black Schecter Tele. 

It certainly felt very special indeed, simply because of what it was and who it belonged to & the history. If you're a registered bidder, they've checked your financials, and booked in advance, I think you could play certain guitars through an amp - I did ask, but they were booked up in the room they'd set aside for this. This was only because I got chatty with one of the very nice ladies there on the auction team.

@CaseOfAce ;;;;
What was it like Voxman? I know you mentioned the action being on high side (though I'm assuming not cheese grater) but was it light, resonant. Did you pick it up and immediately think ..wow best instrument I've ever played or was it more a case of oh this is nice but I prefer my Fender sorta thing?
I can sort of figure it would be a lot like other Suhr's I've played but I'm curious what the difference would be here.

Difficult to say without being plugged in especially as it has active p/ups. It felt very nice, very comfortable, well balanced and looked lovely especially as its a one piece body. Acoustically it didn't seem to ring out any more than say my Gibson SG or 2002 PRS Cu24 and in many ways it actually felt very similar to the PRS re shape and weight (and even the colour wasn't totally dis-similar to the vintage amber of my Cu24). Action certainly wasn't high and I'd say it's probably quite normally low - it's just that I tend to play with quite a low action and my PRS is lower.  It did have quite a large back plate but that's because the HB pickup is rear mounted. 

     

RickLucas

I was fortunate to have a tinker on one of his Pensas once. It was lovely, with a big fat neck and massive frets.

guitars4you

Voxman said:

Now that the auctions over I think it's OK to post this pic my wife took when we went to Christie's when they very kindly let me (very carefully of course) sit with & strum the Mk1 Pensa Suhr for a few minutes.  It went for over 10 x my budget but at least I had a wonderful moment - of course I just had to play some Sultans on it, didn't I!  

And my wife was really supportive - she liked the red Strats and hoped I could get one - but sadly even the stock MK signature Strats went for crazy money too. She thought the '59 looked just like my LP Custom....aw, bless her! 

Such memories will stay with you -  I recall playing the Pete Green/Gary Moore LP in Manchester a few years ago - Just me and that guitar in a secure room for about 15 mins - Whilst the guitar was at best 'underwhelming' the experience of opening the case, looking then touching etc was like a kid at Disney World with all the magical fairy dust etc 

As I mentioned earlier, sadly they are no longer guitars, certainly no longer tools of the trade - They are now iconic pieces of memorabilia, with prices to match the egotistical needs of their owners etc

But glad you'll treasure such moments

Rob1742

prowla said:

Well, I looked at some of the results on the BBC news and the estimates were ridiculously low (eg. estimate £10-15k, sold for $592k); I can't imagine any data resuting from them being remotely useful to anybody.

Low reserves to draw more peopl in. More noise, more bidders. 

guitars4you

prowla said:

Well, I looked at some of the results on the BBC news and the estimates were ridiculously low (eg. estimate £10-15k, sold for $592k); I can't imagine any data resuting from them being remotely useful to anybody.

Exactly 

That is my whole point about them no longer having a purpose as a guitar - And then how do you measure the desirability of one big guitar hero over and other and the relevant demand and prices 

motorhead

guitars4you said:

prowla said:

Well, I looked at some of the results on the BBC news and the estimates were ridiculously low (eg. estimate £10-15k, sold for $592k); I can't imagine any data resuting from them being remotely useful to anybody.

Exactly 

That is my whole point about them no longer having a purpose as a guitar - And then how do you measure the desirability of one big guitar hero over and other and the relevant demand and prices 

I'm sure somebody has tinkered with models that look at record and ticket sales in various currencies at various points in time and can spit out sample price ranges based on demographics and so on. But it's probably easier to start the bidding at eBay prices and let the market sort the rest. As an aside, a friend of a friend spent some months researching the selection and pricing of this lot, with MK. But was young enough to be oblivious to the significance and considered it just another job.

I read this morning that another auction is coming up soon, and included is Marty McFly's Hondo Chiquita, expected to reach $200k. I did some googling, it seems Dusty Hill had one of those too and it sold for $5-6k or so. Meanwhile, Reverb has or had one for $500. I wouldn't half that for a Hondo anything but each to their own.

trevA

oops...

https://reverb.com/uk/item/79179600-mj-franks-legacy-dreadnaught-2010-red-spruce-mark-knopfler-personal-collection-auction-christies-live-31st-jan-2024


https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6465809

Yorkie

One good thing about all this is that everyone knows exactly how much he paid in the first place.

Chris.B

I'm not really familiar with Reverb, but that listing looks a bit odd. The ex-Knopfler guitar is the only listing by that seller. Zero feedback suggests that it is the first item to be sold.

Google shows no other mentions of the seller, I would have expected a business selling such a high end instrument to have some history. 

