Solutions for Bronco

[evs]

I have a short scale Bronco.
There are two areas I’d like to improve.

String tension: I’m after more tension as the current strings (Dunlop nickels 45-105) feel too loose.

Tone: I’m wanting a more pronounce tone in the low end. The pickup on this bass is very mid and treble forward to my ears.

I play rock music and on my other basses am happy with d’addario exl’s. (Exl220bt)

I’m thinking a move to flat wound for the bronco would address the loose tension and introduce more low end?
Although if I do go flats I wouldn’t be chasing an old school thump, but the brighter more modern flat sound.

Any thoughts or recommendations?
I’d be happy sticking with rounds too if I could get the right ones.

 

[John Stephen]

I've never owned a Bronco so I can't respond directly about string tension, but as far as wanting to tame the mid/treble aspect, I think changing the pickup would make a bigger difference than changing strings. The Bronco has a cheapo version of a Stratocaster guitar pickup. There have been threads here on TB in the past about drop-in replacement pickups for the Bronco. Something to consider.

 

[HaphAsSard]

I have a short scale Bronco.
There are two areas I’d like to improve.

String tension: I’m after more tension as the current strings (Dunlop nickels 45-105) feel too loose.

Tone: I’m wanting a more pronounce tone in the low end. The pickup on this bass is very mid and treble forward to my ears.

I play rock music and on my other basses am happy with d’addario exl’s. (Exl220bt)

I’m thinking a move to flat wound for the bronco would address the loose tension and introduce more low end?
Although if I do go flats I wouldn’t be chasing an old school thump, but the brighter more modern flat sound.

Any thoughts or recommendations?
I’d be happy sticking with rounds too if I could get the right ones.

Consider either (or, well, both, why not?)
- GHS 4700 (short-scale Balanced Nickels - pure nickel roundwounds)
or (and)
- Ernie Ball 2818 (short-scale Slinky Flatwound - cobalt alloy flats).

 

[AK Bass Guy]

Lots of Bronco talk in this thread, and I archived all my modding starting on this post.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/m2...er-bullet-bronco.624353/page-40#post-28707339
You’ll find a lot of Bronco info if you dig through the entire thread. Lot of different ways to mod a Bronco.

 

[michael_t]

I’m thinking a move to flat wound for the bronco would address the loose tension and introduce more low end?
Although if I do go flats I wouldn’t be chasing an old school thump, but the brighter more modern flat sound.

A couple of suggestions...

GHS Balanced Nickels short-scale set, 44-60-80-106, is specifically designed for optimal feel and tonal balance. Pure nickel wrap would tame the top end while providing deep, focused lows without going too thumpy or thuddy like some flats.

GHS Brite Flats short-scale set, 49-62-84-108, is stiffer in feel than most due to the construction (half-rounds/groundwound) and the larger gauges. Their tonal quality is more "flatwound" than the Balanced Nickels, but in a "semi-modern" flavor.

 

[2F/2F]

Heavier strings, and e.q. adjustments. You don't need a new pickup. Just adjust your amp, your onboard controls, and the pickup itself.

 

[RomanS]

I use LaBella DTB flatwounds on my Bronco - definitely more tension than the stock roundwounds. LaBellas have a very old-school flatwound tone (think Motown/Stax) - D'Addario Chromes or Ernie Ball Cobalt flats are brighter - just make sure to get a short scale set!

 

[bassdude51]

You can look through this eBay page. A dual coil humbucking Strat pickup should fit into you Bronco and beef up your sound.

Humbucker Rail Magnet Stratocaster Pickup for sale | eBay

Get the best deals for Humbucker Rail Magnet Stratocaster Pickup at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

 

[SFOB]

I've been working on modding a Bronco for the last month or so. I originally purchased it out of curiosity to see what a $200 bass felt like, but I kind of fell in love it with it right away. I would take it on some gigs but mostly as a toy. The single coil is super noisy in the place where I play my weekly, but I liked the bass so I started to do some mods about a month ago.

-Black Graphtech Ratio tuners
-Black Tusq XL nut
-Black BadAss II bridge
-Black hardware, screws, string retainer, etc.
-Black Strat vol/tone knobs
-Seymour Duncan Hot Rails neck pickup
-CTS pots and an Orange Drop
-Tru-oil finish on the neck

For strings, I've been a GHS Precision Flats guy for 10 years but there just wasn't enough tension in the short scale set. Last week I put on a set of La Bella DTB 760FS-S and they sound great. The new parts definitely improved the feel and sound of the bass, but the La Bella's were the icing on the cake. Lots of punch, and the black silks even fit my color scheme.

