How does Knopfler use the volume pedal ...

[TanquerayCowboy]

... and where can I hear examples of it? I hear a tremolo effect on his later solo albums and am wondering how much of that is amp and how much is him rocking that pedal.

 

[jay42]

I think he uses it live more than in the studio. I don't have access to all my Dire Straits CDs right now. I think there's some use on the song Brothers In Arms. On The Night is a worthwhile live album. I have the DVD version. He uses it often. Having seen them on that tour, both he and Phil Palmer [Ray & Dave Davies' nephew] were using two Ernie Ball pedals each. One was for volume and the other was amp switching, so I think it was the stereo version. In the dark recesses of my mind, I believe the volume pedals were somewhere internal to the pedalboard system, so they were 25K pots instead of whatever is normal -- 500K?

 

[aidan7737]

Yes jay I'd refer directly to Brothers in Arms, You and Your Friend and go from there. I believe all Knopfler's volume swells are pedal swells rather than vol pot on the guitar as he prefers this method.

 

[svanangen]

Nowadays he sets his Komet's to drive and back of with the volumepedal. So, yes, he uses it a lot. He uses the old type of Ernie Ball with the jacks on the side. His tech also bought a bundle of the old replacement-pots that were in these.

 

[sandman]

Nowadays he sets his Komet's to drive and back of with the volumepedal. So, yes, he uses it a lot. He uses the old type of Ernie Ball with the jacks on the side. His tech also bought a bundle of the old replacement-pots that were in these.

Recent DVD with Emmylou Harris is great, his foot is on the volume pedal all the time. Wasn't he using a Hotcake too?

His (great) guitar player Richard Bennet does for sure(from his site):

EFFECTS: (This is where it gets tricky as I don't know the models or names of these things, but I'll give it a go.)
Boss digital delay
Boss digital delay (spare)
Dunlop tremolo pedal (it's purple with 3 knobs and 2 switches)
Hot Cake overdrive pedal (these are from New Zealand and sound fantastic, they don't compress in on themselves)
Ernie Ball volume pedal
Boss digital tuner in case something goes terribly wrong
A-B box between the two Vox amps in case something goes terribly wrong
ON/OFF switch box for the acoustic instruments.

Re: the effects, please don't ask, I have no idea what series this stuff is hooked up in. I scarcely use them, mainly the overdrive on the end of Speedway and I Dug Up A Diamond where it needs a little more stick, and a little delay and overdrive on Emmy's tunes, but those actually sound clean as I'm playing so quietly. Speaking of playing quietly, I do. Most of the time what is coming out of my amp on stage is what I would call living room volume or just above, though Guy F. who is on the riser above me might have a different opinion about that. It's the level at which I play in the studio as well and is a large part of the toneful nature of my playing. What can I tell you? I like guitars that sound like guitars and not electric razors.

 

[gillibi]

Recent DVD with Emmylou Harris is great, his foot is on the volume pedal all the time. Wasn't he using a Hotcake too?

His (great) guitar player Richard Bennet does for sure(from his site):

From what I've heard, Pete Cornish treble boost.

 

[svanangen]

Knopfler never used a Carnish treble boost. In the Straits-days Cornish built a few rigs for him though. He does use a Hotcake but only for one or two songs.

 

[kevin hart]

... and where can I hear examples of it? I hear a tremolo effect on his later solo albums and am wondering how much of that is amp and how much is him rocking that pedal.

I've seen him live with Dire Straits and three times as a solo artist & he has his foot on that Ernie Ball pedal most of the night. I've never seen him use it to get a tremolo effect. He has used a Demeter Tremulator in the past & he does have amps with tremelo in them so that is probably what you're hearing.

 

[svanangen]

If you hear trem on the albums its definitely the amps producing it.

 

[gillibi]

Knopfler never used a Carnish treble boost. In the Straits-days Cornish built a few rigs for him though. He does use a Hotcake but only for one or two songs.

How can you say he has never used one? A friend on another guitar page watched the teardown of his rig and saw a Cornish treble booster hidden by his monitor.

 

[svanangen]

How can you say he has never used one? A friend on another guitar page watched the teardown of his rig and saw a Cornish treble booster hidden by his monitor.

Well, I've been a Knopfler-fan for the better part of my life and has read almost everything there is to be found about him and I have never heard this.

When was this? Recently? I know he has been doing promo-gigs around Europe with Fender Blues Deluxe-amps for backline recently. Was it in this setting?

 

[gillibi]

You need to learn that the players with the best tone never give out their secrets! Hence why the booster was hidden under a monitor. This was in 2006 if I recall correctly.

Well, I've been a Knopfler-fan for the better part of my life and has read almost everything there is to be found about him and I have never heard this.

When was this? Recently? I know he has been doing promo-gigs around Europe with Fender Blues Deluxe-amps for backline recently. Was it in this setting?

 

[kevin hart]

You need to learn that the players with the best tone never give out their secrets! Hence why the booster was hidden under a monitor. This was in 2006 if I recall correctly.

The players with the best tone don't need to have secrets!

I have no proof one way or the other about Knopfler's use of a Cornish Treble Booster, but I've followed his gear use for quite a while & I've never seen or heard of him using one either. Guy Fletcher, who plays keys for Mark, mentioned that he's been using both a Tube Screamer & a Hot Cake off stage and controled by his tech.

I'm not sure what he's using, but I doubt he's trying to keep anything a secret.

 

[jay42]

Guy Fletcher, who plays keys for Mark, mentioned that he's been using both a Tube Screamer & a Hot Cake off stage and controled by his tech.

I saw Dire Straits on their last tour. They did the "Clean Stage," thing. No amps were on stage. Is he still doing this?

 

[kevin hart]

I saw Dire Straits on their last tour. They did the "Clean Stage," thing. No amps were on stage. Is he still doing this?

I saw the same tour - On Every Street Tour - They were awesome.

No, his production is much more stripped down for his solo stuff. He has his amps and effects rack off stage and controled by his tech. He has Marshall cab(s) on stage and dumby Komet head(s). He also has been using a Tone King Imperial 1x12 combo for a slide amp and that is on stage also.

 

[dayn]

...with his foot.


Brothers in Arms is most famous and Song for Sonny Liston on the Live Roadrunning dvd is a great example.

 

[Firetune305]

I know everyone keeps suggesting Brothers in Arms as a good example of Knopfler’s use of the volume pedal, but another wonderfully emblematic, albeit obscure, track exists: “Working on It” from the Wag The Dog soundtrack. It’s classic Knopfler at his best and a great use of note fade in.

 

[PatrickE_FenderADV]

Holy necro thread Bat Man!

 

[rickenbackerkid]

As an update to this necro-bump, I believe Knopfler is using Kemper now and even an IR loader for his acoustics, so it's all digital. However I understand that he still has his foot on an old EB volume with the side input jacks

 

[PedalCrazyFool]

Skateaway is one of my favorite songs. I always thought he was using the volume knob on that one, but you guys are bursting my bubble!