Could it be a private seller who got in too deep and needs a quick sale, hence the price, or is it something more suspicious? 

digitalscream

Chris.B said:

I'm not really familiar with Reverb, but that listing looks a bit odd. The ex-Knopfler guitar is the only listing by that seller. Zero feedback suggests that it is the first item to be sold.

Google shows no other mentions of the seller, I would have expected a business selling such a high end instrument to have some history. 

Could it be a private seller who got in too deep and needs a quick sale, hence the price, or is it something more suspicious? 

Well, based on that listing, they're about to lose five grand or so. Ouchies.

AK99

Chris.B said:

I'm not really familiar with Reverb, but that listing looks a bit odd. The ex-Knopfler guitar is the only listing by that seller. Zero feedback suggests that it is the first item to be sold.

Google shows no other mentions of the seller, I would have expected a business selling such a high end instrument to have some history. 

Could it be a private seller who got in too deep and needs a quick sale, hence the price, or is it something more suspicious? 

I think there might be a slight clue in the listing..
 "I cant for the life of me think how i won this guitar(neither can my wife) and so sadly i have to re sell"

Yorkie

Chris.B said:

I'm not really familiar with Reverb, but that listing looks a bit odd. The ex-Knopfler guitar is the only listing by that seller. Zero feedback suggests that it is the first item to be sold.

Google shows no other mentions of the seller, I would have expected a business selling such a high end instrument to have some history. 

Could it be a private seller who got in too deep and needs a quick sale, hence the price, or is it something more suspicious? 

It may not be up to date, but Christie's page states this on the item's current location: 

Important information about this lot

• Post sale offsite storage

  This lot will be transferred to an offsite warehouse after the sale. Please see the Storage and Collection pages in the Conditions of Sale for more information about storage charges and collection details.

  
  

Voxman

I wonder how many buyers woke up a few days later with buyers remorse after having got caught up in bidding frenzy.  I mean the 83 Les Paul, yes, it was the one in the video for MFN - but on the BIA album didn't he use a LP Junior through his (then) newly acquired Laney combo amp?  I wonder if the buyer who paid, with VAT, well over £600k for it knew that!

I mean it's one thing to buy something that was used on well known tracks eg the Tele Schecter on Walk of Life or the Pensa's on various vids.  Or even his first red Hofner that has some famous history.  But it's the ridiculous prices paid for the more 'average/cheap' guitars he just owned and aren't famous for anything that I don't get. For example, £32,760 plus VAT (on the premium part) ie £35k+ for Watkins Rapier 33.  Just because MK owned it? (ditto the Burns guitars etc).  If its just for personal pleasure then fine, but if bought for investment (and so many were) who in their right mind would want to buy these at those prices or even higher??    

World's gone mad & IMHO these are just rich people with more money than sense!  

AK99

^ There are a few famous/semi-famous guitars hanging round Hard-Rock Café type establishments around the world. Could be some of those guitars are possibly bought through the business, written off as marketing expenses / Vat reclaimable / treated as depreciating assets etc (or may even turn out to be an investment which increases in value) and viewed as something that helps draw punters into an establishment.

If I were in such a position, could be tempted to have a bit of fun with the company chequebook and give the accountants a bit of a challenge while I was at it

motorhead

AK99 said:

If I were in such a position, could be tempted to have a bit of fun with the company chequebook and give the accountants a bit of a challenge while I was at it

Any accountant who's worked in a place run by a racing / rallying wannabe should be well able for it.

Haych

Voxman said:

I wonder how many buyers woke up a few days later with buyers remorse after having got caught up in bidding frenzy.  I mean the 83 Les Paul, yes, it was the one in the video for MFN - but on the BIA album didn't he use a LP Junior through his (then) newly acquired Laney combo amp?  I wonder if the buyer who paid, with VAT, well over £600k for it knew that!  

There is much ambiguity around the song and the gear used but this might add some clarity:

Eve, who was shadowing Knopfler’s guitar tech Pete Brewis at the time, has cleared up the garbled mythology of the ‘Money For Nothing’ amp set-up for us: Mark recorded the Les Paul through a Marshall JTM 45 amplifier head, which belonged to Eve at the time and has since passed into Mark’s collection (see footnote to lot 40), and a Laney 4 x 12 speaker cabinet that belonged to AIR Studios. Minus the wah-wah, the same set up would be used to record ‘Brothers In Arms’.

Source here.

Rob1742

Looking at the one that instantly ended up on reverb, probably down to an over exuberant bidder.

When I went to auction with my mate, I was telling him how much I really wanted to come back with a guitar. They all had prices on them between £10-£20k.

My mate in his wisdom said “ look, you don’t want to have regrets, you don’t want to come away thinking that you’ve missed out on one just for the price of a car, just think of this when you are bidding” 

So when I was the highest bidder at £80k, he said afterwards

” I told you not to have any regrets and miss out for the price of a car, but I didn’t mean a fuckin Aston Martin”

It was a great day out, lots of fun, excitement.