How to Get the Mark Knopfler Dire Straits Guitar Tone

Mark Knopfler's tone is warm, glassy and vocal — the fingerpicked sound behind Sultans of Swing and Money for Nothing. Here's how to get it.

The key ingredients

• Guitar: a Fender Stratocaster, neck and middle pickups together for that quack.
• Amp: a clean, spanky Fender-style amp with light compression.
• Technique: fingerstyle picking is essential to the tone — no pick.
• Effects: a little delay and reverb; for Money for Nothing, a wah parked plus a driven amp.

The fastest way

Load ready rock guitar presets for Kemper, Helix, Quad Cortex, ToneX and more — glassy Strat cleans dialed in.

FAQ

What pickup position for Sultans of Swing? The neck and middle single-coils together give the signature quack.

Pick or fingers? Fingers — Knopfler's fingerstyle is a huge part of the tone.