The Pensa-Suhr was an object of desire when I was a teenager, and as an adult flying to New York to meet Rudy and him building mine was unbelievably special. He told me all the stories about it, Phil and Mak who made it were awesome to talk to. Can't believe Mark is selling it.

I flew from Barcelona to New York and was able to buy Pensa-Suhr in 1991 because of Mark.

I sold Mark two of the guitars that were sold in this auction back in 2005... One was a Brazilian Blue '57 Les Paul Reissue that sold for 206 K and a 1965 Gibson Dove Acoustic that sold for 110k... Glad that he donated a percentage of the proceeds... Cheers Mark ! Rudy @GRNY Inc.

Went to see the collection on Sunday. Very surreal/emotional seeing some of them in the flesh with the Straits music playing in the background. Very much end of an era vibes. I'd love to put a bid on a couple of smaller items but the sales fee is £260 per £1k spent so bear that in mind!

I have loved the MK1 since I watched the VHS of On The Night in the mid-1990s. The look, the feel, the fact it is made for Mark Knopfler and nobody else. I am a very happy fan because the Dire Straits Live 1978-1992 box sets includes versions of Sultans of Swing, Telegraph Road and Tunnel of Love all played on this beautiful guitar and available on vinyl and CD for the first time. And we have a brand new studio album only months away. We are so lucky.

The magic is in Marks fingers and songwriting. The guitars are, in his own words, just wire and wood.

I’m gonna make or get a replica of that Pensa-Suhr one day. Such a beautiful, iconic guitar.

I am fortunate enough to have an 85 Pensa-Suhr. I purchased it from Rudy's when I was living over in New York back in the 80s. I've used it on thousands of sessions. Ace guitar.

I remember the Pensa-Suhr from Guitar World ads from ye olden 90s. Always got your attention even in a sea of Hamers, PRS's etc.

No idea this auction was on, I'd have totally gone to London to see these beauties!

The second Guitar Player magazine I ever bought was the Sept 1984 issue that had Mark and that Schecter on the cover. The July 84 issue with King Edward was the first.

I'm a luthier and seeing these instruments is wonderful. I had a customer recently that is a huge MK fan and wanted a unique instrument t capture the various eras in one. I built him a tele style instrument that is very much like the Pensa in image but it has a b-bender in it and Gibson scale length. It pretty much nails all the eras in one and works well. Love for Mark to have tried it.

John Suhr is an amazing luthier. All his work is top notch!

Great review, thank you, gentlemen!

Never noticed the lack of pickup surround on bridge p/u on the Suhr. Cool!

That Pensa is as beautiful as a six string can get. And a lovely tone it has too. Look up the performance of "I Think I Love you too Much" from Knebworth concert or the Money for Nothing face melter at the Prince's Trust, both with Eric Clapton. If only...

I could die happy if I could own that red Schecter tele. Walk of Life introduced me to Dire Straits and I doubt I’d play guitar today if I hadn’t heard it. I hope the lucky winner of that instrument plays it every day.

Elles sont si belles ces 🎸 🎸 guitares de Mark Knopfler ❤❤❤❤❤

That Pensa-Suhr looked incredible up close.

These legendary guitars are too much iconic and deserved to be in a museum. It's sad for me.

Takes a great performer to lure (so to speak )such great instruments and craft such memorable tracks that have worked themselves in our psyche and forever reside there…

Mine was purchased used , however its a Suhr carved top . The bloke that requested the build wanted it to be as identical as possible even down to a one piece maple top. Only difference is my headstock reads Suhr. The build quality is amazing and soooo nice to play.

There are so many guitars that Mark is associated with but that MK1 was like part of him as he started using it heavily from 88 onward. I have seen so many performances with him playing that thing. Very surprised he actually is letting this one go as that guitar is a character in itself. I guarantee the auctions low "estimate" is not even close to what the MK1 will bring. The other one I loved he auctioned off 20 years ago which was the sunburst Schecter Dream Machine.

I’m glad he didn’t decide to auction off the resonator because nobody else can play Romeo and Juliet on it properly.

I had a Suhr that was extremely similar and I sold it because I just couldn’t resist the profit. Miss that guitar.

I’m registered and plan to bid on a couple of the lower-valued guitars. I am a mediocre guitar player but revere MK as both a musician and a songwriter.

I'm glad he isn't selling his red Strat. To me that IS Dire Straits.

Forget those boring LPs and teles, That Pensa Suhr is a Mona Lisa among kindergarten drawings.

