AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Nigel Forster trained under English guitar maker Stefan Sobell from 1988 until late 2003, before launching his own workshop in 2004 (see lot 114).

Acquired from Nigel Forster in 2010, Mark Knopfler kept this acoustic guitar predominantly for home use. In a snapshot for his 2011 studio diaries, keyboardist Guy Fletcher captured Knopfler’s guitar technician Glenn Saggers tuning this guitar at British Grove Studios in preparation for Mark to test a selection of acoustics for a recording. 'Amongst the many different things we try and compare are acoustic guitars', Fletcher explained. 'Each and every one of the guitars to hand has different characteristics and can lend itself to a particular song. The trouble is, there's no way of knowing this unless you try them all, so part of our routine when we set up for a recording is to find which guitar will work best “for the song”… It's quite astonishing how one guitar will shine through, and other perfectly beautiful instruments may not quite do the same job. All in all, it's the only sure-fire way to be absolutely sure you're getting the best sound possible… “for the song”.'