“I confess I pushed him more towards the Les Paul sound. I felt a resistance early on. But I persevered”: Why Mark Knopfler’s guitar tech convinced him to play Les Pauls – and how they impacted his tone and playing

Mark Knopfler in a solo concert, playing a Les Paul Electric Guitar. Picture taken 7th May 1996. Mark Knopfler performing at City Hall in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear.

Dire Straits' career-defining album Brothers in Arms ushered in the addition of the 1983 Les Paul ’59 Reissue to Knopfler's electric guitar roster, which defined the tone of both the title track and Money for Nothing.

“The Strat is almost like a ballet dancer, whereas the Les Paul has a lot of emotional weight to it and seemed to be the absolute answer for Brothers In Arms,” John Ilsey, Dire Straits' bassist, points out in the new issue with Guitarist. “So it didn’t need 15 notes in a bar. It just needed two or three.”