Bronco Mod Day!

[MartinB]

My question is: do I make it parallel to the other pickup, or set it on an angle like the Fender Duo Sonic? What is the benefit to having it on an angle, other than aesthetics

[...]

I saw someone on YouTube do the exact thing. He did it on an angle, but didn’t really explain why. He did a good job and it turned out pretty cool and sounded exactly how I want mine to sound. What are your thoughts before I take a router to this beauty?

Some possible reasons for slanting a pickup:
- You have a pickup with pole pieces wider than the string spacing, so you slant it to align them better. As mentioned above, this isn't really a concern when you have rails
- The strings sound tonally unbalanced with the pickup at 90 degrees, so you slant one end closer to the neck to make the strings on that end sound fatter/darker, and the other end closer to the bridge to make the strings on that end sound thinner/brighter
- You want it to look cool

 

[ScarfFace]

It does look cool.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

I hate to piggyback on another post, but I figured this was on topic for the thread and I want the opinions of folks who have already modded their Broncos.

I am thinking of adding another pickup to my Bronco in the neck position. Why? I am a tinkerer and I think adding a pickup further up the strings will give me a warmer, thumpier tone. I will add a three-way switch to solo and/or combine pickups in parallel. (I am not going to keep the Gibson style “Rhythm/Treble” cover.) My question is: do I make it parallel to the other pickup, or set it on an angle like the Fender Duo Sonic? What is the benefit to having it on an angle, other than aesthetics?
,.
I attached a couple of bad photoshop mockups of my ideas:
.View attachment 7153370View attachment 7153371

I saw someone on YouTube do the exact thing. He did it on an angle, but didn’t really explain why. He did a good job and it turned out pretty cool and sounded exactly how I want mine to sound. What are your thoughts before I take a router to this beauty?

Are you talking about mine (see post above yours)?
If so, my reasoning was purely aesthetic. I love my Duo Sonic guitar, and I think the angled neck pickup looks cool, so I mimicked it on my Bronco. Note, I also moved the bridge pickup rearward from where the stock pickup was, as well. I had hoped it’d sound something close to a rickenbacker as well, but it doesn’t. Still, it’s got a character all its own.

 

[woodbirdbassman]

I did. I did a few coats of ColorTone vintage amber lacquer. Very easy.

Beautiful treatment!

 

[jholling]

Are you talking about mine (see post above yours)?
If so, my reasoning was purely aesthetic. I love my Duo Sonic guitar, and I think the angled neck pickup looks cool, so I mimicked it on my Bronco. Note, I also moved the bridge pickup rearward from where the stock pickup was, as well. I had hoped it’d sound something close to a rickenbacker as well, but it doesn’t. Still, it’s got a character all its own.

How cool. I got the man, himself! I thought my idea was crazy until I saw your video. Congrats, it turned out awesome.

Do you feel like there is good tonal balance across all four strings with the angled pickup? Your sound quality is pretty good on the video. Did the neck pickup warm up the tone?

I don’t plan on moving the stock pickup position. I am not the greatest with a router, so I need the pick guard to hide my mistakes.

As far as a character all its own, that’s what I’m looking for. This bass isn’t my daily driver, so something different is exactly what I want.

Thanks

 

[mellowgerman]

Yeah, love a good bronco modfest! Mine may not both be Broncos, but related none the less!

 

[PennyroyalWe]

How cool. I got the man, himself! I thought my idea was crazy until I saw your video. Congrats, it turned out awesome.

Do you feel like there is good tonal balance across all four strings with the angled pickup? Your sound quality is pretty good on the video. Did the neck pickup warm up the tone?

I don’t plan on moving the stock pickup position. I am not the greatest with a router, so I need the pick guard to hide my mistakes.

As far as a character all its own, that’s what I’m looking for. This bass isn’t my daily driver, so something different is exactly what I want.

Thanks

Thanks!

Yeah, with the pickup way up towards the neck where the string spacing is closer, angling the pickup makes the poles line up close enough, and the output is even across the strings IMO.

The neck pickup is definitely warmer/thunkier than the stock position. It’s a fun sound to have in the tool box. Just took it to a jam tonight, and mostly used it w/ the bridge pickup maxed, and the neck around 80%. Gets a nice snappy Musicman-ish kinda sound.

 

[jholling]

Thanks!

Yeah, with the pickup way up towards the neck where the string spacing is closer, angling the pickup makes the poles line up close enough, and the output is even across the strings IMO.
View attachment 7155696

The neck pickup is definitely warmer/thunkier than the stock position. It’s a fun sound to have in the tool box. Just took it to a jam tonight, and mostly used it w/ the bridge pickup maxed, and the neck around 80%. Gets a nice snappy Musicman-ish kinda sound.

Seeing this close up is incredibly helpful. In order to get the pickup where it needs to be, it needs to be slanted to avoid the screw placement on the pick guard. Plus, if I ever want to put in a four pole pickup, I would have the string spacing problem already solved.

Thank you, again. Your mod is awesome. I hope mine turns out as well as yours.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

I was curious about the location of the Bronco's pickup, so.....

 

[Handy_Andy]

Somehow got my US Hipshot Ultralite Xtender and three Ultralite tuning machines work without modification-a gentleman online on YouTube also came to your conclusion, but perhaps the specifications for my Sonic bass were slightly wider? Drop in replacement-just a bit tight.

I bet that was Jonathan Wong 458 Music haha.

Off the top of my head I believe I have an older Affinity series rather than Sonic series? I definitely needed to widen the tuner holes, however I did so with a round file instead of drilling to minimise risk of splitting.

 

[thrashingbass]

I bet that was Jonathan Wong 458 Music haha.

