Any Squier Bronco fans / haters out there?

[pbass2]

The neck was the best part. The body aint bad, it's pickup route will fit a full sized humbucker and it's got shielded routes. The entire route is also big enough for a variety of control schemes.

Tuners are meh, so are the bridge and pickup. You can't intonate with that bridge as well as a four saddle one and the tuners are cheap. The pickup is actually a Strat or Mustang guitar pickup so the poles don't line up correctly under the strings.

They do make excellent mod platforms, but it's tough to find replacement tuners and you'll need to drill new holes if you want a better bridge.

For what it's worth, Schaller M4s or any analogues will work as replacement tuners.

I'd recommend replacing the bridge with a vintage Fender threaded saddle one to let you get the string spacing correct. The string spacing is narrower than most Fenders so you need a bridge that can go narrower. That's the cheapest option I found but Hipshot makes a better bridge that would work, Hipshot .669 I think, and the Schaller roller bridge also works.

Most people replace the pickup with a Lace sensor or a Seymour Duncan rails. They work just fine, drop right in and sound good.

Here's one I modded (Series/parallel/split switch, volume, varitone, lipstick humbucker, custom pickguard, vintage threaded saddle bridge) :

View attachment 858961

Damn, that looks really cool! Makes me wanna do something like that to mine. I guess I should actually set it up first and make sure the neck is worthy first though...

 

[Antisyzygy]

Damn, that looks really cool! Makes me wanna do something like that to mine. I guess I should actually set it up first and make sure the neck is worthy first though...

Hey thanks, it was one versatile little bass with that harness I put in it.

The pickguard set me back the most, but I got the other parts off Ebay or Guitarfetish for real cheap.

I ordered the pickguard custom from "Frets on the net". He pre-routed it for the humbucker I wanted (just the pickguard, the body already accommodates it). It cost 80 bucks and I had to send the original in so he could get the dimensions right.

 

[pbass2]

Hey thanks, it was one versatile little bass with that harness I put in it.

The pickguard set me back the most, but I got the other parts off Ebay or Guitarfetish for real cheap.

I ordered the pickguard custom from "Frets on the net". He pre-routed it for the humbucker I wanted (just the pickguard, the body already accommodates it). It cost 80 bucks and I had to send the original in so he could get the dimensions right.

Unfortunately, mine is red, and it's not really a particularly nice red. Has a white guard now, but maybe pearl white would class it up a notch. Hmmm, might be a fun project. How would you describe the sound with that pickup?

 

[DeliriumTremens]

Looks cool, can you explain how it has affected the tone?



Thanks, do you think with a pickup upgrade and a bridge swap you could make this bass workable? I'm asking because a 70s Mustang costs around £1000 (around $1500 USD), whereas the bronco costs around a tenth of that, around £100 - the difference in price is huge.

Super loud and grindy! It needs a pick and distortion now, it just wants to riff

 

[MJ_Sotti]

Anyone want one I'll trade for a pedal or something

 

[gln1955]

At the bottom of the Squier price range, the SS Jaguar beats the Bronco in every regard. The Jag is a serviceable instrument without mods.

 

[AlienLanes]

My guitar player bought his girlfriend one for Christmas since she wanted to learn some bass. Every once in a while I pull it out and have a lot of fun on it. I have big hands but I find that short scale basses are a dream to play (however I can not play a power chord on his mustang guitar without cramping up). We've been talking about swapping out the pickup, bridge, and tuners and making it a little more reliable and better sounding. I think it's a great budget bass!!

Now I need to find a MIJ mustang bass drool

 

[Bugeyed Earl]

Though I agree that the Jaguar is a better made and better sounding bass (I just picked one of those up,) the Bronco can be a serviceable instrument too (after some servicing.)

I've also looking for a Mustang or Musicmaster for a while, and thought I scored when I found a cheap Squier Mustang, but it turned out to be a rotten deal. A few days later, I found a Bronco for $60, and a previous owner apparently had mod fever and upgraded it with CTS pots, pushback wiring, and what looks like a '51 Precision style pickup. This pickup sounds pretty good, but I have no idea who made it (no markings on it whatsoever.) The neck is ok, but the fret ends are pretty treacherous, I'll give them some attention this weekend. I added some cheap full-size tuners, and have an uncut sheet of tort pickguard material on the way. I'm planning to fashion a Musicmaster shaped pickguard and drop an old Guild mudbucker in it.

To summarize - the Bronco can be a decent bass if you're willing to do some work, but if you want something you can play right out the store, there are better options. Additionally, the QC is probably inconsistent on these - I took another Bronco in trade a few years ago, and the frets were dressed properly on that one.

 

[ZenG]

I have a Bronco...when you buy a Bronco you enter into a relationship....the kind where you're friends one day and the next you're having a screaming match. Then the next day there's a truce....and then the next day you're good friends again.

Playability.......IMO very good.....love the neck...

