Chop Shop: Bronco Edition

[Dark Horse]

This will be the victim -







It was purchased at a pawn shop. They had it marked for $89.99, and on sale for $70. I noted a few things wrong (missing knob, loose pot) and offered them $50, which they accepted.

Rule One: When purchasing from a pawn shop, point out what is wrong (i.e. why you are their only potential buyer !) and make an offer. If they say "no", be willing to walk on the deal. If they say "yes", you save tons.



The plan for the Bronco is simple :

*Make use of the short scale neck, possibly the tuners and neck plate, and ditch most of the remainder.

*Reshape the Bronco headstock into a Telecaster headstock.

*Construct a light weight Telecaster (guitar shaped) body for the neck, perhaps a semi-hollow with a F-Hole.

*Purchase necessary parts (pickup, bridge, etc) to finish.

[Dark Horse]

An alternate plan would involve reshaping the Bronco body top horn to a more Telecaster like shape. I did a quick mock up, attached below.

[BassCycle]

Sounds cool! Short scales have a nice boomy/punchy tone that you can't get from long scales. I'm looking forward to seeing this.

[SBassman]

Cool. It's a definitely a good neck.

I'd consider not saving those tuners, though.

[Dark Horse]

I've gotta start somewhere, so I'll start with the neck.


First, I traced the headstock, and then drew the shape that I "wanted" the headstock to be -






Then I cut out the headstock shape and used spray adhesive to affix the template to the back of the headstock -







Then I carefully clamped the neck down so I could cut it with my jigsaw -





Once "rough cut", it looked like this -






A quick trip to the drum sander smoothed it out a bit -






I also wanted to reshape the headstock/neck transition. I like a nice smooth transition like the vintage Fenders, instead of todays more "sharp" transition. I roughed out the transition on the drum sander as well -





A bit more work on the drum sander -





And finally some manual "elbow grease", and it has a nice, smooth transition, just like I like !







Just for the heck of it, I stopped to take a look and see what a Bronco would look like if it had a Tele style headstock instead of the Strat style -






Not bad.

That done, I decided to sand a bit more and then shoot some tinted nitro to give it a bit of color -







That brings us up to "now". I'll be shooting nitro clear coats on the neck, and starting on the body (most likely) tomorrow.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by SBassman

Cool. It's a definitely a good neck.

I'd consider not saving those tuners, though.

I find that most tuners, if properly adjusted and maintained, work just fine. Most tuning problems result from improper string wrap and lack of maintenance. I'll try these first. If I'm not happy with them, it's easy to swap them.

[giacomini]

Looking good, fellow TBer!!

[SBassman]

Our mileage varies. I'm aware of the stringing mistakes, but, I have certainly found big variances among tuners as far as stability. You're putting lots of energy into this special project. Don't hose it with stock Bronco tuners.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by SBassman

Our mileage varies. I'm aware of the stringing mistakes, but, I have certainly found big variances among tuners as far as stability. You're putting lots of energy into this special project. Don't hose it with stock Bronco tuners.

Again, if they need changing, it is easy enough to do at a later time. After building a few hundred basses and guitars, I've found that you "don't fix what ain't broken, and you take the time to verify it's broken before spending the cash".

[electracoyote]

I like the Tele headstock DH, great idea. Anything that makes that pygmy look a little longer!

[Lazarus.Bird]

I love your step by step, I did this and then I did this story-like postings! You also do terrific work!

[Dark Horse]

I shot a bit of clear nitro on the neck just to seal in the amber. It will get a lot more clear coats. but as you can see, for a cheap neck it has some pretty nice looking wood -

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by Lazarus.Bird

I love your step by step, I did this and then I did this story-like postings! You also do terrific work!

Thanks !

Hopefully it helps inspire people to get more involved with the "mechanics" of their instruments...eliminates some fear.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by electracoyote

I like the Tele headstock DH, great idea. Anything that makes that pygmy look a little longer!

I'm really kinda surprised that more people don't reshape their Bronco headstocks. The "stock" one just seems so big compared to the body. Then again, opinions are entirely subjective...

[Praxist]

If you shoot the fretboard with lots of clearcoat, how do you clean up the frets afterwards? I'm running into this problem in my P-Rick build for the competition. Any advice for me?

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by Praxist

If you shoot the fretboard with lots of clearcoat, how do you clean up the frets afterwards? I'm running into this problem in my P-Rick build for the competition. Any advice for me?

1 penny + 1 needle file


file a notch in the penny using the needle file that matches the fret size

use exacto blade to score the finish at the base of the frets

then use the notched penny - put the fret in the notch and lightly scrape/move along the fret - it will take the finish off the frets

if done carefully, it will work just great

[ponticat]

Modding a Bronco is fun and, relatively, cheap. I do it all the time. Here are some examples:



Actually, I've gotten to the point where "modding" is not an accurate description. The Bronco has become a donor of its neck, bridge and some hardware.

Two of the Broncos from the picture above have moved to second generation mods:

[JMac4strngr]

That blue Jag style is my favorite, all are awesome though.....

[BassCycle]

I think you're a Broncoholic. The first step is to admit you are powerless to your addiction.

[RedsFan75]

I like the powder blue one a lot!

Hmmmm.... How would one of those sound with a lipstick pup in it?