Broncomaster bass: DONE (for now)

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:22 pm

So I recently bought astro's Broncomaster bass, sans electronics, although he very kindly included a red Lace Sensor to get me started. As much as I love my guitar techs, I'd like to learn to wire it up myself like a big girl. Here's where I could use some advice:

1. Is there any reason to use 500k pots with the red Lace Sensor rather than 250k?

2. I have a fully functional input jack lying around from when I had all the electronics in my Super-Sonic replaced (and could have told my tech just to replace the pots, but live and learn). That will work in a Bronco bass, right?

3. How much resistance do I want in a capacitor and why?

4. Should I shield this thing, or doesn't it matter?

5. Any general advice, dos and don'ts, etc., for a soldering n00b?

I'm not letting myself start working on it until I've revised my Oscar Wilde chapter and drafted a decent chunk of my introduction, so it may be a week or two before this project actually goes anywhere. I'm also contemplating an eventual refin (sea foam green? sonic blue? yellow?), but I definitely don't have time for it at the moment.

theshadowofseattle · Post by **theshadowofseattle** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:08 pm

For a bass, you'll want to keep the 250k pots unless you want a LOT of high end.

astro · Post by **astro** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 3:45 am

The lace sensor red is a pretty dark sounding pickup, I had 500k pots in the bass and it sounded good. 250k should still work, though, it would make it more "vintage" sounding. Pots are cheap and easy to change, so it's easy to experiment with different values.

The bass has shielding paint in the cavities, so you shouldn't need to add more shielding. Just make sure it's connected to ground. Also, the Lace pickups are internally shielded, making them "noiseless", so you shouldn't have any noise issues, unless you end up with something that's improperly grounded in your wiring. If that crops up, it should be an easy thing to fix, though.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 8:49 pm

Good call on the shielding paint. I finally got around to ordering parts and decided to go with the 500k pots. If it ends up too bright, that's what the tone knob is for. Pics to come once I actually get to work on this thing. Damn I'm slow.

EDIT: Aaaand... it's stupid question time again. I bought a couple of linear pots before reading that I shouldn't use a linear pot as a volume pot. I do understand the science involved, that the logarithmic pot is truer to the way our ears process loudness, but is this something that I'm actually going to find to be a problem when I'm playing this bass? Do I want to go get an audio taper pot instead, or just fudge it?

EDIT #2: Ok, this is perhaps a less stupid question. This wiring diagram for a single-coil p bass looks similar to what I'm doing. Is it? It shows a pickup with just a white and a black (ground?) wire. From what I've been able to gather about the Lace sensor, the orange wire is the hot one, and it does what the white wire is doing in this diagram, and I twist the green and the white together, and they go to the ground. Am I in the ballpark at least? Somebody straighten me out on this.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 4:16 pm

Bump. Little help?

Basically, I'm still wondering:
-how big a mistake is it, practically speaking, to use a linear pot for volume?
-Is this the wiring diagram I want to use? If so, is it correct that the orange wire of the red Lace Sensor is the equivalent of the white wire in the diagram, and the white and green wires twisted together = the black ground wire?

And here, finally, are some pics of the big pile of bass parts waiting for me in the basement. Cooper insisted on walking through all but one of them. Sorry about that.

It bugs me to have multiple guitars the same color and I already have a red one, so I'll probably do an refin in the spring. I'm leaning either surf green or graffiti yellow (possibly with black pickguard and/or comp stripe), and right now, yellow is winning. I'm open to suggestions, though.

h8mtv · Post by **h8mtv** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:34 pm

I'd start here for wiring.

http://www.riograndepickups.com/images/ ... 1pbass.PDF

I'd stick with a .047uf tone cap. I have a Dragonfire rails single size hummer in mine. I used one of the mojo laden PIO caps and I really do feel like they sounds much better. I find myself actually using tone pot, never done that before.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 9:43 pm

Update!

The good news is, I got the bass wired up and it MAKES NOISEZ. The bad news is the volume control does not work. Granted, I used a linear pot instead of audio, but there is no change whatsoever between 10 and 0. I followed this wiring diagram for a '51 P bass. I usually leave my volume on full anyway, so this isn't going to cramp my style tremendously, but someday, it will annoy me, so I probably ought to get it sorted before I proceed. Any idea why this would have happened (which solder joints to check, etc.)?

cur · Post by **cur** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 1:57 am

Sounds like there is a short somewhere and you are bypassing the pot. Just a guess. Double check the wiring pattern and make sure no solder spots are touching anything they should not be. I guess you can check the volume pot with a volt meter to make sure it works as it should.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 2:17 am

Actually I googled a little harder and found out I was supposed to solder the extra lug to the back of the pot, and that fixed it. Thanks, though! I'll set it up tomorrow and then post pics.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 10:04 pm

Finally got the little guy all put together, and now I'm remembering why I fell in love with this neck. Some pics:

My very first solder joint:

Here goes nothing:

All done:

Now, who's got refin ideas? I think surf green or graffiti yellow would be hot, but I'm open to suggestions.

redzebra6 · Post by **redzebra6** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 10:52 am

I've recently acquired a Bronco in hopes of turning it into the same thing...sort of.

mixtape wrote: It bugs me to have multiple guitars the same color and I already have a red one, so I'll probably do an refin in the spring. I'm leaning either surf green or graffiti yellow (possibly with black pickguard and/or comp stripe), and right now, yellow is winning. I'm open to suggestions, though.

I know how you feel. I have 3 basses and a guitar that are black, my collection seems to lack some variety. A while back I saw a pic of a coral pink Musicmaster bass, but the lighting made it look like a creamy orange, like orange sherbet or a creamcicle. It looked rather good. But then again, I don't think there are enough yellow guitar and basses in the world either.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:03 am

mixtape wrote: -how big a mistake is it, practically speaking, to use a linear pot for volume?

I just want to clear up that it isn't a mistake at all, it is just a matter of personal preference. I personally can't stand audio taper pots and always use linear pots for both tone and volume on my guitars.

Jamesstarky · Post by **Jamesstarky** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:08 pm

That looks great, well done. I'm desperate to do the same thing on a bronco I've seen in the local pawn shop. Just scraping the cash together.