Tone.....stock is not too bad.......but not awesome.

Weight...mine is fairly light.

Neck dive....not on mine.

Stock bridge:- did not like...I replaced mine.

Stock strings......weren't all that good but weren't bad ( I think stock is 45/95)....I replaced.

Pickup....stock one is o.k. I guess...but I replaced.

If had to do over:- would just replace bridge and strings. Bridge on Bronco is built for 2 and 1/8th string spacing...not 2 1/4". So only a few bridges fit it correctly.


I have to admit I like playing mine.....but not sure I'd buy one over again...

 

[felis]

Looks cool, can you explain how it has affected the tone?...

...Thanks, do you think with a pickup upgrade and a bridge swap you could make this bass workable? I'm asking because a 70s Mustang costs around £1000 (around $1500 USD), whereas the bronco costs around a tenth of that, around £100 - the difference in price is huge.

I think you're getting the idea by now that it can be done. But there's also short scales that require less work.
A couple people have mentioned that for a few bucks more than a Bronco, you could get a Squier VM Jaguar SS.
I've got one, and while I changed out the pickups, it was pretty much good to go from the start.
Much less expensive than a Fender Mustang, and IMO, much better quality then the Bronco.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

I own one. Bought it used from guitar center. Mine was modded with a full size P pickup (cloth wires maker unknown), CTS pots, a custom made pearloid guard to fit the P pickup and had a Badass 1 on it. The badass usually has to be sunk into the body to work with Fenders as the plate is so thick and caused the action to be to high so I sold it and got a Chinese highmass (but lower) bridge.

I really like the neck on it. I think if you get one with a nice neck then with some mods to the electronics you can have a nice bass for little money. I think total I paid $90 used for mine with a gig bag, I sold the Badass for $50 and stuck a cheap (but better for it) $10 bridge on, so I think I am into it $50 +/- $5. Maybe some sealed gotoh knock off tuners in the future, pretty cheap on eBay. I personally wouldnt of paid the money or spent the time to upgrade it as such but im fine swooping in after the fact and for much less money.

Here it is back when it had the Badass 1 and no knobs as it came like that, stuck some metal ones someone gave me on.

 

[MrCash]

I had one around Xmas time, after a fret level, re crown and polish it was fantastic.
The pickup is basic tone wise, but does much better than a squire start pu has the right too. It worked very well with pedals and could get a nice amount of growl!
I liked the maple neck satin finish, however it did feel a bit chunky.

If it wasn't for the neck not suiting me I would of kept it and stock too other than a paint job.

Would of looked great in white, with the white scratch plate, pu and maple board.

My gf has a fender mustang mij 64 reissue and I thought the bronco sounded better!

 

[wintremute]

I can't STAND them! They're all so smug and arrogant just because they won the Superbowl. And Manning is the worst! You'd think he'd retire and just fade away with grace, but noooooooooooo. And don't get me started on those stupid orange jerseys, and that their GM looks like a horse. That place is a train wreck. I don't know how anyone could like them.

 

[miner]

I have a bronco that I sort of converted into a mustang a few years ago. I still like it a lot, even if I don't use it very often.



I stole the colorscheme from another person on Talkbass, but I don't remember their username right now.

 

[MarshallAC50Stack]

A student of mine bought one and its really nice for the money. I wouldn't dump a lot of personal energy or dough into one. They sure make a nice beginner bass, far superior to what was available in that price range back in the day.

 

[brianrost]

a 70s Mustang costs around £1000 (around $1500 USD), whereas the bronco costs around a tenth of that, around £100 - the difference in price is huge.

There's been Mustang reissues over the years including a Squier Vintage Modified version that is now discontinued. You can probably find a used one for less than buying a new Bronco and swapping out parts.

There's also a Japanese reissue for $750 still being sold...that's only 5x the price

 

[Duder]

They're cheap, but can be dressed up nice. I haven't bought one (yet), but I've played a few and know I find them comfortable to play. The sound wasn't bad either, but that could be a QC thing regarding the noise others are talking about. There's a lot of love for the Squier Jag SS here. It just went up $20, but you should be able to find a coupon or if you call Sweetwater they might have a deal. As far as taking them on the road, David Bazan plays out with one and seems to like it.

 

[Duder]

There's been Mustang reissues over the years including a Squier Vintage Modified version that is now discontinued. You can probably find a used one for less than buying a new Bronco and swapping out parts.

There's also a Japanese reissue for $750 still being sold...that's only 5x the price

I'm not sure where you're seeing the Japanese reissue being sold. They were discontinued and I rarely see them for sale used.

 

[brianrost]

I'm not sure where you're seeing the Japanese reissue being sold. They were discontinued and I rarely see them for sale used.

It's still listed at fender.com along with the MIM Pawn Shop version.

 

[Duder]

It's still listed at fender.com along with the MIM Pawn Shop version.

And it hurts my soul every time. Fender is pretty bad about updating their site (and the Squier site).