I spotted this Bronco on CL a while back, but didn't have any cash. So I offered to trade my Fender Blues Junior for the Bronco. Unfortunately, the seller didn't care for the Blues Junior and asked if I had a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I didn't have one so I searched CL and found a guy less that 3 miles away who wanted to trade his Hot Rod Deluxe for my Blues Junior. He was an older gentleman who was downsizing and moving to California. I then was able to trade the Hot Rod Deluxe up to the Bronco.
The Bronco red is a little darker than Fiesta Red but is lighter than Dakota Red. I don't have all the details on this Bronco yet, but it was just recently setup and sounds great. The pickup seems way more trebly and punchy than my Mustang, maybe due to the bridge. I will know more when I open her up later and see what secrets lie beneath. The neck feels halfway between my Mullet-stang and Jaguar, so almost perfect. Someone drilled two holes in the headstock and filled them. Besides that, the Headstock is very clean. The tuners look pretty new and might not be original. I think the paint is original but not for sure. Frets were clean and probably not original.
Pics
► Show Spoiler
Unfortunately I did just notice one problem. Looks like some did a crappy fret job and some of the frets look awful and the rosewood may have been sawed almost all the way through. It doesn't seem to affect the playability, it just looks like crap.
Can anything be done to repair this? Will the guitar be fine to play?
Fret pics
► Show Spoiler
Last edited by taylornutt on Sun Jul 22, 2012 2:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
I tore it down and took a peek under the pickguard. Unfortunately, it seemed to create more questions than answers. I still don't know how old the guitar is.
The neck does not have a Fender Stamp on it, so I am doubting it's even original. The body definitely looks refinished and the white primer shows through in places. I have definitely seen worse refinishes. It has smooth CTS pots but the wiring looks newer to me. There is on wire not connected to anything. I don't know if it's a complete project guitar or maybe a Bronco body that was refinished with a replacement neck. The neck decal looks spot on so I was surprised when I didn't find the stamp. The pickguard is a little rough next to the trem. It has the early Bronco knobs with numbers. The pickguard might be original. Not sure from the picture what exactly the pickup is. There is a really bad buzz on the low E string on like the 16th or 17th fret, but I will never play that high on the neck so it won't be a problem.
Personally i think the body on your bronco looks really good, refin or not. and theyre getting more and more expensive as the years go on. I would keep it, seeing as how it is mostly original itll still have the relitively same sound as a bronco. Just get it like refretted and maybe a set up if its in need of one
stewart wrote:It's a 70s neck stamp, they stopped using the neck number/month/year stamp in 1974 or something.
Mid 70s refin with a bad fret job, a rewire and an aftermarket pickup.
Thanks for that information. I was not sure when they stopped doing the big stamps on the neck. I am glad it's the original neck. The guitar sounds and plays great which is all that matters.
Luckily I have the thing that most Bronco owners wish they still had...the Bronco trem bar.
I laid it next to the Mustang trem bar and it was more different than I thought it would be. It is shorter length than the Mustang, but it has more height. The end has a thread like look but it doesn't thread in. It turns about a quarter turn then stops.
I did a quick A/B test with the Bronco and my Mullet-stang with the Bridge pickup selected. Almost sounded identical. The Bronco is slightly harder sounding, but it's basically a draw. My Compstang RI has the Lace Sensor Red in the Bridge so it is very different from these two guitars. I also compared the Mustang Trem to the Bronco Trem. The Mustang trem is definitely smoother, has more range and a bit more responsive. That said, the Bronco trem is very nice as well. You get some nice wobbles and it doesn't completely go out of tune. Kinda reminds me of a Jaguar trem because of the spring inside. I think the Bronco trem is very underrated. I also like that you don't have to tighten a set screw to make the bar stay accessible like on the Mustang trem.
I did a little research on the neck serial number and here is what I found:
4900 4213
49 = model code (Musicmaster, Mustang, Bronco)
00 = neck code (rosewood fingerboard)
42 = week code (week 42)
1 = year code (1971)
3 = day of the week code (Wednesday)
Unfortunately this would date my neck at 1971, which is when they were still using the old stamp dating method. The articles said that the last numbers sometimes got swapped. So my best guess is this is a 1973 Bronco. I did find a 72 catalog that had the Bronco with the numbered Bronco knobs. That would lend cred to the idea its a 1973.
[Unfortunately I did just notice one problem. Looks like some did a crappy fret job and some of the frets look awful and the rosewood may have been sawed almost all the way through. It doesn't seem to affect the playability, it just looks like crap.
Can anything be done to repair this? Will the guitar be fine to play?
Fret pics
► Show Spoiler
[/quote]
I read that you can repair this type of problem with a mixture of glue and sawdust. You'd have to pull the frets fill the slots with the mixture of sawdust and glue, then clean the slots up or resaw them before reseating the fretwire. You will need a "fret puller" or "nipper", a fret saw or a fret groove cleaner, hides glue, fret hammer (you know one of those with the plastic ends), a jewelers file (if you completely replace the frets with new wire) and a soldering gun to heat the fret and loosen the glue immediately before removing the wire. Fret wire with a thicker tang might also fill the gap and solve this problem. Fender use to install fret wire by driving them in from the side instead of hammering them down like other guitar companies. Anyone removing fretwire from an older Fender would have to drive the wire out from the side vs using nippers to pull them straight up and out. Pulling frets straight up and out on an older Fender can cause this type damage to the fret board.
Disciple of Pain
"I'm like the monkey screwing the skunk. I haven't had enough, but I've about had all that I can stand!"
Is the red paint lumpy? It looks like it in some of the photos. It's a great guitar. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Enjoy it. If you ever need to refret it you can fill the slots with sawdust and glue as described. Otherwise, you shouldn't notice a difference.
The strawberries look great, partly because they fit, but also because they are so unexpected. Strawberry jam!
taylornutt wrote:Luckily I have the thing that most Bronco owners wish they still had...the Bronco trem bar.
I just talked to Brambleperro (shortscale member and one of the previous owners) and its possible thats not a bronco arm. Bramble used a strat arm that he modded a bit (think he just bent the angle down). Entirely possible the guy after found one, but to my eyes thats a strat arm.
Regarding the fret job, the pulling frets out sideways method was only worked out in the late 70s/early 80s as far as I remember, so it may just be an earlier fret job.
As you say, it doesn't look great, but if you like the guitar and want to keep it, play it till the frets are worn out and get it fixed then. If it doesn't harm the way it plays its not worth fixing at the moment, fret jobs aren't cheap.
Oh, and yes, definitely a refin, the paint finishes weren't perfect on 70s Fenders, but they would have polished the orange peel out a bit more.
DGNR8 wrote:Is the red paint lumpy? It looks like it in some of the photos. It's a great guitar. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Enjoy it. If you ever need to refret it you can fill the slots with sawdust and glue as described. Otherwise, you shouldn't notice a difference.
The strawberries look great, partly because they fit, but also because they are so unexpected. Strawberry jam!
The photos are overselling the lumpyness due to the flash. It's not perfect, but definitely looks better in person.
I did notice a slight tear in the strawberry decal, probably got too wet and ripped during application. Of course, the red color meshes it all together and makes it work.
