Bronco Bass and Hi Beams

[don21480]

I have been on a journey to find my favorite strings for one of my Bronco basses that is using the stock pickup. I have tried several different strings with mixed results. I have other Bronco basses with different pickups but I find the stock pickup to be as good as many of the replacements so I'm taking the pickup out of the mix in terms of testing. I bought a set of new Hi Beams and boy were they not what I expected. I was expecting a much brighter tone and what I got instead was rather blah and lacking personality. Maybe I got a bad set? I took them off after a few minutes and installed a set of Roto RS66S and they were much more interesting with a full clear tone that was more responsive to the tone knob so I don't think the issue is the bass or the pickups. What has anyone else's experience been? I've got a new set of Hi Beams I was going to try on my P bass but I think those will get traded for something else now rather than opening them and again being disappointed.

 

[Luckydog]

Reid Perry (the Band Perry) plays a P bass with Hi Beams and I never thought he stood out much in the mix. Could be the strings or just how he is eq’d. I’ve also tried Hi Beams on a P and IMO it lost punch, presence and audibility in the mixes I had. You may get better results on your P, but I think the lack of actual mids on Hi Beams make it hard for me to enjoy them on a P. On a jazz, I think they are killer. But on a P, (for me) they seem wimpy, get lost in the mix and do not drive the band well.

 

[don21480]

Excellent description of what I experienced.

 

[evs]

I'm on a similar journey with my Bronco.

I didn't mind the strings it came with but they weren't anything special.
I put on a set of Dunlop nickels which I have liked on other basses, but when I played them live I felt they didn't work great for the Bronco.
I also feel like the bass needs strings with higher tension.

I put on a set of EB Cobalts a couple of days ago.
Will be giving them a run tonight to see how they go.
I report back.

 

[don21480]

I've had good success with Fender 5250XL, LaBella DTF, D'Adarrio XL's and The Roto Swing Bass 66. The stock strings were fine but not as good as the aforementioned strings. Going to try EB Super Slinky's at some point but interested to hear how the Cobalts work out!

 

[evs]

I tried out the Cobalts.
I like them so far, but need more time with them.
I like the sound of the stock pickup but am having a lot of noise come through so I am looking into a hot rails pickup to drop in.

 

[don21480]

@evs Is your Bronco an Affinity series or the newer Sonic series? Is your control cavity shielded with black paint? I have no noise issues with my stock pickups luckily. On 1 of my Broncos I am using a Lace Sensor Red pickup which sounds awesome in case you want to try one of those -

 

[evs]

@evs Is your Bronco an Affinity series or the newer Sonic series? Is your control cavity shielded with black paint? I have no noise issues with my stock pickups luckily. On 1 of my Broncos I am using a Lace Sensor Red pickup which sounds awesome in case you want to try one of those -

Thanks for the recommendation.
Mine is the sonic series.
I haven’t ever experience noise issues on a bass before.
It does have black shielding paint.
I do love the bass. It is lightweight, has a great neck and the colour almost glows.
I just need a different pickup.
I changed the white pickguard and pickup cover to black on mine.