barrycreed

I have a squier bronco bass, and will hopefully get my hands on an Epi EB0 over the next few months as well.

I have all the obvious mods in mind, pickup, bridge, wiring etc, but also looking at whether it's worth upgrading the nuts?

I've seen a few modded Epis for sale with brass or aluminium nuts and you can buy ready made Epi ones online.

In any case, worth upgrading the nuts on these two models? I assume stock nuts are plastic, and not sure if it would make a whole lot of difference either way.

I had a Dano guitar with an aluminium (I think) nut, and I liked it. Pretty resonant guitar for a "cheap" guitar.

Anyone ever tried the Godin Dorchester short scale? A hollow or semi hollow I think.

I had an Aria Hi Flyer mosrite copy, that I stupidly sold, and the pickups were P90 style. Possibly big single coils, and sounded pretty good.

Dorchester looks to be a similar type guitar, just wondering if anyone ever got their hands on one? Pricey things though.

Does this bridge have the same issue on the JC as it does on the EB etc ?

@andruca I'm in Granada so will keep an eye on the classifieds. All the nice stuff seems to be in Madrid and Barcelona. :)

5 hours ago, Machines said:

I had an ATK200, sounded great. Absolutely nailed the Stingray sound but had 2 extra tones in the pocket too with the selector switch (neck solo was particularly good).

Agree with the above that it was heavy, but not excessively so. I would possibly have kept it if it wasn't brown.

 

Interesting! I’m tyre kicking one of these used v a sterling brand stingray...

Seems the weight of them is the biggest complaint! Not sure I’ve ever seen anyone play one in the wild 

One of these came up for sale locally back home at not bad asking prices. (As well as an ATK300). I understand the ATK200 is shorter and has a different pickup config.

These *look* interesting, but have seen very mixed opinions online. Ibanez version of a Stingray right?

Cracking bass

1 hour ago, Dov65 said:

Aye m8...Glasgow the town o culture 😀

Cool, just ordered!

4 hours ago, ikay said:

It was on the bass when I bought it so not sure where it came from. You can get replacement Bronco pickguards from earlpilanz on ebay here - https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/earlpilanz/Bronco/_i.html?_storecat=25805454010

Thanks, just ordered!

Where is he based? UK?

On 23/02/2020 at 21:55, ikay said:

The Hipshot Vintage bridge (18mm spacing version) is a good replacement. You'll need to drill new mounting holes but it's pretty straightforward to install. Pic of it installed on my Bronco below.

https://hipshotproducts.com/products/4-string-vintage-bass-bridge?variant=35112332296

Where did you source the black pickguard out of curiosity ?

Picked up my black bronco yesterday. That's part 1 sorted. I notice on the affinity squiers, the necks feel unfinished, or at least there is a very thin finish.

I'm open to experimenting with finishes here. Worth trying linseed oil or something similar? I wouldn't be too bothered about not keeping any logos on the headstock.

Playing around with it stock, the tuners and bridge seem fine though I am wondering if it’s down to string gauge as well.

String spacing appears ok so not sure if I would update bridge or not yet. Pickup and wiring yes.

If I can source a black pickguard, happy days. Black volume and tone knobs too.

Maybe string it with flatwounds.

There's a small neck pocket gap in my V4 but nothing to bother me really. It plays well.

I'll leave the pickup until last. 😊

Any advice on machine heads? Should I go light weight? I'll be using a jazz neck, and might veer off road to a jazz body, but undecided yet. Will collect parts that are common to both.

I had a look at the pickup linked above. Seems steep at £128, but if a pickup made specifically for bass works better, it might be worth looking at...

On 13/05/2020 at 20:16, TheGreek said:

I like the three on the left....virtually free too. I have a genuine Fender Hi-Mass bridge I bought for my Squier PJ but decided against as it nearly half the price of the bass..are any of these a like for like swap...you know, undo the screws, swap 'em over, replace the screws???

Still a vote of confidence for these bridges? The 3rd from left appeals to me, but not sure of the advantages/disadvantages v the last one on the right.

On 17/09/2020 at 17:46, hooky_lowdown said:

for tuners Wilkinson do some decent and reasonably priced one's.t

 

Which model Wilkinson tuners out of curiosity?

Those sweatbands/wristband thingys that folk wrap around the nut of a guitar...

I've been looking around online and have seen a few suggestions for upgrading the bridge. I wouldn't have an issue drilling holes etc (or getting it done for me), as long as it improved the intonation.

The last Bronco I had didn't intonate well at all. Was pretty high around the 12th fret, or higher than I thought was necessary. Neck could have been banjaxed too, but it felt more or less ok. 

I got rid, maybe too soon, instead of looking at a bridge upgrade.

So, any semi decent bridges with the correct spacing? I've seen that hipshot do one, so will keep an eye out for a used one.

I will be recording some parts with a Revelation on Tuesday so looking forward to testing one out.

Any comparison with the Burns V the Squier VI?

Yeah, would be good to get the parts used, seeing as it's not exactly a vintage bass I'd be working on... will keep me eyes peeled!

Had one of these before and the action/intonation was a pain in the *rse. I upgraded the pickup which made a difference.

Thinking of getting one again, used this time, and using it to practice some mods.

Would you believe I've been playing guitar since 1990 and I've never learned how to solder, or set up my own guitars. Disgraceful really!

So to cure some short scale GAS and learn the ropes, I figure the bronco is small enough and light enough on details to not f*ck up.

I suppose, with this, you could upgrade everything, but based on the last one I had, I'd upgrade the pickup for sure, possibly the bridge as well.

Are there any bridges that you would recommend of semi decent quality? Tuners as well maybe?

Update. Northwest guitars specs for J bodies are 60s. Probably wouldn't make a huge difference to my ears but will have a look around over next few months and see what pops up for 70s specs.