70s musicmaster bass pickups- wtf?

[honeyiscool]

I don't think taking the logo off a Bronco Bass is a big deal. It's not like anybody will mistake it for anything but a Squier Bronco Bass, considering what else looks like one.

[honeyiscool]

ah, yer one of those that must still believe the tone from an electric guitar is all about the wood and finish, eh?

here's a clue - electric guitar tone is all about the electronics. the rest of the guitar just holds those electronics and strings and frets together.

so, NO. what started out as a crappy toned "bass guitar" is now a true bass guitar, thanx essentially to better electronics ... and that, my friend, is NOT a bronco.

ymmv, as i'm sure it wiil, but you'd be incorrect.

So can you explain why I had two basses, with identical electronics, a Squier Bronco Bass and a Fender Musicmaster Bass, which are the same basic design, I had the same Lace Sensor Red pickups in both of them, which are pickups that a lot of people think make all guitars sound identical, and actually I even changed the neck on the Musicmaster Bass to a Squier Bronco Bass neck because I didn't like the original neck. So why did those two basses sound completely different, where one sounded good and the other didn't? I went through a fortune's worth of strings, too.

I'd like to think that electronics do everything but I still think that especially with a bass, there's something about the actual sound of the instrument before it ever gets amplified. Some basses I've played seem to have a deep full sound and some seem to have a thin guitar-like sound and if you have that, I just don't think much can be done about it.

Oh, and I have another bass, an Aria medium scale bass, on which I've also fitted a Lace Red Sensor and that is not a particularly good sounding instrument either. A Bronco Bass with half rounds sound way more full than the Aria with flatwounds, and this is despite the same pickups.

[Rob DiStefano]

I don't think taking the logo off a Bronco Bass is a big deal. It's not like anybody will mistake it for anything but a Squier Bronco Bass, considering what else looks like one.

ah, but to hear that '51 p-bass pup sing - that will make ya scratch yer head in wonder.

[Rob DiStefano]

ah, yer one of those that must still believe the tone from an electric guitar is all about the wood and finish, eh?

here's a clue - electric guitar tone is all about the electronics. the rest of the guitar just holds those electronics and strings and frets together.

so, NO. what started out as a crappy toned "bass guitar" is now a true bass guitar, thanx essentially to better electronics ... and that, my friend, is NOT a bronco.

ymmv, as i'm sure it wiil, but you'd be incorrect.

So can you explain why I had two basses, with identical electronics, a Squier Bronco Bass and a Fender Musicmaster Bass, which are the same basic design, I had the same Lace Sensor Red pickups in both of them, which are pickups that a lot of people think make all guitars sound identical, and actually I even changed the neck on the Musicmaster Bass to a Squier Bronco Bass neck because I didn't like the original neck. So why did those two basses sound completely different, where one sounded good and the other didn't? I went through a fortune's worth of strings, too.

I'd like to think that electronics do everything but I still think that especially with a bass, there's something about the actual sound of the instrument before it ever gets amplified. Some basses I've played seem to have a deep full sound and some seem to have a thin guitar-like sound and if you have that, I just don't think much can be done about it.

Oh, and I have another bass, an Aria medium scale bass, on which I've also fitted a Lace Red Sensor and that is not a particularly good sounding instrument either. A Bronco Bass with half rounds sound way more full than the Aria with flatwounds, and this is despite the same pickups.

did you move over ALL of the electronics from one bass to the other? i thought so.

[mkt3000]

no discussion needed - it's no longer a squier bronco.

No. It is. Just with upgrades and a sanded headstock.

ah, yer one of those that must still believe the tone from an electric guitar is all about the wood and finish, eh?

Not at all.

The rest of your post is moot.

And your bass, which I quite like, is a Bronco Bass with upgrades and a sanded headstock.

[luciguci]

No. It is. Just with upgrades and a sanded headstock.

ah, yer one of those that must still believe the tone from an electric guitar is all about the wood and finish, eh?

Not at all.

The rest of your post is moot.

