A SOLID-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR, PENSA MK-90 CUSTOM

Luthier Makoto Noguchi at Pensa Custom Guitars first developed the MK-D model guitar in late 2011 as a “diet” version of the MK-1 Strat style guitar with a non-premium top wood. During a May 2012 visit to Rudy’s Music store in New York for the Sky Arts documentary Guitar Stories with Dire Straits co-founder John Illsley to discuss the guitars that have shaped his career, Mark Knopfler tried out a 2011 custom blue ice metallic MK-D with Swamp Ash body, natural binding, Lindy Fralin P-90 Soapbar pickups, a “54” neck with “soft V” shape, gold plated hardware, a Hipshot Tremolo bridge, 3 way pickup selector switch, and blue catseye cap knobs. As he played the guitar for the first time on camera in the store, Knopfler was clearly impressed with the instrument, enthusing 'You know, you can really appreciate something like this where there’s been no compromise, where every fret has been put in very carefully, every little thing that’s been drilled has been drilled absolutely precision straight.' When Illsley posits that they are talking about the Rolls Royce of guitars, Knopfler cuts in to declare it the Ferrari. According to Rudy Pensa, Mark was so taken with the guitar that he played on camera that Rudy gifted that same guitar to him after the show. The blue ice MK-D became one of Knopfler’s favourite guitars, played extensively on his last three tours.

After Knopfler began using the guitar on stage, Pensa Custom Guitars renamed this particular custom specification of the MK-D as its own model, the MK-90. This MK-90 guitar was custom built for Mark Knopfler in 2015 as a back-up for his upcoming Tracker Tour. The specification is almost identical to Mark’s 2011 MK-D, with the exception of Hipshot tuners rather than Schaller, and a gold logo on the headstock rather than the gold and black logo seen on the 2011 MK-D. Director Henrik Hansen snapped a shot of the guitar ready for use in the racks during tour rehearsals in 2015. Similarly, keyboardist Guy Fletcher shared a backstage photo from Cologne on 21 June 2015 for his Tracker Tour Diary, showing this Pensa MK-90 as a second blue ice guitar in Mark’s touring guitar racks.