NBD - Squier Bronco Bass

[Ankhanu]

Last week I needed to travel to the passport office for... reasons. I decided to hit all the main music stores in the province on the way to try and find a Vintera II Bass VI. No love on that front, but on the last stop I impulse bought a Bronco instead.

I've wanted a Bronco for about 20 years, but couldn't really justify dropping the money with already owning better basses, and ya know... that whole money thing. This was the first time I've seen the all-white version, and the pasty white Squier maple kinda really works with the vibe. It wasn't on sale, but, I grabbed it anyway.



I didn't even plug it in in the store, but a couple days later, I hooked it up to my rig and gave it some tests. The neck feels pretty good, the frets are pretty decent, seems to be holding tune well, and generally feels well constructed. The output jack, however, is somewhat flaky, but, that's not exactly a surprise.
I was on hold most of the morning, so took the time to crack it open and adjust the tensioning arm on the jack. There was a fair bit of sawdust in the cavity, and under the guard, denting the finish, the shielding paint is somewhat haphazard, and the cavity is rough routed... all to be expected.




I'm loving it so far. For whatever reason it's inspiring me to play fairly sludgey, droney stuff thick with OD or fuzz and reverb.

[NickS]

Looks pretty neat.

[plopswagon]

Those electronics look dodgy as fuck!

[Ankhanu]

Those electronics look dodgy as fuck!

Haha, they do. Sounding fine, though.

I was thinking about getting a Mustang bridge for it, but, looks like they're going for about 50% the cost of the bass itself... If I do that, and go ahead and replace the electronics, I could probably double the cost. Could be fun, though.

[MattK]

MB bridges are string-through-body tho, a whole other world of hassle to install. No matter how good you are the ferrules always come out crooked, well nearly always.

[sunshiner]

The colour combo looks nice and I love pale Squier necks. I like this bridge and am not super crazy about mustang bridge on the bass. Moreover, the string through thing sounds like a lot of hassle with strings, aren't you supposed to use some special strings on that thing?

[Nick]

Love the color combo - reminds me of that Silent Siren MIJ telecaster.

Re: Bridge, I would look for an older Bronco bass style, looked like a musicmaster bridge, a lot cooler than the squared off one and should bolt right on. Don't know why they ever changed it.

[plopswagon]

Moreover, the string through thing sounds like a lot of hassle with strings, aren't you supposed to use some special strings on that thing?

You just have to make sure they’re regular longscale bass strings. I never had issues getting them for ‘51 P-Bass reissue.

Re: Bridge, I would look for an older Bronco bass style, looked like a musicmaster bridge, a lot cooler than the squared off one and should bolt right on. Don't know why they ever changed it.

I have some undrilled Musimaster style bridge plates if you want to go that way.

[Ankhanu]

MB bridges are string-through-body tho, a whole other world of hassle to install. No matter how good you are the ferrules always come out crooked, well nearly always.

Shit, right, that’s a good point. With my tools I’d only ever be able to do a fairly mediocre job.

Re: Bridge, I would look for an older Bronco bass style, looked like a musicmaster bridge, a lot cooler than the squared off one and should bolt right on. Don't know why they ever changed it.

I have some undrilled Musimaster style bridge plates if you want to go that way.
[/quote]

Hmm, perhaps… could drill it for 4 saddles, rather than 2.
How much ya thinkin’ with shipping to Canada?