Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
I ordered a P-Bass Pickguard , 13 hole, Anodized Aluminum, Gold. There was no other description. It fit perfectly. The previous Squier fitment was for my Affinty Jazz and I ordered an MIM Jazz pickguard and it too fit perfectly.
It's not uncommon to have to sand and/or file a small amount to fit perfectly, but the two I mentioned above required no sanding or filing to fit.
Note, screw holes or pot/jack holes will likely be the slightly larger imperial/standard/English specs, rather than the slightly smaller metric specs.
Another pickguard option I've seen done a few times and I'm going to give it a try, Cricut Adhesive Vinyl. It can be applied over the stock plain white (or black) PG for custom colors or patterns.
I have a Indonesian Sonic P that has bigger pickups than Fender specs.
Had to file the new mint pickguard but it looks so nice!
I have had a couple of CV's (older ones) and to me they sounded muffed, not open. Even if I changed the capacitor it didn't give me that open growly tone. The Sonic did instantly.
But, 2 weeks ago I tried a '70-ies walnut CV and it sounded great!! But the dark finish on the neck was sticky and to me it has to get sanded down. The neck felt chunky compared to the Sonic.
The BB you refer to is a different beast that I do not prefer in any way to the Sonic. Had a couple and they didn't cut through the bandmix. The Sonic sits in ànd cuts through.
Needless to say, I love it!
D
To be honest, I don't agree with a single thing you're saying
except that the Sonic "P-bass" necks are slimmer than the others you mentioned (obviously, as it's really a J-bass neck rather than a P-bass neck). But I also think it's great that you've found an instrument that works for YOU, and that you've let your ears decide, rather than the price, brand or comments by strangers online! Those ceramic pickups, like them or not, definitely have a tone that set them apart from the more traditional, "vintage" P-bass tone. Good for you, congrats on your new Sonic! 
I'm using a Guitar Madness The Standard PB Precision Bass Alnico V Pickup Set in my Sonic P, with the gold anodized pickguard. A vintage wind with Alnico magnets, which it does sound like. I bought the last black one for a friend's old Peavey Fury.
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Thanks. I went from the white single ply to an aged white pearloid to this. This one is a keeper.
Just got off the phone with Fender, and according to their rep, the skunk stripe was only on the earliest editions and has now been discontinued. I got my Indonesian two-color Sonic sunburst today, and unlike all of the pictures, no stripe. No big deal, but he agreed they should update the pictures for truth in advertising. Very pleased with all aspects except the cheap and wonky output jack,
but for the price they did a great job. Playable right out of the box. Whoooo Hoooooo!!!
A brief review in the coming days.
Time to play
but for the price they did a great job. Playable right out of the box. Whoooo Hoooooo!!!
A brief review in the coming days.
Time to play
Last edited:
Hi friends,
I just got the Sonic Precision loved it so much thinking of getting the Bronco, is it any different than the affinities
I just got the Sonic Precision loved it so much thinking of getting the Bronco, is it any different than the affinities
Upgraded tuners, 4 saddle bridge.
Just replaced the Fender Original PU (that, in turn, replaced the stock pickup) in my black Sonic, with Fender Vintage 60.
Whoa!
While I wasn't convinced that replacing the stock PU with Fender Original brought a huge sound upgrade, now it sounds like a different, and a much better P. The magic is in the mids. The Fender Vintage 60 PU gave this humble bass a growl and a mid presence in spades.
Whoa!
While I wasn't convinced that replacing the stock PU with Fender Original brought a huge sound upgrade, now it sounds like a different, and a much better P. The magic is in the mids. The Fender Vintage 60 PU gave this humble bass a growl and a mid presence in spades.
A gift for my last year's Sonic Bronco: bought some Ernie Ball Short Scale Group I Flats, and they turned out pretty great! Especially excited because even at 110 tension they are relatively "flexible" due to the short scale. The mids of these flats are beautiful and clear, despite "just sounding" like flats. Feel is also "thick" flats-like, smooth and nice, but without the "extreme," tight tension feel of some famous heavy tension sets.
