Avi Bortnick

John Scofield’s rhythm guitar player, Avi Bortnick show us his custom-made Stratocaster in this Premier Guitar video. “The body is one of those Highway One jobs which I got off eBay just because it was fairly lightweight and it had "LT" carved in the back, which, somehow, I liked,” he says at (11:23). It has EMG pickups, he says. “I think these are the SA 88s, I believe. I've had them for so long, you can see it's kind of worn down. It's a guitar I play with John. I hardly ever use this guitar for other things unless I'm doing a funk recording session. Because I think these pickups are really great for kind of Prince, almost '80s style funk. They're very clear. They're very even. Not super great for soloing somehow. I don't think they have a whole lot of character. But they work well for this band. I've actually tried a few other guitars and I always come back to this one. And it feels good and I'm used to it,” (11:48). For tuning machines and strings, Bortnick uses, “American Standard…locking tuners. These strings are a 10 set just a D'Addario 10 set. Really good. Been using D'Addario forever and they work well,” (12:28)

Avi plays a 1983 Fender Squier Telecaster, a 1965 Gibson ES-330, and a 1990 American Standard Stratocaster.

Avi plays a 1983 Fender Squier Telecaster, a 1965 Gibson ES-330, and a 1990 American Standard Stratocaster.

Fender Jazzmasters – I have two, red and blue, both assembled from parts. The red one has traditional Jazzmaster pickups, while the blue one has humbuckers. Both are upgraded with the Staytrem system, and one has the excellent Mastery bridge. Both have Squier J. Mascis necks.

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of guitars that he uses, including this one.

On his web site Bortnick details the guitars that he uses, including this one.

On his web site Bortnick details the guitars that he uses, including this one.

On his web site Bortnick details the guitars that he uses, including this one.

On his web site Bortnick details the guitars that he uses, including this one.

Answering a comment Avi writes "I do, however, have a Variax - which is an incredible feat of technology, but it's not a MIDI controller, much like the cool new Boss SY-300 isn't a MIDI synth."

The Fender Twin Reverb is one of two amps John Bortnick uses. “Normally, I just like it a little clean, but on the road we use rental amps mostly, and I put down what I want. I either use a Twin or a Blues DeVille, or something like that,” (18:50).

The Fender Blues DeVille is one of two amps John Bortnick uses. “Normally, I just like it a little clean, but on the road we use rental amps mostly, and I put down what I want. I either use a Twin or a Blues DeVille, or something like that.” (18:50)

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of amps that he uses, including this one.

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of amps that he uses, including this one.

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of amps that he uses, including this one.

"Reverend Kingsnake – a loud and lightweight 60 watt tube amp. Great for NYC."

Bortnick uses an Electroharmonix Frequency Analyzer. “That's a cool sound,” he says, “but it's even cooler if you can manipulate it a little bit,” (17:13)

According to Bortnick, this is a “Nice, light overdrive. I use it just to fatten up single note lines and sometimes to thicken up chords and give a little grit.” (17:31)

Bortnick’s tone, “goes into DOD FX 17 Wah/Volume. Almost no one uses these things. Everyone thinks they suck, but I like them. I like it because you turn it on in the down position rather than the treble position. That's one of the reasons I like it. But I also think it sounds kinda cool. It sounds different than a Cry Baby. It's kind of not as dramatic or something,” (18:02)

After the wah, Bortnick’s sound goes through the, “to Boss CE-2 Chorus Pedal. Kinda’ set to the "Sco" sound... cause you know there's a couple of instants, where I'm emulating something he did in demo or on the record,” (19:10).

Bortnick’s signal, “goes into standard the Boss TR 2 Tremolo, which I think are great,” he says. (19:31)

For one of his delays, Bortick uses “ a MXR Carbon Copy Delay, which is awesome. Nice analog delay, and it has a little modulation button, I'm sure everyone knows.” (19:53)

Bortnick uses two delay pedals, one being the Strymon El Capistan Delay. “You know…it's basically a miniature computer. It's good sounding I don't think it's as good sounding as the Carbon Copy, but it's cool. I like having two delays to get more ambient stuff,” (20:34).

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of foot pedals that he uses for his guitar, such as the Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer ring modulator, Univox Super Fuzz, Boss DD5 Digital Delay, DOD FX17 wah pedal, Boss Phase Shifter, Boss Blues Driver, and Ibanez AF9 Autofilter.

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of foot pedals that he uses for his guitar, such as the Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer ring modulator, Univox Super Fuzz, Boss DD5 Digital Delay, DOD FX17 wah pedal, Boss Phase Shifter, Boss Blues Driver, and Ibanez AF9 Autofilter.

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of foot pedals that he uses for his guitar, such as the Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer ring modulator, Univox Super Fuzz, Boss DD5 Digital Delay, DOD FX17 wah pedal, Boss Phase Shifter, Boss Blues Driver, and Ibanez AF9 Autofilter.

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of foot pedals that he uses for his guitar, such as the Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer ring modulator, Univox Super Fuzz, Boss DD5 Digital Delay, DOD FX17 wah pedal, Boss Phase Shifter, Boss Blues Driver, and Ibanez AF9 Autofilter.

On his web site Bortnick details the collection of foot pedals that he uses for his guitar, such as the Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer ring modulator, Univox Super Fuzz, Boss DD5 Digital Delay, DOD FX17 wah pedal, Boss Phase Shifter, Boss Blues Driver, and Ibanez AF9 Autofilter.