About John: Equipment: Electric

1983 Ibanez Artist, AM-50
This semi hollow body from the "Artist" series is the John Scofield signature model, and has been my primary live and recording electric guitar since I bought it in 1996 to replace the Telecaster that got stolen. I had been looking for another Tele, then got to trying Gibson ES 335's, which I loved except for the strange, end-heavy weight distribution. I walked into Scott's Guitars in El Cajon and saw the artist on the wall, and its scaled down size exactly fixed the weight problem. I tried it out and loved its tone -- a lot like the 335, but somehow more focused and intense. The ebony fretboard is fast, the pickups are hot, and the semi hollow body gets an incredible range of sounds.

1978 Fender Stratocaster (hard tail)
I always wanted a strat for the sound, but I can't stand the tremolo bar, so when I discovered this vintage Hard Tail (at Guitar Center of all places...), I was hooked. All that classic strat sound (and a gorgeous Sienna Burst finish), and none of the tuning problems. Maple neck, no fretboard -- it's kind of like playing a baseball bat!

2006 G&L ASAT Classic
Natural finish swamp ash body, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard. I finally got a replacement for that old Fender Tele that got stolen, and it's even sweeter!

1950's Magnatone Lap Steel
Bought this instrument about a week before Oversoul went in to the studio to record Grow and it made its debut with a prominent solo on Two Eternities. It's basically a 2 by 6 shaped with a jigsaw and a router, with a really hot pickup in it, and when it cranks up, it's got some serious power behind it. I made heavy use of it on stage with King Harvest, and it's been featured on a ton of my solo recordings. I found it at the Blue Guitar in San Diego in 1995, which has since moved locations a couple of times -- Steve Neal is the genius luthier that did most of the work on my Taylor.