Bronco Tremolo Rebuild

[taylornutt]

I am the proud owner of a 1971 Fender Bronco that I acquired a while back in trade. It's full functional and operates well.

IMG_6587 by Joey, on Flickr

I also have been randomly acquiring Bronco tremolo/vibrato parts and I am close to having enough to have a second functional tremolo.

IMG_1587 by Joey, on Flickr

I took a piece of wood, cut a hole in it and mounted the base plate with pickguard screws. I plan to use Mustang Vibrato mounting screws for installation on a guitar, but the pickguard screws are good enough for function checking. I also used some larger screws to stand in for the screw in Strat posts that I don't currently have.

Prototyping by Joey, on Flickr

I have the spring and the tension screw but was missing the cone spring retainer. I am substituting a Jaguar/JM tension screw and spring retainer. I have a feeling the Bronco OG spring retainer was slightly larger but the Jag spring retainer works. I am kinda curious how it would operate with the thinner and longer Jaguar spring.

Bronco Spring (left) sitting on an inverted AVRI tremolo.
IMG_1377 by Joey, on Flickr

I actually have enough saddles, but unfortunately they are all the same size. Bronco saddles are not height adjustable and come in 3 sizes: short for the E strings, medium for A and B strings and tall for the D and G strings. I have 8 saddles and they are all the medium sizes. My options are to bend 4 saddles to the correct heights or find a viable replacement.

IMG_6577 by Joey, on Flickr

My plan going forward is to:
1) Figure out what Strat posts can be substituted for the original ones
2) Figure out the saddles
3) Test the spring tension
4) Locate a vintage Bronco body (or build a new one)
5) Find a neck, a pickguard and electronics.

It should be a fun project.

[BillClay]

Absolutely no connection to me, just browsing Craigslist the other day and saw this and thought “wow, this guy is probably going to have a hell of a time finding someone who actually needs these parts!” No idea if it’s of any interest to you

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/msg/ ... 91829.html

[taylornutt]

Absolutely no connection to me, just browsing Craigslist the other day and saw this and thought “wow, this guy is probably going to have a hell of a time finding someone who actually needs these parts!” No idea if it’s of any interest to you

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/msg/d ... 91829.html

That's insane.

[dots]

but did you buy them? =]


building or acquiring a bronco is on my bucket list before i die. the build option would be determined by chancing upon a working trem or at least all the parts necessary to put one together.

[cooter]

Here's a few things in red you can pick up at the hardware store, except the Floyd Rose trem posts.
The small Floyd Rose trem posts will work if you do a new build. If it's a vintage body you would need to fill the holes and redrill.

Fender Bronco Tremolo Parts List

092254 000 Bridge Base Plate (Top Plate)

092213 000 Bridge Bar (low E & high E saddles)
092452 000 Bridge Bar (A & B saddles)
092460 000 Bridge Bar (D & G saddles)

021568 000 Screw, Length Adjust (Bridge saddles)

092239 000 Bridge Post (Chrome small Floyd Rose bridge posts)

092205 000 Tremolo Lever Collar
Set Screw for Lever Collar
016147 000 Set Screw Tremolo Arm
092221 000 Nut, Tremolo Lever Collar (Chrome 3/8”-24 Jam Nut)


024992 000 Tremolo Spring
092247 000 Pivot Spacer (Tremolo Assembly)
092189 000 Screw, Tremolo Lever (Stainless Steel 8/32”-1 ¼” O.H. machine)
092171 000 Spring, Tremolo Compression

090720 000 Tremolo Base Plate (Bottom Plate)
015610 000 Screw, Tremolo Base Plate (Stainless steel 6x1” O.H. metal) 7pc.

[taylornutt]

Here's a few things in red you can pick up at the hardware store, except the Floyd Rose trem posts.
The small Floyd Rose trem posts will work if you do a new build. If it's a vintage body you would need to fill the holes and redrill.

Fender Bronco Tremolo Parts List

092254 000 Bridge Base Plate (Top Plate)

092213 000 Bridge Bar (low E & high E saddles)
092452 000 Bridge Bar (A & B saddles)
092460 000 Bridge Bar (D & G saddles)

021568 000 Screw, Length Adjust (Bridge saddles)

092239 000 Bridge Post (Chrome small Floyd Rose bridge posts)

092205 000 Tremolo Lever Collar
Set Screw for Lever Collar
016147 000 Set Screw Tremolo Arm
092221 000 Nut, Tremolo Lever Collar (Chrome 3/8”-24 Jam Nut)


024992 000 Tremolo Spring
092247 000 Pivot Spacer (Tremolo Assembly)
092189 000 Screw, Tremolo Lever (Stainless Steel 8/32”-1 ¼” O.H. machine)
092171 000 Spring, Tremolo Compression

090720 000 Tremolo Base Plate (Bottom Plate)
015610 000 Screw, Tremolo Base Plate (Stainless steel 6x1” O.H. metal) 7pc.

Thanks for sharing that knowledge.

The bridge posts is especially helpful. I found some original bridge posts on a CL post but it didn't come with the threaded sleeve the goes into the guitar body. If I could locate a vintage body with the threaded sleeves still installed that could work too.

[cooter]

I had a bronco and the threaded posts were actually threaded into the wood body with no inserts. I can't remember what year model it was but it looked to be stock.

[taylornutt]

I had a bronco and the threaded posts were actually threaded into the wood body with no inserts. I can't remember what year model it was but it looked to be stock.

I will check mine and see if it has inserts or not.

[taylornutt]

but did you buy them? =]


building or acquiring a bronco is on my bucket list before i die. the build option would be determined by chancing upon a working trem or at least all the parts necessary to put one together.

I contacted the seller....we will see. They want $100 for 6 saddles. I only need 4 saddles and maybe the thredded posts.