Avi Bortnick

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.

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

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.

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.

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."

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."

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.

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)

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).

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

"Diago Commuter, and a homemade one that I’ve had since the 1980’s that everyone laughs at."

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

"Korg FLG-1 Flanger – a nice analog flanger"

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.

"First of all I have to make clear that the guitar and sampling are not linked. My guitar does not trigger any of the samples. It runs through a completely different rig. What I do is control the Dr. Sample and ES1 with a Yamaha MFC10 MIDI foot controller, which I started using because I got fed up with having to stop playing guitar to hit a button with my hand."

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

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

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

"DOD FX17 Wah – I love how you have to rock back to turn it on, and how it sounds, though I sometimes use a Dunlop Crybaby 95Q for a stronger wah sound."

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)