Squier Bronco Pickup Options

[thewalruswaspaul]

I have just aquired a Squier Bronco which I will be replacing the pickup on, I am looking at the Seymour Duncan range at the moment and am wondering what pickup to use as a replacement , I have been thinking about the Hot rails or the Cool rails pickups , anybody know what the differences are between these two pickups in terms of how they sound?.
With regards to pickups I am after something with lots of low end , not too much treble , kind of vintage sounding , I have thought about the vintage single coil p bass seymour duncan pickup but am ideally looking for something that will be a direct replacement (as in a pickup that just drops in with no mods) , any suggestions ?

[Kev]

is it really worth it?? isnt a bronco like the lowest range squier?? tbh mate id save your money and buy a better built bass

but i guess there aint too much out there short scale wise, if thats what your into

Edited April 6, 2008 by BassManKev

[Pedro1020]

[quote name='BassManKev' post='170773' date='Apr 6 2008, 04:38 PM']is it really worth it?? isnt a bronco like the lowest range squier?? tbh mate id save your money and buy a better built bass

but i guess there aint too much out there short scale wise, if thats what your into[/quote]

The Squier Bronco's are ok for the price, but pointless to modify, it's a bass you'd start out with and for kids and peeps with small hands. But, if your determined to upgrade it seymour duncan are neat to put in. Its a guitar pickup isnt it? (shaped) Cool rails/ Hot rails..either will work

BTW, is it a Red a Black or a ..*vomits slightly* Badtz Maru? Just my curiosity

Danelectro's (IMO) are nice basses, but the design are too funky for me.

Good Luck!

[Mr. Foxen]

Since they are all guitar pickups, you are going to have trouble finding any sort of review in the bass context. Its gonna have to be one you figure for yourself. The Cool rails is for neck position, so the output is lower than the hot rails, but I have no idea about the voicing.

[budget bassist]

Hot rails and cool rails are guitar pickups so no. Also the bass is pretty suckish too, not worth upgrading at all IMO. Spend a couple of hundred on a decent bass.

[WarPig]

I stuck a Seymour duncan SCPB-1 in mine made a world of difference. Ignor the haters!

Oh and any rail type pick up will work on a bass, its the same principal electronic wise.

Edited April 7, 2008 by WarPig

[thewalruswaspaul]

[quote name='WarPig' post='171487' date='Apr 7 2008, 02:43 PM']I stuck a Seymour duncan SCPB-1 in mine made a world of difference. Ignor the haters!

Oh and any rail type pick up will work on a bass, its the same principal electronic wise.[/quote]

Thanks Warpig, Its nice to have someone actually answer my question instead of slagging off the bronco , did you have to do any mods to get the SCPB-1 to fit ? .

[Kev]

nice to see your only taking the advice you [b]want[/b] to hear...

think about it mate

[neepheid]

[quote name='BassManKev' post='171890' date='Apr 7 2008, 11:03 PM']nice to see your only taking the advice you [b]want[/b] to hear...

think about it mate [/quote]

To be fair, you didn't really answer the question

[WarPig]

[quote name='thewalruswaspaul' post='171882' date='Apr 7 2008, 10:54 PM']Thanks Warpig, Its nice to have someone actually answer my question instead of slagging off the bronco , did you have to do any mods to get the SCPB-1 to fit ? .[/quote]

Thats ok mate!

Just needed to sand abit of the pick-up hole out, and use wider screws for the adjustment holes.

Edited April 7, 2008 by WarPig

[Kev]

[quote name='neepheid' post='171901' date='Apr 7 2008, 11:09 PM']To be fair, you didn't really answer the question [/quote]

i did, i told him not to bother upgrading at all

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Go for it - There's nothing wrong with modding a cheap bass - if nothing else it builds up experience, so working on a more expensive bass later will be less daunting.

I have put a couple of rail humbuckers into 71 musicmasters. My daughter's has a Brandoni white hotrails with explosed blades and mine has an enclosed black brandoni cool rails. The cool rails sounds (& looks) much better to me, although my daughter likes the zebra effect of the hotrails. I think the coolrails is more suitable as the hot rails sounds a bit too zingy for my taste.

Last time I looked either pickup would set you back about £30 from brandoniguitars.co.uk

Edited November 16, 2017 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[neepheid]

[quote name='BassManKev' post='171943' date='Apr 7 2008, 11:49 PM']i did, i told him not to bother upgrading at all [/quote]

That wasn't what he asked

[WarPig]

bump. Any luck mate?

