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If you could only have one or the other, which would you have and why?

I have a Bronco and a home made musicmaster.
My musicmaster is running 500k pots so it sounds brighter, like a bridge pickup, but you can wind it back to sound like a neck pickup again.

So, unless you want subtle bit of trem action.
Musicmaster with higher value pots

I take it the Musicmaster aint 500k standard?

DasBeef wrote:I take it the Musicmaster aint 500k standard?

No, generally single coil fenders run 250k pots (Jag and Jazzmasters the main exception)

Excellent, cheers. Anymore. I'm actually seriously thinking about chasing one or the other. Need advice from owners.
A trem is not going to swing it for me. The 'reverb handle' will most likely be removed.

Never owned a Bronco but i use the bridge pup most of the time so i suppose in stock form i'd choose a Bronco. Having said that i had two modified Musicmasters, great guitars. I also have a Bronco neck on my JS build and in my opinion the MM necks are way better, the rosewood fretboard is really thin on the Bronco neck, almost feels budget at times.

AddamInsane wrote:

DasBeef wrote:I take it the Musicmaster aint 500k standard?

No, generally single coil fenders run 250k pots (Jag and Jazzmasters the main exception)

Modern Teles use 500ks too, I think. They at least give you a couple when you buy an AV in case you want to convert to the more typical Tele wiring (pre '66 there was no middle position, and an extra cap on the 3-way for a "rhythm circuit" version of the neck pickup).

DasBeef wrote:If you could only have one or the other, which would you have and why?

Bronco, because I rely on the bridge pickup more than the neck.

Opposing view here - I nearly always play neck pickup. I bought a 78 Musicmaster from Aen and it's just fantastic - basically a hardtail Mustang permanently switched to the neck position. Sounds beautiful, plays beautifully, looks cool - what's not to like?
By the way I thought it was a bit "meh" until I put a set of 12s on it, snapped it into focus beautifully.

My first fender was a '78 musicmaster modded (hacked up) like a bronco, strangely enough.

I'd get an MIJ '65 Stang reissue instead of either. It has TWO pickups (the de-luxe model).

That being said, if I had to pick either a Bronco or Musicmaster (like if I were being held knifepoint at the Hollywood GC by the biggest geek on OSG, who would be operating on some really strange vendetta of dubious desired outcome), I'd pick a Musicmaster and add a bridge bucker. Sounds easier than routing a bronco for a matching angled/sized single coil in the neck to the one it already has in the bridge (as far as consistency/neatness/my own routing and pickguard-fashioning abilities are concerned).

I mainly play bridge-pickup-only guitars now, but that's different... they're LP Juniors with P90s. Just a Fender single coil bridge pickup would not cut it. I DID once use the neck single coil on my Jag exclusively for so long that I ended up just giving in and buying a nice Strat, though.

I have a mustang that i put a musicmaster II pickguard on and play as a musicmaster. it has a vintage bronco pickup in the neck
I have a jagstang that i put another musicmaster II pickguard on and play as a musicmaster. it has a SJAG-1 jaguar pickup in the neck
I have a bronco. the bronco has a seymour duncan Duckbucker in the bridge.


the bronco is hands down the best sounding all around guitar i own. the pickup is amazing. no hum. not real bassy, not real trebbley. tons of midzzzz.



old pic. its now aged seafoam green

Thanks for all the replies.
I have a '77 Mustang, so that's covered. I also have the more recent KC Mustang.
Also, as a side note, I don't want to modify them....

Well really, with a 77 Mustang, you have a Bronco or a Musicmaster at the flick of a pickup switch. If you want the hardtail you can just use some screws to bolt the "cigar tube" down on the Mustang trem. Don't know if it's useful info but my Musicmaster has a really thick neck - thickest Fender I've played. Thickest NECK I've played. Beautiful though. Probably came off the same production run as your 77 Mustang.

I much prefer the MM over the Bronco. I mostly use the neck pup and I really don't like the bridge/trem unit on the Bronco. My current MM (and all the previous ones I've owned) have great necks, the Bronco I had had a very chunky neck.

I always wanted a Bronco until I actually owned one.

I loved my 78 Musicmaster when I had it, but didn't get along with the baseball bat neck and traded it for a Fender Silverface Vibro Champ. I miss it cause it looked so cool, but it just sat on the wall. The neck pickup (80s Red strat pickup) in that guitar had a lot of attitude and better than both my Mustangs I currently have.

It's tough call on which is better since I have not played a Bronco yet, and I tend to use both pickups equally. A good Musicmaster is a great guitar though.

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i owned both.
i prefered the neck and the pickup of the Bronco.
the musicmaster was from 78; really heavy body and a thick neck. I think the earlier musicmaster are better?

i liked the bronco trem.

now i found a nice mustang....

My Musicmaster has a fairly high output pickup (15k) and a 500k pot. It's the best guitar I own.

mkt3000 wrote:It's the best guitar I've ever owned.

Well, I can't really speak for mr. mkt, but that's how I feel about mine.

My Musicmaster has been my only guitar for the past 6 months. It is from 1976. It's a lot different than those described by taylornutt, johnnynoir, and matthewk (all from 1978). Mine is light as a feather and has a slim neck. Sounds and feels absolutely wonderful. It's basically a nice vintage Mustang except no contours, no bridge pup, no switches, no trem. It is also pretty bright, believe it or not. Cuts through any mix when played through my 78 vibrochamp. When I play it through my 84 concert (with a very dark peavey speaker) it sounds perfectly balanced. Tone machine.

The heaviest Fender I ever played was a Strat from 1979, so I think you have get a slightly earlier model if you want to avoid the pitfalls described.

No pitfalls here! Mine is light but with a chunky neck which I like - it almost disappears when I'm playing it, the body is so unobtrusive. It's also pretty bright at times but just tonally well balanced. I use a 72 Twin Reverb (self indulgence) and it's well suited to the clarity of the Twin.