Bronco in the house

[Pilgrim]

I just picked up a black Bronco bass on Ebay.

I've always admired their weight and balance, and I like the maple fretboard too.  Been waiting for a super-clean one to show up and this one fit - not a nick or ding anywhere.

This afternoon I dropped a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup into it:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/cutting-edge/hot_rails_for_s/

I gotta say that this has some of my more expensive basses at a disadvantage.  The Hot Rails has a reputation as a bottom-oriented pickup, and this one definitely is.  Even with the factory rounds on the bass, it still has a good bottom end, and it's definitely stronger on the low end than with the stock Bronco pickup.  Intonation is quite close even with the standard two-string-per-saddle bridge...which is a pleasant surprise.  I haven't had one of Fender's more basic two-saddle bridges before this.

I'm going to add a Mustang Competiton stripe to it this evening and put up a picture or two.

[birdie]

So it's a guitar pick-up then?

[Pilgrim]

Yup.  The Bronco uses a single Strat pickup, like the original Musicmaster basses.

Just about any Strat pickup will fit - this one was available at the right price, and being a rail model, I thought it would be a good match.  I think a lipstick pickup would also look good.

(Dang it...lost my striping tape....trying to find it so I can get the stripes cut and mounted and get an "after" pic.

[Pilgrim]

Here it is...the S-D Hot Rails pickup is black, which works OK on this bass.  And I just cut strips of chrome striping tape and added a Mustang style racing stripe to the body.  It's looking less like a bargain basement bass now!  I generally like bridge covers, but that's just not the spirit of this line of basses - so no cover will be going on it.

[Dave W]

That looks sharp with the striping.

Even with the factory rounds on the bass, it still has a good bottom end

I have to gripe at this, though. Typically rounds have more highs, not fewer lows.

[Pilgrim]

That looks sharp with the striping.
I have to gripe at this, though. Typically rounds have more highs, not fewer lows.

Maybe I should say "it has acceptable bottom end".  That's probably more accurate. It's an improvement over the stock pickup.

Labella flats will soon be installed to improve on the situation!

[Dave W]

There, that's better. 

The original 6-pole Musicmaster guitar pickup is still the best sound I've heard on a vintage Musicmaster bass. Big low end too. OTOH the Bronco pickup, whatever it is, could stand some improvement. It's good to know the SD Hot Rails works as a replacement.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Congrats! Looks Surfy. 

[ilan]

The original 6-pole Musicmaster guitar pickup is still the best sound I've heard on a vintage Musicmaster bass. Big low end too.

+1

[Pilgrim]

When I read the reviews of the hot rails pickup, they were full of comments like: "hot, hot, hot...dark and muddy, not bright...better for dirty than clean tones...strong mids and lows...heavy mids...never a truly clean sound, always crunchy,great for distortion".  that sounded to me like a pickup that might work OK for bass.  As a bonus, because of the rail design there are no pole pieces to worry about aligning with strings.

And then a gent offered to send me one he wasn't using, as he'd played it in a Bronco but later sold the bass and put the stock pickup back in.

I don't have a practice for a week or so, but I'll know more after that.

[godofthunder]

 That looks sharp !

[Pilgrim]

OK, here are two almost-Fenders.
Left side is a Jay Turser JTB-401, a clone of a '54 P-bass.  Right side is the Squier Bronco.

[saltymonkey]

They look really great together. The striping really sets them off. I had a 78 Musicmaster for a while. Aero makes a great drop in replacement for that size pup too.

[Pilgrim]

I just got back from practice - that little Bronco held its own pretty well.  I think I'll keep it around for a while.  The neck is very fast on it, and the satin finish feels great.

[drbassman]

I love the Bronc-Mustang-Musicmaster basses.  I just don't ever hold onto them for some reason.  I like the look of yours.  I've always wanted one with a maple neck.