What is that Bronco Bass pickup really?

[NoBlackTShirts]

I've heard say that they just stuff in a Squier strat pickup, which is fine by me. They could probably run their production for a while just using all the Squier strat pickups that people have discarded from their Squier Strats.

But I can't leave well enough alone, and this smells like an opportunity to try making a pickup of my own, but with four poles. I understand that there are people who make pickups, and even sell them, so it must be possible.

The question being: Is this really a regular Squier Strat pickup, meaning that I could follow the outlines and dimensions of a regular Squier Strat pickup and it'll fit in when I'm done?

Yeah, this is a dumb thing to get into but that's what I do.

Thanks

 

[Fatboy 2015]

I have no idea whats inside that pickup, but as for your project, imvsure you can find a tutorial or three somewhere on the internet. it cant be super hard, i watched the made in america show when they toured the Fender factory. one highlight was this little old lady that worked there, she hand wound the customshop pickups.

 

[Antisyzygy]

Pretty sure it's just a strat pickup. I've heard of people swapping it for blade strat pickups so they don't have to worry about the poles lining up.

Sentell Pickups makes some pickups for a MusicMaster/Bronco : Sentell Pickups bass guitar pickups

 

[Bass master Burt man]

Yes it is just a strat pick up. The bronco bass is kind of just a squier version of the vintage fender musicmaster bass. The music master was fenders cheaper line of guitars and basses made from the spare parts of the mustangs and sonic duos. They would just throw in a single coil guitar pickup from a mustang.

 

[iiipopes]

More precisely, it was a MusicMaster/Mustang pickup with the flat poles underneath a plastic cover with no holes. And yes, the standard mod used to be to use a Seymour Duncan bridge version Cool Rails, when that was the only rails pickup available. Now, many pickups are used, including Fender itself on some of the Mustang variants. I still like the Cool Rails bridge pickup, because it has enough beef to give tone but is not overwound artificially boosting the mids.

 

[NoBlackTShirts]

Well, that concerns me. If the Musicmaster used a Mustang pickup and the Mustang pickup isn't the same size (the flatwork, I think they call it) as a Strat pickup, and I use a Squier Strat pickup as a model, I'll be modelling the wrong size if they are using whatever the junior guitars are using and they're not using Strat pickups.

I like the Rails idea though. It would save me a lot of trouble. And GFS has some, and I've had very good luck with their pickups. Thanks for the advice regarding the weight of the winding. That is very useful information.

 

[Antisyzygy]

Well, that concerns me. If the Musicmaster used a Mustang pickup and the Mustang pickup isn't the same size (the flatwork, I think they call it) as a Strat pickup, and I use a Squier Strat pickup as a model, I'll be modelling the wrong size if they are using whatever the junior guitars are using and they're not using Strat pickups.

I like the Rails idea though. It would save me a lot of trouble. And GFS has some, and I've had very good luck with their pickups. Thanks for the advice regarding the weight of the winding. That is very useful information.

My understanding is that mustang pickups have the same dimensions as strat pickups, but they don't have pole pieces sticking out past the bobbin.

 

[NoBlackTShirts]

Wonderful, thank you, Anti.

It turns out that GFS doesn't mention the magnetic material in their rail pickups, which means that it's ceramic, because ceramic is a thing to be rightly embarrassed by. I'm a real bigot about this. I hate ceramic in anything.

I wonder whether this is one of those things where a person could jackhammer out the ceramic magnet and put an alnico one in its place.

 

[iiipopes]

Well, that concerns me. If the Musicmaster used a Mustang pickup and the Mustang pickup isn't the same size (the flatwork, I think they call it) as a Strat pickup, and I use a Squier Strat pickup as a model, I'll be modelling the wrong size if they are using whatever the junior guitars are using and they're not using Strat pickups.

I like the Rails idea though. It would save me a lot of trouble. And GFS has some, and I've had very good luck with their pickups. Thanks for the advice regarding the weight of the winding. That is very useful information.

They are the same size flat work. The difference is in the smaller magnets and less wire. The GFS rails should work well. I have a set of their humbucking soapbars in an inexpensive guitar that sound great.

Ceramic is not in and of itself bad. The problem with ceramic pickups is that ceramic magnets are cheap. So they are put in cheap coils that don't have the right kind or amount of wire in the coil, and they sound harsh, because the coils are not adjusted from their alnico counterparts.

