Mark Knopfler’s 2008 Monteleone Isabella

This Monteleone was made for Mark by John Monteleone, a guitar builder from New York. Mark used it for recording “Monteleone” on the Get Lucky album. He often referred to this guitar as one of the most beautiful guitars he ever held in his hands.

There are characters, the real people you see, and you write about them. I met John Monteleone and it was like meeting Stradivari – I’m sure. He’s like Leonardo da Vinci in a way.

I was lucky enought to get to visit his workshop, and he said about building me a guitar whcih is an archtop guitar with “F” holes like a violin. When he was making it for me he’d send me little emails with little images of what he was making, the bridge or something, and he’d sign off with things like “the shisels are calling” you know, “it’s time to make sawdust”.

Mark Knopfler – Monteleone (An Evening With Mark Knopfler, 2009)

The guitar is named after Mark’s eldest daughter Isabella. It was also one of the guitars that Mark presented in the documentary Guitar Stories, which focused on the few guitars that are more precious to Mark.