The pickguard engraved with the logo Ampeg, the body with 'f'-hole cutouts, the finish of a red-black sunburst.
See here a detail of the headstock.
Mark Knopfler purchased this Ampeg bass via bassist Glenn Worf in 2005 and kept it for studio use. Worf used the AMB-1 to record the bass part on the song Remembrance Day in 2007, which would be released on Knopfler’s sixth solo studio album Get Lucky in 2009.
Album co-producer Guy Fletcher was
photographed playing the bass when he and Mark recorded a demo for
Remembrance Day at British Grove Studios in 2006.
AMPEG ELECTRIC BASSES
Designed by Ampeg's founder C. Everett Hull and Jess Oliver, this instrument
was conceived as a replacement for the upright bass and pitched to the
community of jazz and session players. It would be referred to as a
'horizontal bass' and first carried the model designation as the AEB-1. The
under-bridge vibration sensitive pickup delivered a clean and warm tone that
was applicable with both steel core as well as gut strings, but the bass
lacked the punch in high volume performance. Following the departure of
Oliver and then Hull in 1967, the instrument was redesigned. The change to a
magnetic pickup, mounted mid-body and under the strings, as is traditionally
found on solid-body electric guitars, proved successful. The AMB-1 would be
the instrument of choice for - and is strongly associated with - players
like Rick Danko of The Band and Steppenwolf's George Biondo.
This guitar was auctioned at Christie's in London on 31st January 2024. It was sold for 16.380 Pounds.