Ceramic magnets can be the basis of great pickups. For example, the original Seymour Duncan Custom Humbucker SH-5 has a thin ceramic magnet with about 14 kohms' worth of thinner wire, and that pickup sounds great in the bridge position of a Les Paul - bright, full, but not harsh like cheap Strat-oid pickups. Unless otherwise specified with an "A" in the model name, or are otherwise indicated, EMG pickups use ceramic magnets. Because ceramic is not ferrous, and therefore does not affect inductance of the coil, Bill Lawrence preferred the consistency of ceramic magnets and the ability to separately design the coil. The DiMarzio Models P & J, and UltraJazz, have ceramic magnets, and we all know how great they sound.

So don't pass by a pickup just because it uses a ceramic magnet. A ceramic magnet with the proper coil geometry and construction can be a really, really good pickup.

 

[Antisyzygy]

So don't pass by a pickup just because it uses a ceramic magnet. A ceramic magnet with the proper coil geometry and construction can be a really, really good pickup.

The G&L MFD pickups use ceramic magnets, and they are absolutely fantastic pickups. The sound is thunderous and thick on their basses, almost like there's more harmonics getting picked up or something. I haven't actually played a G&L guitar yet but I've heard good things abut those pickups as well.

I thought most rails pickups actually had ceramic magnets in them because of manufacturing constraints. I typically use single coils or full sized humbuckers so I never really bothered shopping around for a rails pup though.

Still, it's whatever the NoBlackTShirts wants, nothing wrong with their preferences. Artec and Belcat make some Alnico rails (just googled it). I believe Artec is the manufacturer of GFS pickups.

 

[JustForSport]

Most 'ceramic' pickups have a ceramic bar across the underside of the steel poles (or rails) and while some AlNiCo magnet pickups also have an AlNiCo bar across the underside of the steel poles (or rails), most are made with AlNiCo poles.
If you got an AlNiCo single-coil Strat pickup with Magnetic poles, you could push the 6 magnets out, epoxy-fill the holes, and re-drill for 4 holes to the spacing you want, then insert the 4 poles and set them whatever height you prefer.

 

[NoBlackTShirts]

So don't pass by a pickup just because it uses a ceramic magnet. A ceramic magnet with the proper coil geometry and construction can be a really, really good pickup.

Of course it goes without saying that "good" to one person is torture to another. With that unfortunate formality out of the way, I could see a ceramic pickup here. My preference is a liquid, luminous, melodic sound. That is not particularly a description of a ceramic pickup (or speaker) but it's not particularly a description of a short-scale bass either.

(Those of you with what you think are exceptions, please stay seated. Exceptions don't count.)

A short scale bass with a ceramic pickup might be an unbeatable grind machine.

 

[Antisyzygy]

Of course it goes without saying that "good" to one person is torture to another. With that unfortunate formality out of the way, I could see a ceramic pickup here. My preference is a liquid, luminous, melodic sound. That is not particularly a description of a ceramic pickup (or speaker) but it's not particularly a description of a short-scale bass either.

(Those of you with what you think are exceptions, please stay seated. Exceptions don't count.)

A short scale bass with a ceramic pickup might be an unbeatable grind machine.

Artec and Belcat make some AlNiCo rails pups.

I've heard good things about Belcats and Artec is a common manufacturer some big name companies have used to outsource pickups.

Here's another option that might be interesting : Single Coil Electric Guitar Pickups by Lace Music Products | The Alumitone is the next generation in single-coil pickup design with less resistance and higher output than conventional voltage based pickups.

Lace mentions the alumitone single coil sized pups have a nice top and bottom end. Marketing is marketing but maybe there is a grain of truth to that, or they're being honest.

 

[elboned]

yeah I took the strat pickup out of my Bronco and put a Lace Sensor in there and put the original in a lap steel I built. Works great in there.

 

[jaybones]

Yes it is just a strat pick up. The bronco bass is kind of just a squier version of the vintage fender musicmaster bass. The music master was fenders cheaper line of guitars and basses made from the spare parts of the mustangs and sonic duos. They would just throw in a single coil guitar pickup from a mustang.

Talked a buddy of mine into buying an original Bronco guitar in a pawnshop for $90 OTD. Got it home and plugged it into my amp, and the pickup (the only one) had a nice fuzz distorted late 60's tone. Clean was thick and muddy (not in a good way). Body had been stripped and looked like it was made of three or more pieces of pine, and had a gnarly knot right behind the poorly designed tremolo thingy.

No idea what current Bronco bases use as pickups.

