DONE! Bronco to Musicmaster bass conversion

astro · Post by **astro** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:06 pm

I guess this barely qualifies as a "project", since I'm essentially just swapping out a couple of parts.

I hate the strat type pickguard on my Squier Bronco bass. So I decided to change the pickguard out for a Music Master one. I ordered one from WD Music, and it fits OK without too much effort. The pickup slot isn't perfectly centred under the strings, but this does not look like it will be a problem.

Sorry for the crappiness of the pic!

I had ordered some tuners from WD as well, but they forgot to include them in my shipment. I've already paid for them, and the customs declaration on the package included the value of both the pickguard and the tuners. So when the idiots at WD finally send me the tuners I'll end up paying the taxes and duties twice on them. Great.

The tuners I ordered were the "economy" set, found here. They look like identical units to the ones already on the bronco, except they have the classic "clover leaf" buttons instead of the modern "Y" buttons. Hopefully they'll fit without any drilling.

The guard already has new 250k pots and a 0.047 cap. It just needs the new pickup (red Lace sensor ordered from Aeon) and some knobs. Maybe I'll be dorky and change the headstock decal to a proper Music Master one when I'm done.

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 9:21 pm

That is really fucking cool
i kinda wish i didn't sell mine now

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 9:24 pm

Fill in those screw holes.

But otherwise ACE. Makes me wanna buy one and do the same thing.

astro · Post by **astro** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:25 pm

endsjustifymeans wrote:Fill in those screw holes.

But otherwise ACE. Makes me wanna buy one and do the same thing.

I'm not sure how to fill the screw holes without doing a full on refin. I could just use filler, but colouring the spot would be hard to do so that it wouldn't stand out as much as the original screw holes did. Any suggestions?

Ty · Post by Ty » Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:58 pm

Leave them be and call them speed holes.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:26 pm

I would just fill it a bit with some filler and then use a car paint touch-up pen. then sand and polish it to get it all smooth and nice.

astro · Post by **astro** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 12:21 am

mage wrote:I would just fill it a bit with some filler and then use a car paint touch-up pen. then sand and polish it to get it all smooth and nice.

Brilliant idea. Hopefully I can find a paint pen that matches. I guess as long as it's close, it won't be too noticeable.

Marquischacha · Post by **Marquischacha** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:36 pm

D'you reckon a Mustang Bass 'guard would fit easily onto a Bronco?

EDIT: Durr. Just realised the obvious difference between the both. Shit.

astro · Post by **astro** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 8:10 pm

Marquischacha wrote:D'you reckon a Mustang Bass 'guard would fit easily onto a Bronco?

EDIT: Durr. Just realised the obvious difference between the both. Shit.

I've wondered that myself. I recently swapped pickguards on my Mustang bass, and I wanted to see if the old guard would fit. But I seem to have misplaced it, can't find it anymore. I'm not curious enough to bother taking off the guard that's currently on the bass, though.

astro · Post by **astro** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:13 pm

I found the closest match available in a paint pen: Duplicolr Scratch Fix 2 in 1, General Motors Victory Red. It's almost the exact same colour, I don't think anyone will be able to see the scars if they're more than a couple of feet away.

Now, with what do I fill the screw holes? Should I stuff some bondo in there, then scrape a millimetre out for the paint layer, so that I can sand the paint flat? Or should I cut up bits of toothpick and glue those in? I'm guessing the bondo would be best, but it's the messier of the two options. Opinions?

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:52 pm

I'm gonna say bondo. or wood filler. the toothpick method I don't think works as easily for a clean finish. it's just harder to get a busted off toothpick to look nice and flat. but that's exactly what wood filler is for. making things look nice and flat. I would approach this like so:

1. glob some filler on/in the holes.
2. when dry, sand it down flat, finishing it with some 1500 grit.
3. apply paint
4. when dry sand with 1500 and 2000
5. polish

astro · Post by **astro** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:05 am

Thanks Mage,

Should I scrape out, say, 1 mm of the bondo out of the holes before painting? I'm worried that if I just sand the filler flat to the body surface that I'll just sand off the paint layer when I want to sand/polish it.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:22 am

in my experience, wood filler actually sands away easier than wood or poly so if you just sand over the hole a bit it should make a little dip. I wouldn't let it dip too much. just barely perceivable.

astro · Post by **astro** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:22 pm

So I've patched the holes. I found a forgotten tub of wood filler, so I didn't use Bondo. Mage, I followed your advice for sanding, and I also polished it with 3M Finesse-It II. It came out quite nice. The paint I used, though close, is not a 100% match. So when you look closely, you can see the scars look just a little bit darker than the surrounding red. But I think it's only noticeable up close. It definitely looks a lot better than before.

I took a pic. You can't see any scars at all in the pic, but that has more to do with my poor photography skills than it does with any refinishing talent on my part!

Now, all I need is the pickup, the tuners (both in the mail), and maybe a decal. Does anybody even make Musicmaster bass decals? I can't imagine that instrument being a popular one for the refinishing crowd, since must people think of the musicmaster bass as undesirable.

Anyway, here's the latest crappy pic.

Post by **dots** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:05 pm

i'd hit it.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:29 pm

crap... now I've got a new project.

Damn you.

astro · Post by **astro** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:35 pm

The pickup arrived in the mail today. Surprising, considering it was sent regular mail and was only mailed three days ago from the USA. Any, I just soldered it in... WHOA! The Red Lace Sensor sounds like a badass motherfucker as a bass pickup!

I put on some chrome Jag HH knobs, too.

It's great weather today, so I just took a pic on the balcony...

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:40 pm

Looks well.

luke · Post by **luke** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:51 pm

Looks good, even though I think that's one of the stupidest pickguard designs ever.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:56 pm

Malik wrote:Looks good, even though I think that's one of the stupidest pickguard designs ever.

really?