Now, the only original parts are the wood, the frets and the truss rod... but it's a killer bass and worth every penny to me. I'm not typically a mods/upgrades guy but it was a lot of fun doing all this stuff on my own.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

These will solve the string tension issue, and they aren’t old school thumpy flats, they are fairly bright, but will thump with the tone rolled off. You might not want to go quite as heavy gauge as I have shown.

As for the tone; a lot of players hear the ringing harmonics of long scale bright rounds as having more “depth”, and in a way, they do have, but short scale basses don’t have quite the same piano-like depth on the low end. I recently tried some DR High Beam short scale rounds on my Gretsch G220 and they do have some of that, so that would be a suggestion if you can handle the stainless steel feel.

The strings recommended by @michael_t are probably good also. He knows his strings well…

A new pickup might be something to research. I’m sure there’s one out there that can thicken up your tone, but it might not be that easy to figure out which one. A dual coil that looks like a single coil is about all I can suggest. It will also eliminate single coil hum, if you have that problem now.

 

[thrashingbass]

If you are OK with Flatwounds, Ernie Ball Group I Stainless Steel Flats are awesome to make up for shorties lacking a bit of tension using 105 sets. On the stiffer side, but due to the lesser shorter scale tension, feel great under the fingers. They are so excellent that I see no real or practical reason to switch to another brand/line other than them being no longer manufactured-as long as they are still being made, those flats are *my* choice for my humble Bronco.

Did not find a 110 roundwound set back then-the market seems to suppose short scale players "prefer" other strings other than roundwounds! Did like the 105 Hi Beams I tried, but the stainless flats seems to be a better match overall, tonally and playability-wise (haven't tried the others suggested above, including the GHS options and EB Cobalt Flats.) I wish they made 110 Swing Bass 66, but they have stuck to a very low tension formula for decades, which I am sure has worked for many shorties, but I find them too loose, and I personally had problems with the modern set I tried on that same Bronco bass being bad/"dead"/impossible to intonate (which isn't the norm on Rotosound's longer scale counterparts-also no such problems with the current EB flats.)

(I did like the stock pickup, though it obviously hummed a bit, so I eventually switched it to a DiMarzio Fast Track 1.)

The Sonic Bronco ended up being a great bass!-do not allow for the relatively lacking short scale string choice to dampen your enthusiasm. You are not alone in finding many sets rather loose for 30 scale instruments. And as aforementioned, there are plenty of pickups to try if you find the stock ones too "middy," etc.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Interesting. I really like the Dunlops and find them to have more tension than the LaBella RX 45-105s. I'm going through a bit of an experimental period and have DR Sunbeams and Ernie Ball Slinkys on deck. So we'll see what happens in the coming months. In the meantime, I'll keep track of this thread.

 

[andare]

I have flats on a Bronco. 45-100 Chromes. Labella makes short scale sets for all their gauges so you could go up to 52-110s.

But the bass lacks low end due to the tiny pickup, methinks.

i have a dual blade humbucker in series and it still lacks bass.

I think Broncos need a bigger pickup to sense more string length. I think they're routed bigger so you could install a MM pickup, for example. Even a gold foil would be an improvement over Strat sized single coils.

 

[RomanS]

I have flats on a Bronco. 45-100 Chromes. Labella makes short scale sets for all their gauges so you could go up to 52-110s.

But the bass lacks low end due to the tiny pickup, methinks.

i have a dual blade humbucker in series and it still lacks bass.

I think Broncos need a bigger pickup to sense more string length. I think they're routed bigger so you could install a MM pickup, for example. Even a gold foil would be an improvement over Strat sized single coils.

I have a DiMarzio DP295N in mine - and it's got TONS of bass (almost too much). Needed to enlarge the route a tiny bit on the low E side, though.

 

[iiipopes]

Try GHS Balanced Pure Nickels in the green package. Pure nickel wrap is more dense than nickel plated steel, and therefore have more tension for the given diameter. I have them on my 30-inch travel bass. They are consistent both from fret-to-fret and string-to-string, have good tension that is not floppy, big round tone, good price, and last a long-long time