250k audio taper potentiometers, 47nF film capacitor are standard. Use a 100nF cap for vintage tones but that will make you lose volume on roll off
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Hi, picked up one of these from Gumtree a little while ago. I normally play a Mustang but liked the look (sucker for matched-colour headstocks!) and the fact that it was a bit unusual.
Super impressed with the build quality and the quality of the hardware.
However... I do think the pickup may need replacing. Basically, when I hit a string the noise that comes out of the amp is a really metallic 'klank' sound; little bit like someone kicking over a garbage can!
I'm assuming that isn't normal? I suspect the pickup may have gone microphonic in its old age.
Any recommendations for a replacement? I hear that the SD QP is a good option; does the polepiece spacing work OK for short scale?. I'd like a pickup that will drop straight in, as the bass is otherwise all original and in great condition, so I don't want to hack it around if I can possibly avoid it.
Thanks in advance!
Super impressed with the build quality and the quality of the hardware.
However... I do think the pickup may need replacing. Basically, when I hit a string the noise that comes out of the amp is a really metallic 'klank' sound; little bit like someone kicking over a garbage can!
I'm assuming that isn't normal? I suspect the pickup may have gone microphonic in its old age.
Any recommendations for a replacement? I hear that the SD QP is a good option; does the polepiece spacing work OK for short scale?. I'd like a pickup that will drop straight in, as the bass is otherwise all original and in great condition, so I don't want to hack it around if I can possibly avoid it.
Thanks in advance!
Several manufacturer make pickups for the MM: Novak, Mojo, Sentell, Aero etc.
Additionally, any Strat-sized dual rail will also fit
Just to be clear: the P-Bass Single Coil will most likely not fit without hacking (the string spacing as well would not match), only Strat sized pickups, like those andare mentioned...
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The pickup of the Squier Vista Musicmaster is the most powerful in my arsenal, really strong clear sound.
But maybe it is worth to send the pickup to a specialist to check and possibly rewind it??
Or it is something different, as a cold solder connection. It may make sense to check the electronics. They are just two pots and a capacitor.
And the pickup is not of an age, where you would assume, that it is broken.
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Hi all, what a great club this is 
Been trawling through all the pages, and it's been really enjoyable seeing the photos & reading peoples' posts.
I picked up this lovely shell pink a couple of months ago, and I'm loving it more by the day. What cracking little tone monster it is
I regrettably sold a fantastic MIJ Mustang last year, and was looking for another replacement MIJ to take travelling with me again, as my '78 Mustang is too valuable for me now, to just throw in a suitcase in the hold of a plane.
I found this pink Vista MM locally on a classified ads site. I was intrigued, because I had a black '78 Musicmaster as my first bass when I started in '84. Wasn't long before I hated that thing, and I traded it for a MIJ Westone Thunder 1A.
However, after seeing a lot of positive opinions on the Vistas, I thought I'd check this one out.
Have to say, I was quite blown away with it after giving a try out. It plays lovely, sounds wicked & looks so cool
No disrespect to any original USA Musicmaster owners, and not wanting to commit heresy, but IMHO the Vista series of Musicmaster bass is way above the original Fenders on every level, or at least the one I remember having.
I think I got this for a good price, with a custom made hard case....plus a load of accessories including a Hartke combo, Alesis drum machine, Yamaha headphones, Zoom FX & other stuff thrown in for free.
It's in great condition. The seller had it from new, and it seems he hardly used it afterwards. It had a Jazz bridge cover fitted, which I've taken off, leaving a couple of small holes, which is no big deal.
The pickguard was replaced with a custom made pearloid one by the original owner too, which looks way better on this than the original plain white one IMHO.... He left the original pickguard in the case for me, which I only later found out had been signed by a Mr. Noel Redding!
I've strung it with Labella black nylon tapewounds, and it sounds huge. Didn't need a setup, plays great. The pickup on this thing is surprisingly good. It's quite a versatile bass. Even found myself having the odd slap on it
The one thing I need to do, is give it a good shielding, as it's a bit noisy.
Could I have number please?
Been trawling through all the pages, and it's been really enjoyable seeing the photos & reading peoples' posts.
I picked up this lovely shell pink a couple of months ago, and I'm loving it more by the day. What cracking little tone monster it is
I regrettably sold a fantastic MIJ Mustang last year, and was looking for another replacement MIJ to take travelling with me again, as my '78 Mustang is too valuable for me now, to just throw in a suitcase in the hold of a plane.
I found this pink Vista MM locally on a classified ads site. I was intrigued, because I had a black '78 Musicmaster as my first bass when I started in '84. Wasn't long before I hated that thing, and I traded it for a MIJ Westone Thunder 1A.
However, after seeing a lot of positive opinions on the Vistas, I thought I'd check this one out.
Have to say, I was quite blown away with it after giving a try out. It plays lovely, sounds wicked & looks so cool
No disrespect to any original USA Musicmaster owners, and not wanting to commit heresy, but IMHO the Vista series of Musicmaster bass is way above the original Fenders on every level, or at least the one I remember having.
I think I got this for a good price, with a custom made hard case....plus a load of accessories including a Hartke combo, Alesis drum machine, Yamaha headphones, Zoom FX & other stuff thrown in for free.
