White Strat
Hot news….Mark received his prototype signature Martin (HD-40MK) the other day. He is knocked out by the sound, the looks and the build. This guitar will go into production in January 2002, so get your orders in now. Mark has congratulated Dick Boak and everyone who was involved in the project at Martin guitars. A string of pearls around the sound hole which was inspired by a Martin from the 1840’s has been re-created with considerable difficulty on Mark’s model. The cases for the guitars will be lined in a dull mauve, another one-off for the company. Because we don’t have the actual guitar out here on the road with us, here is a pic of Mark warming up on the sailing to Philadelphia Strat.

oh dear!
I wrote this entry before the show tonight, I guess I shouldn’t have….you’ll see why!
FOR SALE: This White Fender Precision bass has been used extensively on the Mark Knopfler ‘Sailing to Philadelphia’ 2001 world tour by Glenn Worf. Glenn bought the bass second hand in San Fransisco in May this year. It’s sole purpose was to perform the song ‘Pyro Man’ which involves a rather violent end scenario in which Glenn drops the bass from a great height. He used to use his pre-CBS P-bass but the band made him go and buy a new one to prevent further damage. A great testament to the build quality of new Fender guitars is that the bass still survives (and still sounds great). It will no doubt survive until the end of the tour and for many years to come. The guitar has a rosewood fingerboard, is approximately a couple of years old and although it is still in one piece, it is showing signs of wear! A genuine collectors item.
NOTE:- All proceeds from this sale will be donated to the ‘Teenage Cancer Trust’ charity in the UK.

It broke
During tonight’s ‘bass-drop’ at the end of the aforementioned song…..It broke! The headstock has irreparably split in 3 places. Can you believe it. We have had a band meeting and decided that it is still worth auctioning, as a collectors item and as the proceeds will be going to a very worthy cause. I’ll upload the info and pics on e-bay. Of course if the new owner still wants to play it, a new neck can easily be fitted. An amazing testament to that particular design…we salute Fender.

Another shot of the damage

body damage
Here we see the rear of the body. Note the extensive use of white tape to cover up the cracks.

Stage marks
Here’s a picture of the mark left on the stage by previous bass drops. The one on the right was last night on Copenhagen.

red seats
A shot from the front of the stage of the gig tonight just before ‘doors’. Really warm crowd tonight.

Leaving
getting airbourne over Norway

Peace Flame
Chad took this one….the peace flame at the harbour in Oslo

Eternal
Chad again