Nathan1709

Thanks very much. I'll stick with it in that case. I am a bit naive regarding all this technical stuff. I assumed you'd have to upgrade the pots for a higher output pickup. Looking forward to getting it all put together. Got some serious fret buzz which I'm hoping a good set up will cure too.

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. I actually ordered myself a Red Lace Sensor yesterday after doing lots of reading on people's upgrades to their Broncos. I was going to go humbucker but apparently the lace senor cuts out a lot of the hum associated with singlecoils. Just to make sure, I have purchased some copper tape to shield the cavity for good measure. I'll probably get the pots upgraded to 500k too. Looking forward to seeing how it sounds. Any thoughts anyone has about the Lace Sensor, a potential pot upgrade and anything to be aware of I'd be very grateful to hear them.

I really enjoy playing and quite often find myself getting lost in the music when I'm jamming or trying to come up with a line. Sometimes I sit there for hours playing without realising!

Hi guys. I'm looking for some help on what pups will drop in to my bronco without the need for any body or pickguard mods? I am erring on the side of a Seymour Duncan rail pickup but I keep reading conflicting information on whether to go for hotrails or coolrails. I know that it depends on the sound I want but I'm a bit worried that the hotrails might be too zingy for a bass. I'm also confused whether to go for a bridge or neck pickup? I gather if I go for hotrails then a neck pickup would be best as it's less likely to be too zingy? I've tried to research but unfortunately rather than enlightening me, with all the contradictory things I've read I'm just getting more and more confused. Any help much appreciated. Also if anyone can suggest a pup I haven't considered I'll be happy to consider it. My only real requirement is that it will ideally be humbucking. Cheers guys.

That is a beautiful looking bass. Basically, that's how I'd like mine to end up, only with a dulled red finish. I think that's sold me on the lipstick pickup (provided of course that I can find one that sounds great) I have considered changing the bridge but I am nervous about drilling and filling etc. In an ideal world I'd source parts that are 'plug and play'. I've been a bit frustrated in that department as it's a lot harder to find aftermarket parts for a Bronco than I had imagined. Still, it wouldn't be fun if it was too easy!

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1475545198' post='3146836'] Please define "best"? All these things are subjective. Different strings will give different tones. What sort of music will you play? Do you have any idea of the sound you want? What's your budget? [/quote] I half anticipated this after realising that I had skimped on the details. Apologies, I was replying on my phone so rushed it a bit. In terms of what style I play, I guess like a lot of you on here, it is really varied. I make hip hop beats and use the bass to lay down lines for that, but I also play garage rock and stoner rock/sludge so to be honest I need strings which run the gamut in terms of style but if I had to nail it down I'd say I wanted a punchy, warm bass sound which is well suited to the sampling style of hip hop I love. Think the bass from Express Yourself by Charles Wright. I can make it work for anything else. Not really got a budget per se but common sense would apply. I am a relative beginner with a £180 bass, so ideally I won't be spending £70 on a set of strings but if they give me the sound I want then I might be willing to consider it! Other than that, price isn't really an issue.

Thanks very much for the heads up on the block. Any recommendations on strings? Thinking of ghs precision but I want to make sure I get the best strings for my bass.

Not so much who I'm seeing next but I saw the Melvins recently. They were supported by Big Business who are amazing. It's just a bass player and a drummer so the bass is the lead instrument. Well worth checking out if you're a fan of sludge/stoner metal.

Also re: the routing. I haven't taken my bass apart yet but from the research I've done it looks like the routing is pretty generous, plenty big enough for a humbucker but I like the look of a singlecoil sized pickup but with the noise reduction of a humbucker so I'll probably go for a stacked singlecoil. I may even go the lipstick pickup route as I think it'd look great.

Just looked at the scratchplate link and that's the guy I've already spoken to. He is pretty reasonable (quoted me £35 posted) and I probably will end up using him. I just wondered if anyone knew of an off the shelf part I could get to save time and a bit of money.

Thanks again for the replies. I'll look into the scratchplate link provided. I was thinking if I can only get a gloss finish one I'll fill it myself. The tip about starting with the 2000 grain paper and increasing the coarseness as required is a really good idea. I'm planning on totally stripping the guitar down to its constituent parts so I'll have an unadorned body to work with. Do you think I'd be better with a really fine grain wire wool rather than wet and dry paper? Re: the bridge. I did consider that and I may end up doing it but the bass is pretty well intonated so I'll leave the for now and maybe do it last. Looking forward to starting. I'm having to fight the urge to just dive right in but I want to make sure I'm prepared properly and do it right first time. I really appreciate all the help!

Thanks very much for the reply. I'm lucky in that I have a mate who builds his own guitars who will help with advice and tools if necessary. I'm happy to try the finish dulling myself as I've read up quite extensively about it and I've ordered a set of wet and dry paper ranging from 240 to 2000 grain. Planning to take it very steady working by hand and gradually work through the grains to the finest one. I can T-cut out any obvious swirls and to be quite honest, I am not too worried about making a mistake as it's just a £180 bass. I will however start on the back in an unobtrusive place to test it out first.

Apologies if this has already been posted. Basically as those of you who read my introduction will know, I'm looking to mod my recently acquired Squier Bronco bass. Got a few ideas of what I want to do with it. Basically in a nutshell I plan to; Dull the awful shiny poly finish with some wet and dry paper to give it a more matte or satin look Replace the stock white Pickguard with a matte black one. Change the pickup for something more beefy (thinking a SD Quarter Pounder or Hot Rails) Change the tuners for something a bit more stable. I'd really appreciate any advice that anyone can give me on dulling the finish of the guitar. I have read loads of articles on this already but you can never have too much information! The pickguard is proving problematic. I cannot find anywhere that sells an aftermarket replacement which fits straight on. I've tried WD and all the usual places. The only joy I have had is with a guy who makes custom guards to order, who can make me a black gloss guard which I can sand down for a matte finish but understandably that's a bit pricey so any advice you guys can give me as to where I can find one would be much appreciated. I've even contemplated (and researched) painting the stock one but that seems to be a non-starter. For a bit of extra context I am very poorly equipped in terms of tools and also practical skills). Thanks in advance.

Thanks very much for the welcome. Looking forward to sharing my modding experience and hopefully taking advantage (in a good way) of the knowledge on here!

Hi everyone, I'm Nathan (as the username suggests) from the UK (Reading to be precise) and I am relatively new to the bass. I've played guitar for about 12 years, although you wouldn't guess if you heard me play. During that time I've messed about with the bass and even played a few gigs on bass but I've just recently decided to take the plunge and buy myself one for recording, writing and general jamming. I bought a Squier Bronco, hardly a high end bass I know, but being a guitarist I like shortscale basses and it's actually a pretty cool little bass. I was also drawn to it as I like the idea of modding and upgrading it myself and given that it's pretty inexpensive I feel fairly confident that I am not going to make any expensive mistakes. The only problem is that I am pretty much clueless when it comes to practical matters so I apologise in advance if I end up asking loads of stupid questions. To be honest that was what brought me here, looking for advice and recommendations to how I can beef up the sound and improve the look of the Bronco! I have read numerous threads about modding Bronco basses before ending up here, but a lot of them were either over my head or more US focused (where spare and replacement parts seem a lot easier to come by). I won't start unloading loads of questions in here, I'll try and keep it to the appropriate thread. I'm looking forward to speaking to you all, hoping I can contribute and thank you in advance for any advice you can give me! Cheers, Nathan