Need opinions on Squier Bronco bass

astro · Post by **astro** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:37 am

Ever since I've bought my RI Mustang bass, I can't put it down. I just love the 30" scale, so much easier on my fretting hand! My p-bass has been gathering dust since the purchase.

I've been curious about the Squier Bronco basses, but I can't find any local stores that have one in stock. So I've never seen one in person. I've seen Aen's demo of the Badz Maru Bronco, looks like a decent guitar but it's a "fancier" model than the standard bronco bass, so I don't know if there are any quality differences. Anybody here have any experience with the regular Affinity Bronco? If so, I'd love to hear opinions. I know the tuners and pickup are most likely garbage, but those are easy upgrades.

If they're decent instruments, I'll probably buy one online (if I can find a Canadian online retailer who has them). I have the desire to slap a Musicmaster bass pickguard on it. I don't think they ever made Musicmaster basses with maple boards, so it would be a fun and very cheap project to do.

aen · Post by **aen** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:45 am

The only difference between Badtz and Bronco is the pickguard and the route. I;d get one again, but I'd also get a new pickup for it.

astro · Post by **astro** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:27 am

How was the neck on it? Was the wood solid, or does the neck bend when you push lightly on it? Is the truss rod functional?

Hardware, electronics, the nut and frets can be fixed/replaced, so I'm not too worried about those. As long as the wooden bits aren't going to snap in half, that's what matters.

luke · Post by **luke** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 10:42 am

You're clearly under the wrong impression that Squier doesn't know how to make a guitar. The one I have is top notch quality, and the only thing you'd want to replace is the pickup, because it's not a bass pickup.

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:32 pm

I owned a Squier Bronco Bass, it was way sexy, well balanced and hella playable. Seriously it's really light and really tiny neck, felt like you were playing a guitar. I could even do powerchords chords on it! Only problem was the pickup is a regular squier strat pickup and sounded thin and hummed badly, so I stuck a Kent Armstrong hotrail in there; it was LOUD!

Also consider picking up a Squier Vista Musicmaster bass; not made anymore, but you can always find them on ebay. They're basically a Squier Mustang bass in everything but name:

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:03 pm

when i was playing basses over chirstmas i almost picked up the bronco bass, but alas it wasn't left handed, and the pickup threw me off (it was a gift for my brother-in-law) he ended up with a squier P bass (since they come in left)

the first thing i noticed about the bronco, is that it has one of the most amazing necks i've ever felt on a bass
the second thing i noticed is that that pick up needs to go.

once i get a few of my projects finished, i'll be picking one up

astro · Post by **astro** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:03 am

Malik wrote:You're clearly under the wrong impression that Squier doesn't know how to make a guitar. The one I have is top notch quality, and the only thing you'd want to replace is the pickup, because it's not a bass pickup.

Not exactly, I know that Squier makes quality stuff these days. But since I haven't been able to find one to try locally, I just wanted to be 100% sure there wouldn't be any problems that can't be fixed before I buy one online sight unseen. The pickup is an easy fix. I'll most likely change the pickguard to a musicmaster one for cosmetic reasons, and the tuners too, to traditional clover leaf ones. Even if the stock tuners are good, I just don't like the look of Y-button tuners on a Fender headstock.

aphasiac wrote:Also consider picking up a Squier Vista Musicmaster bass; not made anymore, but you can always find them on ebay. They're basically a Squier Mustang bass in everything but name:

I've thought about going that route, but they're rather rare, it seems. At least they never seem to be on Ebay when I'm looking for one. One of the things that attracts me to the Bronco bass is the maple fingerboard, which I don't think has ever been available on any of the various Musicmaster bass incarnations.

aphasiac · Post by **aphasiac** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:27 pm

astro wrote: Not exactly, I know that Squier makes quality stuff these days. But since I haven't been able to find one to try locally, I just wanted to be 100% sure there wouldn't be any problems that can't be fixed before I buy one online sight unseen. The pickup is an easy fix. I'll most likely change the pickguard to a musicmaster one for cosmetic reasons, and the tuners too, to traditional clover leaf ones. Even if the stock tuners are good, I just don't like the look of Y-button tuners on a Fender headstock.

The Bronco has a small headstock and Y-type tuners for a reason; it has a really light body and a long neck. Stock it it *quite* well balanced but add any more weight to the end and it's going to be totally neck-heavy and dive constantly. I don't think it's worth ruining the playability for cosmetic reasons.

That's the only bad thing about the Musicmaster bass; the full sized tuners meant it was very neck heavily and tired my fretting hand when playing, hence why I sold it.

astro · Post by **astro** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:51 am

aphasiac wrote:
astro wrote: Not exactly, I know that Squier makes quality stuff these days. But since I haven't been able to find one to try locally, I just wanted to be 100% sure there wouldn't be any problems that can't be fixed before I buy one online sight unseen. The pickup is an easy fix. I'll most likely change the pickguard to a musicmaster one for cosmetic reasons, and the tuners too, to traditional clover leaf ones. Even if the stock tuners are good, I just don't like the look of Y-button tuners on a Fender headstock.
The Bronco has a small headstock and Y-type tuners for a reason; it has a really light body and a long neck. Stock it it *quite* well balanced but add any more weight to the end and it's going to be totally neck-heavy and dive constantly. I don't think it's worth ruining the playability for cosmetic reasons.

That's the only bad thing about the Musicmaster bass; the full sized tuners meant it was very neck heavily and tired my fretting hand when playing, hence why I sold it.

Don't they make small tuners with the clover type button? I think Hipshot might make some.

