Need pickup recommendations for the Bronco Bass I'm modding

moore65 · Post by **moore65** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 2:08 am

I use a cheap Epiphone humbucker in my Bronco bass and it works good. However, for distortion you'd be better off getting a rails-type pickup such as the Seymour Duncan Hot Rails or Dimarzio Chopper. Also, you wouldn't have to worry about the magnets lining up with the strings.

ryst · Post by **ryst** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:14 pm

honeyiscool wrote:Red Lace Sensor x1000. It's actually my favorite sounding bass pickup.

Kinda crappy as a guitar pickup, though... IMO, of course. But really, it's all about what you want from your sound. At the end of the day, Laces are single coils and Hot Rails are humbuckers. One will never be confused for the other.

Well, as I said before I plan on modding the Bronco to be a 4 baritone guitar. So I def want a "guitar" sound....a very heavy thick guitar sound at Drop G or Drop A. So I guess Laces aren't what i'm looking for. Thanks for your input!

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:38 pm

The thing is, though, if you want a very heavy thick guitar sound, I actually think a Red Sensor would be great for that. I mean, they're not bad pickups at all. Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins used them to good effect. They're very smooth and thick sounding, which is why they make bad guitar pickups IMO, but if that's what you want, then they're the best pickups in the world. I find rails pickups to be generally thin and peaky sounding.

I mean, Red Sensor isn't the only Lace you can use. You could use a Blue, for instance. Now that's an excellent pickup.

ryst · Post by **ryst** » Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:29 am

Thanks honeyiscool! I'll be at Namm this weekend so I'm sure after talking to a few peeps based on the info in this thread, I'll have a clear idea what's best for me.

Thanks so much for everyone's input! It's helped a ton!

Jamesstarky · Post by **Jamesstarky** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:31 pm

moore65 wrote:I use a cheap Epiphone humbucker in my Bronco bass and it works good.

Is that a humbucker for guitar or bass? Do you think it makes a difference? I'm wondering what to put in my Bronco.

moore65 · Post by **moore65** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:16 am

Jamesstarky wrote:
moore65 wrote:I use a cheap Epiphone humbucker in my Bronco bass and it works good.
Is that a humbucker for guitar or bass? Do you think it makes a difference? I'm wondering what to put in my Bronco.

No, it's a humbucker taken from a Les Paul, so it's a guitar pickup. I figured since the Bronco comes with a Strat pickup I could add a humbucker guitar pickup and retain that vintage sound, albeit less noisy and fatter sounding. I think using a guitar vs. bass pickup will have some effect on the low end of how your bass sounds. A guitar pickup will sound clearer though IMO.