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Knopfler’s influences – Dylan, JJ Cale, Hank Marvin – are obvious enough, but from Dire Straits’ debut in 1977 he weaved them together with sumptuous grace.

Like Jeff Beck, he uses no picks and his lyrical, legato style sounds like no-one else – partly due his use of the ‘in-between’ out-of-phase position on a 3-way vintage Strat. Here's Sultans Of Swing live.

Knopfler’s own Signature Strat is a faithful recreation of that red ’57, but adds a 5-way switch to get ‘that’ sound much easier. Watch Knopfler talk Fender Strats here.

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