 

[iiipopes]

Of course it goes without saying that "good" to one person is torture to another. With that unfortunate formality out of the way, I could see a ceramic pickup here. My preference is a liquid, luminous, melodic sound. That is not particularly a description of a ceramic pickup (or speaker) but it's not particularly a description of a short-scale bass either.

(Those of you with what you think are exceptions, please stay seated. Exceptions don't count.)

A short scale bass with a ceramic pickup might be an unbeatable grind machine.

This is where reasonable persons may differ. The majority of modern pickups that I have played or heard that are ceramic are, to my ears, liquid, luminous and melodic. And you can add articulate, clear and convincing.

 

[honeyiscool]

While Mustang and Strat guitar pickups are of identical dimensions, I noticed at least on my 69 Reissue that some Strat pickups were a little tight on the Mustang pickguard. A tiny bit of sandpapering solved that issue, though. Anyway, other Strat pickups work great on the Mustang guitar. I use Lace Sensors on my 73 Reissue that is my favorite guitar.

On the Bronco Bass, I've always stood by the Lace Red Sensor, which is a high output but low noise single coil pickup. The problem with the stock Bronco Bass pickup for me was that it had poor output, poor low end, and poor signal-to-noise ratio. That's not that hard to fix. Good, expensive ceramic single coils exist. However, your average ceramic Strat pickup is awful. It's what you think of when you see Affinity Strats and low-end MIM Strats, and at that price range, Alnico is definitely better (this is why Squier Classic Vibes probably sound better than MIM Strats). Almost anything is an improvement on the Bronco Bass. I've seen all kinds of pickups being used there, and they can all be good as long as you upgraded from stock.

If you believe Chris Kinman on these things, he claims that ceramic imparts no effect on the magnetic field whereas Alnico adds character to it. I don't know if I entirely believe that, but he stops short of calling ceramic pickups bad, but only that they'll never sound like Alnico. That's fair, I think. But I think of one of my favorite pickups: the Duncan SH-5 Custom. That is not a harsh sounding pickup. In fact, it's high output without being annoying about it and is a very good sounding pickup with bell-like clarity, great for cleans and dirty. I think it sounds better than the Custom 5 (SH-14) which is the same pickup with an Alnico magnet. You want harsh? I think Duncan SH-4 JB, and guess what, that's an Alnico pickup. The EMG 81 has perhaps ruined ceramic for a lot of people, but not all ceramics sound like that. One of the more iconic pickups in the single coil sized high output market is the Duncan Hot Rails. It's a ceramic pickup. Still sounds great.

The problem with cheap ceramic pickups isn't the ceramic, it's the cheap. But you know what, I've had an old Fender Musicmaster Bass with an Alnico pickup, and it also sounded awful, too.

 

[cm3ohana]

I replaced the stock Squier Bronco pickup with a GFS Lil Killer blade pickup and works great. It's a hotter pickup than the stock pickup and not sure I wanted to spend more on a bass that cost me < $100 to begin with. But, with that said, it has a full sound, quiet since it's a humbucker and, since I use flats on the Bronco, it provides enough thump for what I use the bass for. It's never going to take place of my P-bass but works good enough that I've gigged with it a few times. Of course, as we always caveat here in TB, YMMV.

 

[db22]

I've heard say that they just stuff in a Squier strat pickup, which is fine by me. They could probably run their production for a while just using all the Squier strat pickups that people have discarded from their Squier Strats.

But I can't leave well enough alone, and this smells like an opportunity to try making a pickup of my own, but with four poles. I understand that there are people who make pickups, and even sell them, so it must be possible.

The question being: Is this really a regular Squier Strat pickup, meaning that I could follow the outlines and dimensions of a regular Squier Strat pickup and it'll fit in when I'm done?

Yeah, this is a dumb thing to get into but that's what I do.

Thanks

Alright -- after three tries, I think I have found a really good cheap 30" scale bass, the Squier Sonic Bronco. Reading up on pickups, I'm going to try a Duncan Hot Rails Strat neck pickup. The stock single-coil is weak, particularly in the low end, but has served well enough through three gigs so far. Duncan's dimension drawing shows that it should fit right in the Bronco pickguard. Will post again after I get the new pickup installed. Any recommendations for cap value with this pickup in a bass? I'm using 250K pots, but my spare parts box has lots of others to try.

 

[abarson]

I've done two Bronco pickup swaps: one with a cheap Musiclily rail humbucker and the other with a GFS Lil' Killer 10K, which is an Alnico V magnet. Both were significant improvements over the stock Strat crap, but the GFS was the better of the two. It was certainly clearer and more defined. I recommend it.