I did have to cut the Babicz Z Series bridge E saddle spring shorter, because I needed to go quite back for perfect intonation (the previous DR Hi Beams, which were great roundwounds on this little bass, required nothing so extreme.) Noticeable on the pictures.
As you can see, I have yet to bring it to my luthier so he can add the Dimarzio Fast Track 1, pots, and output jack (the stock one doesn't hold too tightly on my cable, though it hasn't come out by accident.)
I feel the mids of these strings marry very well with this bass because the inherent, relatively lack of mids these single coil pickups often have. 1st time using Ernie Ball stainless steel flats on any bass as well. Seemed great quality, and I do like the silks.
Still eager to find out how it will sound with the Fast Track 1. I had not used my Sonic Bronco In a while; it's always a fun bass to play!
I did have to cut the Babicz Z Series bridge E saddle spring shorter, because I needed to go quite back for perfect intonation (the previous DR Hi Beams, which were great roundwounds on this little bass, required nothing so extreme.) Noticeable on the pictures.
As you can see, I have yet to bring it to my luthier so he can add the Dimarzio Fast Track 1, pots, and output jack (the stock one doesn't hold too tightly on my cable, though it hasn't come out by accident.)
I feel the mids of these strings marry very well with this bass because the inherent, relatively lack of mids these single coil pickups often have. 1st time using Ernie Ball stainless steel flats on any bass as well. Seemed great quality, and I do like the silks.
Still eager to find out how it will sound with the Fast Track 1. I had not used my Sonic Bronco In a while; it's always a fun bass to play!
Fake "NBD" thread-the Sonic Bronco bass did change quite a bit with the DiMarzio Fast Track 1 (DP181)! I had DiMarzio make me one with the "ugly" purple that suits me quite well-wish it were truly violet, but it's fine. It's my own weird bass, for an even weirder player. There is a personal connection/life story to the colors, so everything means something to me in this little bass.
The character is fuller, slightly less air, but not overly compressed sounding, with nice clarity. Better mids/low mids (not just the strings, which do have nice mids by themselves.) The dynamic range was improved despite the openness and air of the stock pickup. But most important of all, it's my quietest pickup in my collection-absolutely no noise, so my more potentially noisy pre-amp settings and pedals work like a marvel without much if any concern. Even if it sounded worse, that alone was worth it, but I feel it now has a much closer character to a "modern" P bass sound than stock. The stock is NOT bad, airy, but can it hum (sadly.) I prefer the mids/fullness of the Fast Track 1-medium output, not too hot. Pickup can be quite close to the strings for a nice place to play finger style, as the magnets aren't too strong.
Having this experience, I do have to say that going "thicker" with the DiMarzio choices may be precarious, and better suited for a darker guitar tone-on bass, it may be too much. So despite the DiMarzio graphs on their website, remember these are relative to the intended guitar voicing-some of the options may be too muddy (though a player may like that!) I think I could have gone slightly thicker, but not by much before losing the balance with the mids and highs. So I do think the Fast Track 1 is a safe, "bass-sounding" drop-in choice without being too overwound and then losing too much clarity. Excellent ceramic pickup from DiMarzio as usual (not all ceramics are the same.)
The gentleman that installed my new 500k pots, jack, and pickup also cleanly fixed my few "sprouty" frets which I mentioned when I first acquired the bass, last year. Also, made it so the newer pickguard is straight, despite the few factory angled screws (before, the pickguard warped a little-surely a bit my fault, no doubt! But the angled screws were annoying. EarlPilanz's pickguards are GREAT.)
(Mr. Wong on YouTube had trouble installing Gotoh Resolites on his Sonic Bronco-though the USA Hipshot 3/8 Ultralites tuning machines/Xtender have the same measurements as the Gotohs, in my case they fit with just slight pressure. Perhaps I was lucky with my version of the bass? But some of you have installed them as well. Very confounding, and not meaning to speak ill of that gentleman.)
(Anyone knows of good custom knobs? The ones I got for it are just fine-the stock ones did not fit the new pots, as I had unwisely not taken into account.)
