PENSA CUSTOM GUITARS BY MAKOTO NOGUCHI, NEW YORK, 2015
PENSA CUSTOM GUITARS BY MAKOTO NOGUCHI, NEW YORK, 2015
PENSA CUSTOM GUITARS BY MAKOTO NOGUCHI, NEW YORK, 2015
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PENSA CUSTOM GUITARS BY MAKOTO NOGUCHI, NEW YORK, 2015
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PENSA CUSTOM GUITARS BY MAKOTO NOGUCHI, NEW YORK, 2015

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

Details
PENSA CUSTOM GUITARS BY MAKOTO NOGUCHI, NEW YORK, 2015
A SOLID-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR, PENSA MK-90 CUSTOM
The logo applied to the headstock, Pensa CUSTOM MADE IN U.S.A. and engraved on the neckplate 0570 / 052215, the mountings and hardware gold-plated, of a blue ice metallic finish, together with an original hard-shell case, adjustment keys, tremolo bar and manufacturer’s spec sheet stating that the guitar was custom built for Mark Knopfler
Length of back 15 5/8 in. (39.7 cm.)
PENSA
Sale room notice
Mark Knopfler plans to donate no less than 25% of the total hammer price received, to be split equally between The British Red Cross Society (a charity registered in England and Wales with charity number 220949, Scotland with charity number SC037738, Isle of Man with charity number 0752, and Jersey with charity number 430), Brave Hearts of the North East (a charity registered in England and Wales with charity number 1006247) and the Tusk Trust Limited (a charity registered in England and Wales with charity number 1186533).

Brought to you by

Amelia Walker
Amelia Walker Director, Specialist Head of Private & Iconic Collections

Lot Essay


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.

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