MODEL CE-1, CZECH REPUBLIC, 2007

Purchased directly from David Gage String Instruments, New York, in August 2007, Mark Knopfler acquired this travel acoustic double bass for use at live promotional shows where an upright bass would be required as part of the band arrangement. The CE-1 was sturdier and easier to transport on planes and trains than a standard upright bass. The instrument was first used by bassist Dudley Phillips for a series of five exclusive European showcases to promote the release of Knopfler’s 2007 solo studio album Kill To Get Crimson, commencing at the Meistersaal in Berlin on 10 September, which was broadcast by the German television station RBB, and closing with the AVO Session at Festsaal Messe in Basel on 12 November 2007, which was broadcast by Swiss television station SF Zwei. The travel bass was then carried on the 2008 Kill To Get Crimson Tour as a stage spare for bassist Glenn Worf, used during the band’s acoustic performances at meet and greets, and thereafter as a spare on all subsequent tours that called for an upright bass.