AlexDelores

Thank you, I do appreciate that! And it may well end up being the route I go down. But, given that I can get the bass and a case for less than the cost of a used mustang I’m essentially trying to establish if the bronco is a useable bass off the shelf or if it’s an absolute dog unless you chuck another ££’s at it. Unless my Mustang fails/ needs repairs, the bass will never be gigged so essentially, I want to know from peoples experience if i can ‘get away’ with it in case of emergency or if it’s not worth even bothering.

Does anyone have any experience of the Squier Sonic Bronco? If so, how do they play as a stock instrument? Capable of a few gigs or just a bedroom bass? I appreciate it’s a cheap bass so isn’t going to be incredible. But, I’m looking for a backup for my Vintera Mustang and these look like they might fit the bill. Information online seems to lean towards them being pretty good for what they are, but only after a few mods. And, although I do quite like idea of trying to make it look like a music master… with a really busy year of gigs ahead, it’s unlikely I’ll be able to touch it until early next year other than a basic setup. I basically need something that holds tune relatively well and doesn’t hum to high heaven if it’s ever called upon to be used live.. My other options are to hang fire until a 2nd hand mustang becomes available nearby (or another SS) But, as the bass will likely spend 80% of its life in a case in the back of the van, I’m not looking to spend loads. Any info is greatly appreciated

I like this a lot!

I saw that on Facebook too and I’m fairly sure it’s the same Bass/Seller as the one in the Basschat classifieds. No experience with them personally but lots of folk seem to sing their praises quite highly.

Great stuff, thanks guys. Will give this a go when the next run of shows is done 🙏

Apologies if this is a stupid question… I’m looking at doing this on my Vintera Mustang, Is it just as simple as putting copper tape inside the cavities, or does it require soldering anything. Looking at some YouTube videos, it appears to require soldering? Again, sorry if I’m missing something obvious.

Awesome! Now you come to mention it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the flesh. I also now realise why I like the flamed top Sire basses so much. Very QMT-esq!

That QMT is gorgeous! I remember seeing a picture of it in the Fender catalogue on the way home from the Birmingham Music Show (likely in 2004) and falling in love! It was a bit of a Wayne’s world ‘It will be mine’ moment… I was 13 at the time, so needless to say i didn’t have the funds for one. Completely forgot about them until seeing this picture 😍

Really nice read! Thanks Chris! Funny now you’ve said it, I can just see all of the baggy shorted Nu-Metal bass players and they’re all wielding Warwick’s! Congrats on the Dolphin.

Sorry to hear about your situation. Can be really daunting having to change things up when you feel like you’ve got a good gig already that works well. Could you find some local jam nights or open mics and just drop in and play the odd song? Could be a good way to get to know other local musos. And, keep you playing a bit without all the agro of setting up again from scratch? Think of it as a positive that it may allow you to improve/develop your playing by working with other musos.

I recently found one of these in my local music shop and did a little digging. Also posted on here about them… It appears they are Fender Squier Series, not to be confused with Squier by Fender. For reference. My local music shop is selling one for about £360 and it’s in really good condition.

If I didn’t have an 8 week old, I’d of already ordered one 😅 Feels far too good of a price to be true 👀 https://intl.sterlingbymusicman.com/products/joe-dart?variant=41532195831923

Yeah I did wonder about the components and whether there was money saved in parts hence the ‘Squier series’ range… I read that due a fire in the Mexico factory that they were primarily made from overstocked USA necks/bodies and shipped to Mex for assembly and components… this is the paragraph I found on a Squier forum but I can’t speak for how reliable it is … “The guitars with the black label consisted mostly of overstock american made Fender necks and bodies. The parts were shipped to Mexico for assembly with mexican made pickups and far eastern hardware and electronics. The overall quality of these guitars turned out to be below the Squiers made in Japan and Korea, whose production came to an end around the time the mexican made guitars with the black label surfaced, yet above Squiers made in China and Indonesia, whose production had not yet begun at the time. The guitars ended up on the american and european market for just about as much as a guitar from the regular “Standard” series would cost at the time.” I actually really like the one piece pick guard and think the black logo looks cooler than the silver one on my MIM jazz. Perhaps it’s just that it looks unique and a bit like a mark hoppus that I like rather than it actually being aesthetically pleasing 😂 It appears to be stock and would have been in production before Marks signature was released, so could well be where he got the inspiration from.