There is a personal connection/life story to the colors, so everything means something to me in this little bass.The character is fuller, slightly less air, but not overly compressed sounding, with nice clarity. Better mids/low mids (not just the strings, which do have nice mids by themselves.) The dynamic range was improved despite the openness and air of the stock pickup. But most important of all, it's my quietest pickup in my collection-absolutely no noise, so my more potentially noisy pre-amp settings and pedals work like a marvel without much if any concern. Even if it sounded worse, that alone was worth it, but I feel it now has a much closer character to a "modern" P bass sound than stock. The stock is NOT bad, airy, but can it hum (sadly.) I prefer the mids/fullness of the Fast Track 1-medium output, not too hot. Pickup can be quite close to the strings for a nice place to play finger style, as the magnets aren't too strong.
Having this experience, I do have to say that going "thicker" with the DiMarzio choices may be precarious, and better suited for a darker guitar tone-on bass, it may be too much. So despite the DiMarzio graphs on their website, remember these are relative to the intended guitar voicing-some of the options may be too muddy (though a player may like that!) I think I could have gone slightly thicker, but not by much before losing the balance with the mids and highs. So I do think the Fast Track 1 is a safe, "bass-sounding" drop-in choice without being too overwound and then losing too much clarity. Excellent ceramic pickup from DiMarzio as usual (not all ceramics are the same.)
The gentleman that installed my new 500k pots, jack, and pickup also cleanly fixed my few "sprouty" frets which I mentioned when I first acquired the bass, last year. Also, made it so the newer pickguard is straight, despite the few factory angled screws (before, the pickguard warped a little-surely a bit my fault, no doubt! But the angled screws were annoying. EarlPilanz's pickguards are GREAT.)
(Mr. Wong on YouTube had trouble installing Gotoh Resolites on his Sonic Bronco-though the USA Hipshot 3/8 Ultralites tuning machines/Xtender have the same measurements as the Gotohs, in my case they fit with just slight pressure. Perhaps I was lucky with my version of the bass? But some of you have installed them as well. Very confounding, and not meaning to speak ill of that gentleman.)
(Anyone knows of good custom knobs? The ones I got for it are just fine-the stock ones did not fit the new pots, as I had unwisely not taken into account.)
Last edited:
Quality should be fine-similar to the P. Well-made platform for upgrades, but sounds fine out of the box. The stock guitar pickup sounds good, but can be noisy depending on your other gear and personal preference. The stock strings sound good and clear, a bit loose feeling (as expected, and some love that.)
And blackspider57 already mentioned the better tuners and bridge vs the older Bronco, which is more "vintage" looking, and brings along many of the older design inconveniences. Sonic Bronco is basically a more "modern", player friendly Bronco, though many love the older as well.
In terms of imperfections, it is super affordable! Expect a few. Some models have a few "sprouty" frets, all my Bronco bass frets were super finely tuned, without taller frets where they do not belong, and ease of intonation. The nut in mine was also fine and low. The biggest flaw in my Sonic Bronco was that some of my pickguard's screws were angled, but you can work around that, and it's not that noticeable.
Worth all $209.99 of it and more-just understand what it is, and what it isn't meant to be (sounds like faint praise but I do love mine.)
Just got off the phone with Fender, and according to their rep, the skunk stripe was only on the earliest editions and has now been discontinued. I got my Indonesian two-color Sonic sunburst today, and unlike all of the pictures, no stripe. No big deal, but he agreed they should update the pictures for truth in advertising. Very pleased with all aspects except the cheap and wonky output jack,
but for the price they did a great job. Playable right out of the box. Whoooo Hoooooo!!!
A brief review in the coming days.
Time to play
Update: The "wonky" output jack was a wonky cord.
Problem solved. Love this bass.
So much so that I bought a Sonic Bronco.
Love it as well. Neither feel budget, which they both are.
Great for you! Hope you enjoy making music with both.
I did not get the Sonic P because I have two Ps I love, roundwounds/flatwounds each. The green one from last year was pretty tempting! Almost bought it.
Any small imperfections on them are no big deal-I remember super cheap instruments being pretty bad a bit more than ten years ago. These are more than great for such a low price, and easy to customize to one's own taste, but also good enough that a player can be happy out of the box (after an individual setup, that is.)