[thewalruswaspaul]

[quote name='WarPig' post='175224' date='Apr 12 2008, 03:34 PM']bump. Any luck mate?[/quote]

Have not done pickup swap yet , have just got some new machineheads coz the squier ones suck , will fit pup in next week or two , am currently trying to decide between the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/vintage-1/scpb1_vintage_f/"]Seymour Duncan SCPB-1[/url] and the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/vintage/lipstick_tube_f/"]Seymour Duncan Lipstick Pick up[/url] , both seem to be in the vintage ballpark , will let you know once I have done the swap

[clauster]

When squier first did the reissue I remeber reading good things about rail-type pickups being a worthwhile upgarde, but a lipstick tube would look SSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOO cool (man)!

[ahpook]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='171999' date='Apr 8 2008, 07:57 AM']Go for it - There's nothing wrong with modding a cheap bass - if nothing else it builds up experience, so working on a more expensive bass later will be less daunting.[/quote]

plus the one.

i've got a japcrap jazz bass i'm working on at the moment...i'm going to put some kent armstrong pickups in it, one of which will cost more than the bass itself, but it's fun and all good experience.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='thewalruswaspaul' post='175559' date='Apr 13 2008, 10:47 AM']Have not done pickup swap yet , have just got some new machineheads coz the squier ones suck , will fit pup in next week or two , am currently trying to decide between the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/vintage-1/scpb1_vintage_f/"]Seymour Duncan SCPB-1[/url] and the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/vintage/lipstick_tube_f/"]Seymour Duncan Lipstick Pick up[/url] , both seem to be in the vintage ballpark , will let you know once I have done the swap[/quote]
'm not sure if the SCPB-1 would fit. You need a strat size pickup unless you are cutting a new pickguard.
Kent Armstrong also do a strap size lipstick pup. I'd go for a Brandoni enclosed cool rails though. Mine sounds massive in my '71 musicmaster.

[Jono Bolton]

But Warpig put one in his Bronco, look further up, all he had to do was sand the pickup pocket a bit, so it would fit. The lipstick pickup would look very cool though! You may want to change the bridge at some point too, I've never found anything good about bridges where the number of saddles doesn't equal the number of strings. As for the Bronco slagging, they don't pretend to be anything great, but they're good fun and with a couple of small changes they can be pretty good, and there's nothing wrong with wanting it to sound good. I say mod it if you want to, ignore what everyone else thinks. Check the reviews on Harmony Central for the Bronco, [i]lots[/i] of people raving about them after making a couple of changes. I found the Broncos to be like most Squiers, good guitars but generally crappy hardware.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

But Warpig put one in his Bronco, look further up, all he had to do was sand the pickup pocket a bit, so it would fit. The lipstick pickup would look very cool though! You may want to change the bridge at some point too, I've never found anything good about bridges where the number of saddles doesn't equal the number of strings. As for the Bronco slagging, they don't pretend to be anything great, but they're good fun and with a couple of small changes they can be pretty good, and there's nothing wrong with wanting it to sound good. I say mod it if you want to, ignore what everyone else thinks. Check the reviews on Harmony Central for the Bronco, lots of people raving about them after making a couple of changes. I found the Broncos to be like most Squiers, good guitars but generally crappy hardware.

The string spacing is narrower on a bronco than a single coil tele bass, so the poles won't match up to the strings. This may or may not cause uneven output from string to string, but it wouldn't be an issue with a lipstick or rails pickup.

The bobbin is bigger on the telebass pickup than the standard strat size pickup used on broncos - hence the pg needing to be modified to make it fit.

A good upgrade bridge is the 90s Squier musicmaster one. I think they're still available as a spare part. this has four saddles and is a string-thru design, so a set of ferrules will be needed.

Edited November 16, 2017 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[thewalruswaspaul]

[quote name='thewalruswaspaul' post='175559' date='Apr 13 2008, 10:47 AM']Have not done pickup swap yet , have just got some new machineheads coz the squier ones suck , will fit pup in next week or two , am currently trying to decide between the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/basslines/vintage-1/scpb1_vintage_f/"]Seymour Duncan SCPB-1[/url] and the [url="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/stratocaster/vintage/lipstick_tube_f/"]Seymour Duncan Lipstick Pick up[/url] , both seem to be in the vintage ballpark , will let you know once I have done the swap[/quote]

Update - Saw a Fender Urge Bass in a shop at a very good price and fell in love with it on the spot , did a part exchange using my Bronco and my Epi EB0 , will be paying off the remaining balance at the end of the month

[thewalruswaspaul]

Update , have got rid of the Squier Bronco and have brought a used MIM Fender Urge Bass , very pleased , is very comfortable to play thanks to the medium scale and small body and sounds a lot better than the Squier

Edited May 6, 2008 by thewalruswaspaul

[Kev]

annnnnnnnnd there we go