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Odd mods: unusual Bronco pickups

P

plf

May 18, 2018
27
8
#1
I'm dealing with a left hand injury, and consequently, I've become interested in modifying a Broco. I've tried a couple of the newer ones, and like the necks a lot, but I find the cheapo Strat pickup lacking. There's a lot of discussion on this site about drop in replacements-- mostly rail humbuckers-- but I'm curious about stranger options.

Who's put an unusual pickup in a Bronco? If routing were no object, what pickup would you put in your short scale oddball?
 
#3
any strat pickup should fit, and there are a lot of them

.here's a thread discussing this very issue
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/drop-in-pickup-replacements-for-squier-bronco.1507951/

btw, i have 2 affinity broncos, and they have a lot of empty open area under the pickguard, so if you can open up the pickguard a bit, you could fit other pickups easily as long as you can deal with the screw holes. i'm about to drop a fender true vintage P bass pickup into one of my broncos. but if i were going with a strat-sized pickup, i'd consider one of these
www.fralinpickups.com

Lindy Fralin Split Blade Pickups - Hum Free Single Coil Tone

A Lindy Fralin Original Design. Split Blade Pickups offer true single-coil sound, without the hum, all packed into a single-coil footprint.
www.fralinpickups.com www.fralinpickups.com
you can get lots of options on it, and if you email lindy fralin, he'll be able to tell you how to get this with the best bass response.
 
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#4
I have tried several in my two Broncos and kept coming back to the Musiclily Strat humbucker with the cover. They sound great for a $15 pickup and are quieter than some of the fancier strat pickups I tried. But you got me thinking it might be fun to try a Dimarzio Model One EBO pickup.
1728040368302.png
 
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#8
Just out of curiousity, what tuner and bridge replacements is everyone using on theirs. I see some different ones on the pics in this thread. I have one that I bought for my middle son a while ago. He lost interest and it sits. I thought about selling but I'm sure I'd get next to nothing for it so I'm looking into the mod path to get it into gigging shape.
 
#11
I am putting in a gold Lace Sensor in my Bronco today, as I want to use it at a date over the weekend. I was given a set of Strat Lace Sensors years back & they have been sitting in a drawer since, so worth a shot.

Some good vids using a LS red & blue.



Surprisingly, I didn't think it sounded all that bad with the stock guitar pickup but there was quite a lot of room noise/hum so I am hoping that the LS & some actual foil shielding will fix that issue.

Z-Bass said:
Just out of curiousity, what tuner and bridge replacements is everyone using on theirs. I see some different ones on the pics in this thread.
Click to expand...
I think it depends on how old the one you have is, Affinity or Sonic series..?

I have a newer Sonic, which comes with a 4-saddle bridge & sealed tuners, apparently an upgrade from the older Affinity version.

While I had a tuner off, I Googled the number on the back & one of the posts that came up claimed that these newer tuners were Korean-made & from the same company that makes Wilkinson parts. Don't know if that is accurate of not, but the newer tuners seem pretty good.

The newer bridges have the same string spacing & mounting-hole spacing as Fender long-scales so they will take any of the zillions of replacements out there. Re-drilling mounting holes might come into play on the older ones, but I have never worked on one.
 
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#12
For the sheer dichotomy of it, I'd like to see a Nordstrand BigBladeMan pickup in one of these.
The Bronco, being a small and somewhat timid looking bass...
And the BBM being the most insanely overpowered pickup I've ever used (when run in series mode).

That would be a beastly mix.
 
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#17
I was going to buy a Bronco and bought a EMG SA7 at a deal to put into it. Never bought the Bronco, so the pickup is sitting in a box. Sure it is a bit longer, but I figured that was better to ensure that the strings sat inside the magnets.
 
#18
I wonder if the SCPB will fit? Some also used EMG Strat pickups with good results. Actually normal (albeit better) Strat pickups should work as well, Rickenbacker uses 6-alnico-rod Toaster pickups in some of their basses and they sound great.
 
#20
Dark Horse said:
This project of mine is on my bench currently, waiting for me to finish it up.

Two thunderbird pickups, new bridge, Gibson style pickup selector, new timers, etc etc etc….
View attachment 7045544
Click to expand...
This looks absolutely righteous. Please update once you've heard it!

Alright, cool options so far: Peavey toaster, Nordstrand BigBladeMan, Bisonic, EB0 pickup, Thunderbird pickup(s)...

P Bass pickups are likely to sound good, but that's sort of the next most obvious thing to a Strat-sized pickup, and the object here is to brainstorm some less conventional ideas.

With that in mind, I wonder how a Hofner violin bass pickup would sound? Or a Firebird pickup? Or an MFD? Obviously, I won't know until I try, but I'm curious if anyone here has been down this path before. I seem to remember someone putting a Jet Junior pickup in their Bronco...
 
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