Off the top of my head I believe I have an older Affinity series rather than Sonic series? I definitely needed to widen the tuner holes, however I did so with a round file instead of drilling to minimise risk of splitting.

Yes, it was him, though I have nothing against the fellow, and made my comment on that particular video, so at least some know that in my particular case and bass, I had no trouble. If I remember correctly, my Sonic is an Indo Samick factory product, not made in China (Sonic series have been made in both countries, so perhaps specs are not always 100% identical-forgot if his was made in China.)

The older Broncos before the Sonic series did have different tuning machines, so it's likely they were not an easy upgrade vs now. But Mr. Wong 458 probably did not lie to us either, and perhaps his particular sample had smaller holes as well. My tuning machines were the aforementioned US Hipshot-they were tight but I did not (cannot!) do any woodwork, and did not feel as if it was particularly troublesome or I was forcing it. They do work like heaven, though the Sonic Bronco tuners are not really bad/necessarily need any switching. The Sonic series overall are now a perfect and easy platform for upgrades/sidegrades with little if any modifications!

 

[TeeSee]

I hate to piggyback on another post, but I figured this was on topic for the thread and I want the opinions of folks who have already modded their Broncos.

I am thinking of adding another pickup to my Bronco in the neck position. Why? I am a tinkerer and I think adding a pickup further up the strings will give me a warmer, thumpier tone. I will add a three-way switch to solo and/or combine pickups in parallel. (I am not going to keep the Gibson style “Rhythm/Treble” cover.) My question is: do I make it parallel to the other pickup, or set it on an angle like the Fender Duo Sonic? What is the benefit to having it on an angle, other than aesthetics?
,.
I attached a couple of bad photoshop mockups of my ideas:
.View attachment 7153370View attachment 7153371

I saw someone on YouTube do the exact thing. He did it on an angle, but didn’t really explain why. He did a good job and it turned out pretty cool and sounded exactly how I want mine to sound. What are your thoughts before I take a router to this beauty?

If I were you, make yourself a pickup mule as I did on this 5 string;


Doesn't have to be this big, it's just I had some lengths of timber kicking around and didn't bother cutting them.
Connect your new pickup to the carrier you've made (I used double sided tape is all) the carrier can just be a loose piece of wood. It helps if the upside down pickup clears the strings by approximately the same distance as it would be if it was in it's upright position.
Then all I did was plug it into the amp to find the sweet spot. You can see that I found a position that wasn't at the same angle as the original.
Eyeball where you want it by looking directly over the pickup when you get what sounds best to you, and use a straight edge to mark the best you can the angle you're happy with.
No science in it, just what you feel is the 'sweet spot'

Forgot to mention - which is why I'm here, I modded my Bronco too.

 

[ScarfFace]

I started Phase 2 of my Bronco Mods yesterday, but no pictures yet. I installed a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder Single Coil, changed the String Tree to a three string one, used a red sharpie on the bevel of the pickguard, and added some fresh DR Sunbeams. Oh I also added red abalone dot stickers over the existing fretboard dots. The last thing left to do is spray the neck with an Amber Tint Lacquer, which I might be able to do these next couple of days if the weather stays this warm in Wisconsin!

Here's some things I wanted to point out for others modding Broncos (this is specific to the Sonic Series)-

1. The string spacing for the Sonic series is a perfect match for "normal sized" pickups (assuming you haven't changed the bridge). The strings line up perfectly over the large pole pieces of the QP pickup.
2. The pickguard pickup route needs a little bit of enlarging to get the pickup through.
3. While the height adjustment screws line up fine with the pickguard screw holes, there isn't anything in the pickup itself for the screw to catch on, so you need to devise some method to fix that. I used the existing Bronco pickup screws and springs with some nuts that I had in my tool box that perfectly matched. Ideally I would have glued these nuts to the back of the pickup, but I did not do that. It works fine for me, but someone who might be more interested in finding the perfect level for the pickguard might want to glue them in.
4. The 105, 85, 65, 45 gauges of the Sunbeams fit fine without any adjustments to the nut.

More to come soon...

 

[ScarfFace]

This is where we are as of today

 

[jholling]

I made a cardboard cutout of the pickup and have been messing around with configuration. What are everyone’s thoughts on this pickup angle?




Also, the switch I bought looks really deep. Am I going to have problems getting the cavity routed out enough to make it fit? I feel like I am going to cut through the other side of the body if I’m not careful.

 

[edmidlifecrisis]

Cool modifications, everyone!!

I used the Colortone Amber spray mentioned above on the neck of mine and installed a single coil 50's style pickup from eBay that cost about $22 USD. I like the way it came out. The tuners and neck seem ok so no changes there. Just a small amount of sanding on the neck before the spray. And new Slinky rounds.

 

[jholling]

My Bronco mod is done for now. I added a second blade pickup near the neck. I added a three way switch and wired everything in parallel. The pick guard wasn’t tough to rout out thanks to a $8 template from eBay.

The toughest part was getting everything to fit under the pick guard. I should have just routed out the entire cavity, instead of trying to rout out only what I needed.

Here is the final product. The neck pickup is much deeper and a little thuddy sounding. It’s sort of like a P pickup, but not really. It’s sort of like a mudbucker, but not really. It is certainly unique. Combined, it almost sounds like the neck only pickup of a j bass. It’s weird and wonderful. I am so happy.

Thanks to PennyroyalWe for the wisdom and inspiration.

 

[Handy_Andy]

Can any previous posters follow up here with a review of the Single Coil 51 P bass pickups that they have used, SD or otherwise? Thinking of going that way instead of Mustang-type.