I've done some digging and found some threads where people replaced the bridge, and found that the Bronco had several different variations in the hole pattern of the bridge. Many people seem to have a consensus that a standard Fender/Squier P-bass bridge will fit over the rearward two holes in the original drilling. On mine, this is not true. The body is a Squier Bronco, I bought the body with no neck off of eBay. I think it was thrown out from the factory, because there is no stamp with a date or QC sticker anywhere. There's also what appears to be a nasty glue line in the body. However, it had a pickguard, jack, and all the electronics. It's like the body was assembled then never received a neck. I don't know the whole story. I do know for sure that this is the current production run of the Bronco, not an old one. So, supposedly, the standard Fender/Squier bass bridge's 2nd and 4th holes should line up on the rear two holes for a Squier Bronco... https://www.dropbox.com/s/5w0ah81f3h6ts7a/2013-07-11 22.25.42.jpg Yeah, no. The neck-side 3 holes line up with holes 1, 3, and 5, but the rear two holes don't line up at all. https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ypysc7pz90nhnk/2013-07-11 22.23.42.jpg Sorry for the inferior cell-phone camera quality, but all I had on hand at the time. But that's the bridge lined up over the 3 holes facing the neck. As shown, the rear two holes don't line up at all on a standard F/S bass bridge. So, I decided to measure to be sure I wasn't missing something. https://www.dropbox.com/s/wz3c3juiny7e7g3/2013-07-11 22.16.33.jpg The measure between holes 2 and 4 on both my spare Squier bridges measure about ~3cm. https://www.dropbox.com/s/7pe9uw7bh6n0c5p/2013-07-11 22.22.51.jpg The holes on the Bronco 2-saddle are almost 5cm apart! And putting the Squier standard bridge on the holes further up isn't exactly an option, because the bridge ground would have to be relocated which is not what I had in mind. I've done some research, and I am pretty sure a Schaller 471 bridge would fit and retain stock mounting location, but 70-80 bucks shipping is a lot to drop on a bridge for a bass that was supposed to be a cheaply-made Frankenstein. I don't mind drilling new holes, but I'd really like at least 2 or 3 of them to overlap just for ease of drilling new holes in the right place. Anyone have any suggestions for a top-loading bridge that can be a suitable replacement and be found cheaply?
Here's mine with a Fender P bridge. I don't remember about the holes; I probably filled/drilled all four when I aligned everything.
After my reasearching before I posted this, people seemed convinced it should work, but I have found some posts that said the mounting patterns were changed. I'd like to avoid filling/drilling all new holes. That one looks nice though! I like your neck mount pickup. Did you paint the headstock, or is that a new neck?
Thanks. It's Torino Red auto touch-up spray paint from Pep Boys. I want to paint it metalic gray one day.
i was able to install this bronco bridge on a squier VM tele bass with no holes showing then install the tele bridge on my tele bass project Seems like there were two holes under the bridge plate that did now show