Dire Straits legend's guitars garner six-figure sales

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Agence France-Presse
January 31, 2024

Several guitars put up for sale by Mark Knopfler, the former frontman of British rock group Dire Straits, on Wednesday fetched hundreds of thousands of pounds each at auction.

They include the 1983 guitar used to record the band's hit songs "Money For Nothing" and "Brothers in Arms", which sold for £592,000 ($754,000) at the Christie's sale in London.

Knopfler famously played the Gibson Les Paul reissue at the legendary 1985 Live Aid concert in the British capital, adding to its collectors' appeal.

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Knopfler will donate a quarter of the sales proceeds to various charities, including the British Red Cross, wildlife conservationists Tusk and children's not-for-profit Brave Hearts of the North East.

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Full article

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Dire Straits was one of my favorite bands. Mark Knopfler is a genius. THe is one of my favorite songs because it's about the rise and fall of Detroit, but I love the city anyway:

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Good For Him

I am, however, surprised at the numbers. Good for the charities he's donating to, as well.
Sure he is a legendary player, but over a half-million is a surprising number.
I don't know how complete the article is, but missing was the Strat he played on Sultans of Swing.
I bet that would fetch a pretty penny.

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2. Here's the list of guitars he sold:

https://www.christies.com/auction/the-mark-knopfler-guitar-collection-21929-cks

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Thanks

I quickly looked & didn't see this list pop up in the search. Glad you found it.
I actually have 2 of the guitars he put up for auction. The Dan Armstrong lucite & the Giannini Craviola.
I'm a bit surprised at how low (relatively speaking) those Gibson & Gretsch archtop electrics went for. They look mint!
The buyers went a little nuts though. $15-20k for Eko & Hagstrom? $20-30k for a Teisco? Those guitars were junk, new. Fifty grand for a Dan Electro?
Yikes.