That Suhr is an absolute beauty! I wouldn’t sell it, Mark

Kerry is a great seller. '1983 gibson 59 repro, at this point Gibson is really hitting their stride making repros' lol no they werent but they were better than majority of 70s les paul, but nothing revered. THis les paul is great and historic for different reasons

There are some inaccuracies here. Mark owned a Les Paul Junior before Dire Straits was founded and used it in the early days. He also used Hal Lindes’ Gibson SG on Two Young Lovers, both the studio recording and the live versions. That guitar has humbuckers. It also wasn’t used in the road past 1986, so saying it was used for the next decade and a half is a stretch. It was used in the studio during On Every Street, and that’s as much as is known publicly. He used the other reissue and his two originals from ‘96 onwards.

As far as I'm concerned nor Knopfler or Pensa never gave any credit to John Suhr being him the real brain behind the guitar and also John was working all night long for the guitar to be delivered to the man on time for a gig. Of course being Suhr one fo the best manufacturers out there, finally they had to talk about it but in my opinion they were quite ungrateful.

I wonder what guitars Knopfler has left in his collection? Seems he's sold everything. Must agree however on the Les Paul comments. Mine is so heavy I can really only play it for perhaps 30 mins before my back says, "stop".

In my experience, both playing with fingers and with a pick affect the guitar the same, as far as picking hand scratching is concerned. Mark is just very careful with his guitars in the first place, that's why they look like new even after so many years, except for belt scratches and stuff like this.

I went to it on Sunday. If I was well I would have spoken to the people there. I've studied Mark Knopfler and his guitars for 36 years. I know every detail down to the paints mixed, the part number of the dress nuts used on the Schecter strat. I've done it all day everyday since I was in school in the 80s. In 1990 when I was 15, my Mum arranged with Liz and Paul Cummings to meet Mark for a chat in an office. In 2004 I met Rudy and played in the shop. His words were 'wow I thought Marco was the best' he played a CD to his wife and she thought it was Mark. Since 2007 I have been uploading videos playing. I deleted all the originals. But the views are now 1.8 million. I was getting emails all day, offers to teach people in person in their countries to stay at theirs. People wanting to known things. Gear, playing. I was the first one doing this. From the 80s when tribute bands didn't exist I was playing Dire Straits only at 12 years old in 1986 in pubs. Thousands of people have told me I changed their lives and one friend told me he now had his dream job at Fender because of me teaching him. I've never charged. I helped everyone and there's now people all over the world playing in tribute bands that learnt from me. I've never had a job. I was put on drugs when I left school for ocd. 6 years ago I was very severely injured by Drs and now have an injured brain and body. My hands are disabled. I can't play. I tried to get to the exhibition with brain damage on the train. I couldn't, the guards sat me in a room. My body going mad, seizures, can't see etc. A week later my sister took me. I would like to have held the 3 guitars. It's been obsession all day everyday since nearly 40 years. In School I did nothing but listen to Dire Straits on my personal cassette player and draw Pensa Suhr headstocks on my books. Every family holiday with my parents and siblings was spent going to guitar shops around the country trying to find Schecter's. I went to the Halcyon Hotel in Holland Park in 1991 and took photos in the same position as the tv documentary showing the Notting Hillbillies going in. This was an all day everyday thing. I've got some videos here of my playing. Also, if you listen to Matchstick man, Mark uses the same line and phrasing as me. He's heard my own songs I was told. Mine was released a year before his. Search Stefan Ray Price 'Turning Away'. My Mark Knopfler playing. kzfaq.info/sun/PLACe-tNVjWEuX53AaEs4cn4dt-36RBh7O&si=kOKVAA7j0tCfU4LS

Yeah that Pensa is the coolest guitar by far, so iconic

I watched the auction live with much interest. I would imagine its the last we ever see of some of these fine instruments as they will now be locked away in a vault. Kind of sad really. Mark was their master, no one will ever get the palate of tone from them again.

Recently I bought my life dream…the Suhr Legacy guitar. I payed it, like than a eye! Very expensive guitar but awesome instrument

This sold this afternoon for £460,000! wow, I wonder who bought it. The '59 Les Paul.

Red is always faster ! Looking good !

Everyone selling an early 80’s Les Paul just put there prices up 😂😂

Of course, almost none of the real 59 bursts from his collection are in this auction(only one he inherited in early 2000s) nor legendary fenders from the 54-62. Real iconic peaces that he has are not for sale.

John Suhr is the man!

I'm asking out loud if Rudy Pensa can actually build a guitar ? I have never seen him doing anything, it were all others doing that in his shop for him.

