Why did MK quit using his Pensa Suhr for MFN and BIA for the solo tours?

[12345]

Wasn't the original purpose of the Pensa Suhr to be an alternative to switching from a strat to a les paul? So why did he start using the les paul again for those songs in the solo tours?

P.S. I think that MFN and BIA sound better with the Pensa than the les paul.

[Beryl]

I guess he started using his LP 58 just when he found it and bought it. Love at first site (or, in this case, first listening). His 58 sounds way better than previous LP. And I believe it sounds way better that Pensas for those two songs (it's a personal taste thing, of course). Also, it seems he is inclined to thicker guitar necks as he gets older.

[JF]

eigthies and early nineties where "technolgy" times, digital gear, luthier guitars , "modern" instruments, digital effects, etc...

but mid nineties were the back to old stuff and vintage gear.
mainly because of the grunge style, and people like Kravitz who used old gear again (old sounboards, old guiatrs, old amps...)

then for example, Gilmour started to use his old big muff again, while he used somme Boss gear (overdrive and delay) in the eighties

and Mark started to record in analog again, used old amps, and vintage guitares again : the 54 strat, later the 64 white strat, and the 61 again... and of course old Les Paul....

I tried to summ up this here :

https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/mark-knopfler-70-ans-et-toutes-ses-grattes/

[Eddie Fox]

He prefers chunky necks and vintage pickups, same reason why he put the red Schecter away. That Pensa sounds incredible though, it’s a shame Mark doesn’t enjoy playing it anymore.

[iorch82]

Nerdy detail: he used the original Pensa Suhr for something like half of the 96 tour, but only for Sultans / Romeo and TR. On the second half he switched to the Pensa MK2 that he mostly kept using until the last tour.

[Eddie Fox]

Nerdy detail: he used the original Pensa Suhr for something like half of the 96 tour, but only for Sultans / Romeo and TR. On the second half he switched to the Pensa MK2 that he mostly kept using until the last tour.

The original Pensa didn’t allow him to play Sultans in position 2, since active pickups don’t split and he wouldn’t use the full humbucker. I think the MK-2 was built to solve that. I don’t personally like the looks though…

[Jules]

I think someone asked Guy if it had anything to do with the neck measures of the Pensa and the playability of it nowadays compared to the LP or Strat or something like that, and Guy said yes.