Bronco to Musicmaster bass conversion: questions

Golden_Sonic · Post by **Golden_Sonic** » Thu Sep 18, 2014 9:03 am

I read honeyiscool's comprehensive guide of "How to improve your Bronco Bass", astro and hotrod projects but I'd still like to ask for three things:
1) Does the Musicmaster bass pickguard fit perfectly/well on the Bronco body? I know that the Mustang bass control plate has a different shape than the Bronco "control plate" and doesn't cover up well the space where volume and tone pots are so I don't want to have the same issues with the Musicmaster PG.

2) honey's suggestions for tuners are a bit expensive and I'd like to put "leaf shape" tuners: could I use the Wilkinson WJBL175CR or WJBL200CR 4-in-line tuners set? They are cheap but with good quality; is there any other "leaf style" tuners set for cheap?.

3) I have difficulty in finding a Lace Sensor Red and I'd like to know your opinion on what is the best pickup I could put on the Bronco among those below, being understood that I want a pickup as much similar as the original one in aesthetics (the "blade" of the hot rail-style are orrible) but with a good presence and sound, a pickup that can offer a "bass sound" even though it's a guitar single coil (an high output pickup?):
- Lace Sensor Hot Silver/Hot Gold;
- EMG Select SES, HZ S3/HZ S4 (what's the difference? On thomann the S3 is described as "high output dual-coil pickups" whereas the S4 "high impedance with medium output");
- DiMarzio DP184 "Chopper", DP 187 or DP 188 (differences?)

astro · Post by **astro** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 12:19 am

This pickguard fits. Make sure it's the one that doesn't have a tight contour around the neck heel as there are different versions of the musicmaster bass pickguard.

This is a bronco I converted. It belongs to Mixtape now.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 1:08 am

I thought I recognized that Bronco.

The pickguard is from WD. The screw hole placement is different, obviously; be prepared to fill in and paint over some of the old ones. I ignorantly ordered a black one with the neck heel contour on eBay a while back, and no, it does not fit. The seller was cool and let me return it, though.

Someday I'll get around to remedying my botched Bronco bass refin; I was about to, but then I finally got a real job and now I have to move in a hurry. (The real job, at least, gives me the wherewithal to take it to an auto body place and say "Here, paint this so shit won't stick to it," if it comes to that.)

Golden_Sonic · Post by **Golden_Sonic** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:02 am

astro wrote:Make sure it's the one that doesn't have a tight contour around the neck heel as there are different versions of the musicmaster bass pickguard.

How do I recognize the "wrong" PG? Why do you say that can't fit well? Could I have issues with the "control plate" part of the PG? Or Is it just a matter of new screw holes? Because, in this last case, I don't care: I'll remove the paint, fill the holes that might remain uncovered and paint again the body in a sort of sherwood green finish, something like this:

Are WDMusic PGs good? I'd like a pearloid one but 70â‚¬ are exaggerated; is there somewhere a Musicmaster PG plan? It would be cheaper to take a pickguard sheet and make it on my own; as last resort, I could use a white one. And THIS ONE?

And how about the tuners? Is one of those Wilkinson good? I don't care if I drill other holes; I saw someone here on the forum that used THESE TUNERS: how are they?

I'll wait for an advice on what pickup I should choose.

Golden_Sonic · Post by **Golden_Sonic** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:22 am

I was just wondering: How much is the shipping cost from WD Music? They have a .co.uk site: should I pay customs duties too?

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 9:18 am

There shouldn't be any customs charges within Europe.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 3:19 pm

The kind you want to avoid on a Bronco bass looks like this: see where it's got a cutout for the neck heel? If you line that up, the rest of the pickguard won't cover the control cavity. The pickguard you linked to, however, should be the right shape.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:52 pm

Golden_Sonic wrote:And how about the tuners? Is one of those Wilkinson good? I don't care if I drill other holes; I saw someone here on the forum that used THESE TUNERS: how are they?

I would like to know as well. They are the only tuners on that site that don't cost more than I paid for the bass.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 11:04 pm

http://www.janika.co.uk/CHROME-PRECISIO ... -HEADS.php
Â£11.98