Mark have said in a GP interview that the reissue wasn't that great after he got the real deal vintage 1959 FWIW

The back plate on the Pensa-Suhr MK1 is necessary for the Floyd rose bridge, and had to be cut out anyhow to accommodate it's springs, so to also use it to mount the bridge pickup just comes in handy as an extra bonus. The Floyd rose bridge was nothing new, and neither was the Fender Stratocaster bridge (much older) it is a vast improvement of, and both share the same spring rout! I highly doubt that they did all that, just because they couldn't get a cream mounting ring for the pickup, because I was building guitars back then and they were easily had: Most Humbucker pickups came with the mounting ring and hardware, and the cream pickup came with cream mounting rings! They were not some unobtainium, and to say so is absurd, because they are often made together to go together, and are made of the very same material! The real question I can imagine people asking about it would be: Why is it sticking out instead of being recessed, as they are on most guitars that use a Strat type vibrato system? That's only common on dirt cheep guitars where they cut as many corners as they can.

National '37, red Schecter, and white FendSuhr didn't go to auction ...

This is some nice ASMR

All I know mark for is that fiesta red fender Stratocaster. Not even a fender here… -.-

Why are they being sold ?

No iconic '61 red strat which he wrote/gigged the first album on or vintage resonator from Romeo and Juliet in the sale. Those would have blown the roof off too

Obviously he's keeping the red strat...

I think this guitars should be in a hall of fame rock and roll museum, not in some hedge fund/investment private collections.

Imagine owning The Live Aid Les Paul….?

Pensa Suhr sold

The Pensa-Suhr is the winner here. The rest of them I could care less lol.

The Pensa had the best sound.

Funny. Walk of Life is one of the lesser liked pieces of mine like Twisting by the Pool as well. I just don't get the songs. But lucky enough Mark wrote so many other master pieces of Rock history that there is no shortage in supply from his side. One of the best maybe 50 players ever. Owning one of his guitars? Nah, man. Who am I? Mark should pass it on personally to a worthy player in need for support. He don't need the dimes and could push one to make so many others happy. Nevertheless, he should tour maybe with Tommy Emmanuel in a rude inspiring set of finger picking virtuosity at levels of gods.

I'm thinking 700K for the Les Paul. And the winning bidder will probably be Joe Bonamasa ha!

Does anyone have any idea how much the Hofner went for ? It’s certainly not associated with any Dire Straits hit but it was his first guitar and he loved it enough to keep it until now. Not even a good guitar in its own right but a piece of Knopfler’s history

Do Artists add resale value to non-brands or does milestone recording usage supersede lineage? Arguably full charity tax write off with NYC data in the room could have doubled the London values achieved, perhaps?

I know that the guitars are worth a lot of money, particularly since they belonged to and were played by MK, but the average Dire Straits fan, any one of the millions around the world, the ones who lined up in the rain for a week to buy concert tickets, the ones who made them all mega rich, has got zero chance of ever getting hold of any of these guitars. I mean, over £500K for the Pensa Suhr. £415K for the Schecter. Only the wealthy end up with them, because they can and they have the means to do so.

It’s kind of hard to take this dude super seriously when the first thing he says is Gibson really nailed the 59 replicas in 1983. lol Collectors will be the first to say that the 59 “replicas” in the 80’s were not very closely spec’d to the originals at all. Maybe compared to the Les Paul Deluxes that were coming up until that point, but that’s about it.

Gibson didn't "nail it" on the prehistorics lol, they had a plethora of things quite off. It's an iconic guitar for sure though and its value is almost entirely the status is has in rock music history. Contrast w/ his '59, most of its value is simply being a burst.

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They weigh as much as a lee enfield rifle 😅

Very sad and strange...makes you wonder why he's selling them...😮

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They went to billionaires as investments like they buy famous paintings. Talentless leeches of current system of greed. Sad.

I was shocked when I heard Mark Knofkler use a 1983 reproduction of a 59 Les Paul. Not only was it a horribble sound but a completee dedparture from his playing style. I hate it and hope I never hear that sound again. Later Mark got a vintage Les Paul but the song is horrible. Manyy others on TDPRI agree with me. A complete and horrible departure fro Mark's style. I hate that guitar and would not have bought it. The Red Schecter, i would,ve sold my home for. Also we dod not see Christie's auction his great CAR Shecter stratocaster.

man did you listen to nick moroch ? lol , no ? ok do it later you will to mark !!

The Les Paul was iconic only in the sense that it marked a unique, singular band suddenly getting lost in the sea of shit pop music. That guitar was the death of the best version of Dire Straits.

Can’t really say too much on this other than listening to the “expert” I stopped watching after about 30 seconds. No genuine understanding.

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