It's in great condition. The seller had it from new, and it seems he hardly used it afterwards. It had a Jazz bridge cover fitted, which I've taken off, leaving a couple of small holes, which is no big deal.
The pickguard was replaced with a custom made pearloid one by the original owner too, which looks way better on this than the original plain white one IMHO.... He left the original pickguard in the case for me, which I only later found out had been signed by a Mr. Noel Redding!
I've strung it with Labella black nylon tapewounds, and it sounds huge. Didn't need a setup, plays great. The pickup on this thing is surprisingly good. It's quite a versatile bass. Even found myself having the odd slap on it
The one thing I need to do, is give it a good shielding, as it's a bit noisy.
Could I have number please?
Attachments
Squier should ditch the Bronco and reissue these. Short scales are so hot now, the market is ready.
I love my pink Bronco. The quality of the special run broncos seems definitely better to me. The neck is much nicer (for my taste) than that of the standard black or red broncos. I even could have lived with the standard pickup, which sounded better than the normal ones (for what reason ever). They used shielding spray inside, which cures the most annoying hum sensivity. Since the beginning of this year, when I got the pink bronco, I played him for at least 90% of the time. My musicmaster basses just felt a bit short in the joy of playing.
If Squier would keep the quality of the special run broncos, maybe augmented with a proper 4-pole pickup, I would be completely happy with these instruments.
Holy Carp!! This thing has grown!
It also seems I need to repost my old pix from the beginning.
@matt-o- When did Squier come out with the pink Bronco? I've been out of the loop for a loooong time, and just slowly dipping my toes back in the water. If the quality on those is pretty good, I'm gonna find an excuse to get yet another shorty. Was that pickup original, or something you replaced?
It also seems I need to repost my old pix from the beginning.
@matt-o- When did Squier come out with the pink Bronco? I've been out of the loop for a loooong time, and just slowly dipping my toes back in the water. If the quality on those is pretty good, I'm gonna find an excuse to get yet another shorty. Was that pickup original, or something you replaced?
The pink Bronco was a special run end of last year. In the US exclusive to CME, the European batch was available with the normal retailers. My impression was, that the quality of this special run was noticeable higher than the standard bronco basses. Or maybe the indonesian factorys have increased in quality. At least my super cheapo Squier Bullet Mustang Guitar is completely fine as well, with shielding spray inside and overall fine workmanship.
The pickup is a goldfoil from mojopickups in the UK. Sadly, since the brexit, the UK products have gotten more expensive to buy. This goldfoil simply is a favourite of mine, but the stock pickup in mine wasn't bad at all. Just a different sound. The evolution of my pink bass went like this:
original:
black pickguard :
an then final with the goldfoil - see picture in the post above.
I agree 100%, the Broncos I tried were awful, they were in a category of awful that I couldn't even appreciate them for their quirky aesthetic.
The original Fender Musicmasters are now hugely overpriced for what is basically an instrument at the level of most £200 (or $200 if in the US) basses that are made nowadays so if Squier brought out something along the lines of VM or CV quality I think these would sell like hot cakes and for those that want to spend a bit more Fender could bring out an MIM version for a couple hundred more, I would certainly buy that over the overpriced vintage Fender Musicmasters
Agreed on the pink Bronco. The neck is fantastic. Mine's very well shielded as well. I really need to ditch thr crappy dual rail pickup and buy a better one. I can't stand single coil hum though. I'd love to find a hum cancelling pickup with flat polepieces so I could use the original Mustang pickup cover.
Your gold foil looks tempting but the hum is a deal breaker, especially with the dodgy wiring I'm my local venues.
I'm a big fan of the Musicmaster pickguard. I wish I could put one on my Bronco but WD charges a lot for them and I don't know how to fix the mismatched holes in the body
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What's about Lace Sensor's? They have no visible pole pieces and have barely no tendency to hum. Very clean.
The goldfoil as well is very clean, barely no hum. Sadly they got pretty expensive since brexit...
If you like the musicmaster pickguard, why not buy just the material and do it yourself. You have to saw it very very slowly (I used a jigsaw), then it works pretty easyily.
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I'll look into a Lace Sensor Red or Blue.
As for the pickguard the problem is filling in and repainting the existing holes before drilling new ones. I would just butcher the bass...
If you're interested I had assembled a Bronco from inexpensive parts and pieces here on TB. One really nice part that was in the Bronco body was a Nordstrand '51 Tele Split coil 17mm custom string spaced pup. Sorry I don't have any info on where it was originally purchased, like I said it was in there.
After I took the Bronco neck and put it on my Fender Musicmaster body I also put this pup in there. It sounds really good and I've never had any hum issues at a gig even with minimal shielding. Just a thought.
The real problem I see with putting a MM pickguard on a Bronco is the extra holes that will be outside the guard area. It would be easy to cover most of the existing holes and drill new ones but there are holes up past the neck heel that would need to be addressed. Not sure how you would do that without some pro repaint work.
Just some thoughts.
Just bagged myself another Vista
Congratulations! Looks like the start of a wonderful foursome collection. Only two to go...;-)
Out of curiosity: what is the weight of yours? My pink is a bit on the heavy side with 3.9 kg...
Out of curiosity: what is the weight of yours? My pink is a bit on the heavy side with 3.9 kg...
Ha, I think two's enough for me
The both weigh about 3.8kg, quite weighty for short scales I guess, but not too heavy for me
