GIANNINI, BRAZIL, CIRCA 1975

As part of the promotional tour following the release of his second solo studio album Sailing To Philadelphia on 26 September 2000, Mark Knopfler appeared on the Brazilian television show Video Show on 20 November 2000. The host Herbert Vianna, a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist with the rock band Os Paralamas do Sucesso, presented Knopfler with this vintage Giannini guitar from his own collection. Thanking Vianna for the gift, Knopfler observed approvingly 'You can tell whether an instrument is good or not just by picking it up.' As Vianna noted during the show, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page was known to play a 12-string Craviola in the early 1970s. Knopfler has kept the guitar for home use.