And your bass, which I quite like, is a Bronco Bass with upgrades and a sanded headstock.

Seriously, dude. What makes it a Bronco is the body first and pickguard shape second. A Stratocaster doesn't stop being a Stratocaster because you give it a bridge humbucker, or just two humbuckers, or just simply replace all the pickups with lipstick pickups. It's still a Stratocaster, with some changes to the electronics.

It's a Squier Bronco with a better pickup.

[George]

i've read a lot of DiStefano's threads and posts on tdpri

really helpful guy

seems we're in some weird semantics debate though. i know shortscale champions the squier and we tend to flip when people sand off decals, but as long as rob declared the guitar's origins in any future trade/sale, does this really matter?

[luciguci]

guess not

[Rob DiStefano]

in '66 i bought a brandy new vw beetle.

in '69, just before trekking to woodstock, my buds and i installed a porsche engine and transmission, and beefed up the suspension.

it look like a vw bug, it said it was a vw bug, but it surely wasn't.

[James]

I see your point rob, and agree with you that the core of an electric guitar or bass is the electronics, still I don't think you would have sanded off the decal if it had read Fender Bronco rather than Squier Bronco. So while I agree that what you have now is a very different beast to a stock Squier Bronco, I think there's still an element of 'Squier Shame' in deciding to sand off the decal.

[Rob DiStefano]

ya know, it's all good. really.

[James]

I didn't check the site in your sig, so apologies if this is a silly question.

When you talk about it being your own pickup I assume you mean you wound it? Do you make guitar and bass pickups or just bass?

[Rob DiStefano]

i started winding pickups back in the 50's, with my dad. stopped in the 60's. picked it back up again about 7 years ago.

i build single coil pickups for guitar and bass - www.frettech.com/cavalier

[NickD]

in '66 i bought a brandy new vw beetle.

in '69, just before trekking to woodstock, my buds and i installed a porsche engine and transmission, and beefed up the suspension.

it look like a vw bug, it said it was a vw bug, but it surely wasn't.

No, its still a VW Beetle, just a faster one. If you took the entire chassis of a 911, then put a Beetle body on top, then you might be right, but a modified Beetle is still a modified Beetle, just like a modified Squier Bronco is still a Squier Bronco, but with a better pickup. Nice work BTW.

Out of interest, what was the Beetle like? I've run against quick Beetles on the 1/4 mile and they are fast once they hook up.

[Rob DiStefano]

you brits are as stubborn as whence you once owned the colonies.

i'll regurgitate out these last comments, and then no more ...

the electric guitar or bass platform is about playability, not sound/tone. it's the engines that make it what it is, and not the other way around. no one sees your instruments in an audio recording. compare an audio track sound/tone of a stock bronco versus the same bass guitar with a different real bass pickup engine. in the later case, trust me - you'd never think it was a bronco. because, mate, it surely ain't.

[NickD]

I respectfully disagree, and you'll mever convince me otherwise.

What do you mean, stubborn

[Rob DiStefano]

I respectfully disagree, and you'll mever convince me otherwise.

What do you mean, stubborn

"stubborn" as in not calling a duck that sings like an eagle, an eagle.

as stated b4, it's all good, who gives a real crap about all this technical stuff, it mostly panders to the gearheads.

it's always the music that matters most.

[LizardKing]

in '66 i bought a brandy new vw beetle.

in '69, just before trekking to woodstock, my buds and i installed a porsche engine and transmission, and beefed up the suspension.

it look like a vw bug, it said it was a vw bug, but it surely wasn't.

Do you remember the show?

[Rob DiStefano]

in '66 i bought a brandy new vw beetle.

in '69, just before trekking to woodstock, my buds and i installed a porsche engine and transmission, and beefed up the suspension.

it look like a vw bug, it said it was a vw bug, but it surely wasn't.

Do you remember the show?

like man, if you attended woodstock, and remembered most of it, you really weren't there.

[LizardKing]

like man, if you attended woodstock, and remembered most of it, you really weren't there.

*sigh*
I thought I had you in my trap but you wriggled out of it....