Also, I found this pic from an asian web site:

Looks like they make other colours for the far eastern market. Of course, we don't get them offered over here.

william · Post by **william** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:43 am

the vista MM bass is 1000x better than the bronco. try harder to get one.

the pickup sounds better than either the bronco mustang pickup or the mustang bass pickup, imo. and they come in cool colors, brittany's is shell pink.

astro · Post by **astro** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:17 am

william wrote:the vista MM bass is 1000x better than the bronco. try harder to get one.

the pickup sounds better than either the bronco mustang pickup or the mustang bass pickup, imo. and they come in cool colors, brittany's is shell pink.

One of the things that appeals to me about the Bronco is the maple fingerboard, which the Squier MM bass doesn't have. Pickups can be easily changed, so that's not much of a concern for me. But definitely, I agree with you about the cooler colours, though. Unfortunately they rarely come up on Ebay, especially here in Canada. If I were to get one from the US or another country, then the exchange rate, plus shipping, plus import duties/taxes would make it several times more expensive than just buying a new Bronco bass and modding it to my tastes.

Is the pickup in the Squier Musicmaster a standard early 50's p-bass single coil? Any sound clips of the shell pink MM?

I actually quite like the pickup on my Mustang bass, sounds like a more barky P-bass.

william · Post by **william** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:30 am

astro wrote:
william wrote:the vista MM bass is 1000x better than the bronco. try harder to get one.

the pickup sounds better than either the bronco mustang pickup or the mustang bass pickup, imo. and they come in cool colors, brittany's is shell pink.
One of the things that appeals to me about the Bronco is the maple fingerboard, which the Squier MM bass doesn't have. Pickups can be easily changed, so that's not much of a concern for me. But definitely, I agree with you about the cooler colours, though. Unfortunately they rarely come up on Ebay, especially here in Canada. If I were to get one from the US or another country, then the exchange rate, plus shipping, plus import duties/taxes would make it several times more expensive than just buying a new Bronco bass and modding it to my tastes.

Is the pickup in the Squier Musicmaster a standard early 50's p-bass single coil? Any sound clips of the shell pink MM?

I actually quite like the pickup on my Mustang bass, sounds like a more barky P-bass.

it has large engine turned pole pieces, and i think the OG pbass singles had little ones. its really high output, and sounds awesome with effects.

no clips now, im recording some stuff on my stepdads boss micro BR, if anything good comes out ill post.

i see what you mean about getting a bronco and modding it. youll probably want to change the pickup out right away, ive always thought a blade style pickup would be best, since there arent alot of standard sized singles with 4 poles.

red lace sensor'd bass ftw!

that might go for cheap. not sure if hed ship to canada. and no maple fretboard... but itd be a cool project, and ill bet it sounds awesome.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1971-Fender-Musicma ... =72%3A1205

astro · Post by **astro** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:33 pm

william wrote:it has large engine turned pole pieces, and i think the OG pbass singles had little ones. its really high output, and sounds awesome with effects.

no clips now, im recording some stuff on my stepdads boss micro BR, if anything good comes out ill post.

i see what you mean about getting a bronco and modding it. youll probably want to change the pickup out right away, ive always thought a blade style pickup would be best, since there arent alot of standard sized singles with 4 poles.

red lace sensor'd bass ftw!

that might go for cheap. not sure if hed ship to canada. and no maple fretboard... but itd be a cool project, and ill bet it sounds awesome.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1971-Fender-Musicma ... =72%3A1205

Cool, thanks for the link! I'm going to watch that one. Since its already been modded, I wouldn't feel guilty about customizing it. I have two cans of Reranch Daphne blue that would make this bass look sweet. Too bad it's missing the stock bridge.

A red Lace Sensor would be perfect replacement pickup, too!

william · Post by **william** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 9:35 pm

ive often thought of putting a red lace in a bronco bass, that would be one rockin bass.

i do wonder about the bass response though. arent red laces pretty middy?

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:34 pm

IMO, middy or bright pickups on bass are best... Especially on something with that short scale. Never forget the Gibson EB0...

Though I'm still compelled to mention how much I dislike Lace sensors... In any post where they occur. Ehh, they'd probably work ok on a bass.

william · Post by **william** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:01 am

Jagermeister wrote:IMO, middy or bright pickups on bass are best... Especially on something with that short scale. Never forget the Gibson EB0...

Though I'm still compelled to mention how much I dislike Lace sensors... In any post where they occur. Ehh, they'd probably work ok on a bass.

yeh. i suppose dark pickups sound like mud.

sooo.... red lace on bronco, then.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:59 am

just take the maple bronco neck and put it on your mustang bass.

all issues solved?

astro · Post by **astro** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 2:55 am

robroe wrote:just take the maple bronco neck and put it on your mustang bass.

all issues solved?

Good idea, but I want a maple necked Musicmaster...

roachello · Post by **roachello** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:29 am

The Bronco Bass pickup sucks dick.

I'd get a better pickup, blast the neck with some gloss, refinish the body, and then I'd say the result would be a pretty decent shortscale bass.

I consider it as the '51 of basses- a clean palate to explore and customize.

astro · Post by **astro** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 8:08 pm

roachello wrote:The Bronco Bass pickup sucks dick.

I'd get a better pickup, blast the neck with some gloss, refinish the body, and then I'd say the result would be a pretty decent shortscale bass.

I consider it as the '51 of basses- a clean palate to explore and customize.

Cool, that's exactly what I need. I want something that I can totally modify, which I wouldn't want to do on a vintage Musicmaster, and which I wouldn't need to do on a Mustang bass (because they're already perfect!)