I saw one of these at my local music shop today. Really, really cool looking Jazz but the pick guard had me thinking it was a Mark Hoppus sig. Little look on Google and it appears to be a ‘Squier Special’ Fender series from 1994. Not to be confused by ‘Squier by Fender’. Seems that they were relatively limited but not massively any different from the stock Jazz bass around that time. Has anyone got any more info on these and/or has anyone got one/played one that can give any more info on them. I was actually just taking my Mustang to get the electrics looked at so wasn’t actually shopping! I already have 1 MIM Jazz bass that is rarely played as I’m mostly a short scale player now, so not sure I need another one. But… Note. It isn’t this exact bass, photo is from Google. It actually looks a lot less like a toy in person.

Yes it’s the standard single coil split. Righto! Shielding might be a very good shout moving forward👌 Thank you.

Hey all. Apologies if this is in the wrong section. Looking for some advice but appreciate it may be hard without seeing the full set up. At last nights show, I had a buzz coming from my bass through the PA, every time I took my hands off it. I used my usual set up which has never had any issues before (Mustang, Zoom B3 direct into PA) We’re an acoustic duo so it’s a very simple set up. I was just thinking it was a bad earth. I tried to use the ground button on the B3 to no avail. I also tried changing out the cables etc. Just wondered if anyone had any ideas what this might be, and importantly, any suggestions to remedy this issue, should it arise again in the future/options to preemptively avoid it. TIA, Alex

We filmed some promo videos with a professional videographer the other day and he pulled one of these out for a play as he’d just bought it. I’ll try and get the footage at some point but from the 5 minutes looking at it outside at some scenic footage he was filming, the quality was unbelievable! I’ve been looking at the insta 360 as I wanted to find a clip that could attach it to my headstock but so far I can’t find anything that would achieve this. I’d say that the Osmo would be too big for this use.

Yeah it wasn’t a pleasant situation to say the least. I kinda signed out of the whole thing at that point and the rest unfolded within a couple of weeks after. safe to say, we don’t keep in touch.

The guitarist. A few from a list of many, many, many frustrating events that lead up to the band splitting up… The guitarist spat in my hallway… He regularly got smashed and started to try and fight the rest of the band in order to ‘give us an unbreakable bond’… The guitarist spat in the singers car. At the end, he slept with the drummers sister and that was that, arsed we could no longer be. I’m unaware if this one involved any spit.

+1 to this. And talking first. Lots of good advice on here but whatever you do, don’t just call it a day and move all your gear on. I stopped for about 5 years also and never touched my bass. But, when the itch came back and the time was right, it was sitting there waiting for me. I then started a project completely different to anything I’d ever done and I’ve not looked back since. Sometimes, it’s important to get rid of the stuff that’s causing you unwanted stress, even if it’s the stuff that you love.

Picked up this Vintera 60s towards the end of last year. Absolutely love it. I’ve put some Fender flat wounds on it and in honesty I’m not a massive fan of the high tension so I’m going to try going back to slinky’s. It was a strange adjustment at first and actually felt huge to play after 3 years of this Ortega acoustic being my main bass. I’ll be using the Mustang as my number 1 for a very busy 2024 so It’ll be well worn in by the end of the year I’m sure. Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the Fender Jazz Juniors are available anywhere in the UK, or does anyone own one? Do they really exist? There’s not a lot of info online about them but they look spot on!

Really good interview with Dan Gooday about Ashdown, its history and their new basses on the ‘In the Pocket’ podcast. Can’t beat an Ashdown for me. I don’t use an amp anymore and just go direct into the PA, but the new Pro DI Preamp pedal is very tempting. Anyway, it’s worth a listen …

Out of interest, what is the response from your students post demonstration? Do you think it’s something they may take more seriously now or not? obviously, most of us at some point would probably be guilty of laughing off the need for hearing protection when we were younger. Just curious to know whether it’s still sort of brushed off even now that there's a lot more information available showing the potential consequences of ignoring your ear health?

I recently bought custom moulded IEMs and ACS plugs from Miles at DCA. I was actually planning on putting together a post just to give him a shout out as his service was so good! If anyone is in the market for moulded IEMs or just looking for advice, he’s so knowledgable and happy to offer advice. I’m not someone with a lot of knowledge on the subject but I knew what I wanted from my IEMs. I had reservations about chucking a wedge of money at something I couldn’t try first. He made the process super easy. Came to my house, let me try a handful of different brands and price points and helped me make an unbiased decision. He used the 3D scan process the OP mentioned and it was super simple and they fit absolutely bang on out of the box when they were delivered.