Squier Bronco - Bass VI Conversion Question(s)

[donslow]

So I’ve been looking for a project, stumbled upon the idea of converting a squier bronco to a bass vi

 

quick bit of research and then found a bronco, not far from me, for a fair price, collecting next week so I’m starting to look around for bits…

 

as far as I understand it, in regards to parts all I need is…

new bridge

new nut

set of tuners

new strings

and Robert’s your fathers brother

 

Question 1…

what bridge would work?! Would a “standard” guitar bridge work or do I need to look for something specific, I’m thinking more along the lines of string spacing if here, I wondered if a normal hard tail strat type bridge with threaded saddles might do the trick?

 

Question 2…

any advice on how / where to mark for the new / extra tuner holes? Are there templates for this or is there an idiot proof method for getting it right?

 

any thoughts / comments / experience gladly received 

Edited September 15, 2022 by donslow

[BigRedX]

Not wanting to put a damper on your quest but a few questions first.

 

How wide is the neck on the Bronco at the nut? IMO the neck on most Bass VIs is far too narrow and the problem is only compounded by the extra girth of the bass strings. For instance the nut width on my Squier Bass VI is 40mm (that's less than it is on both my standard guitars) but the actual distance between the centres of the two E strings is only 35mm. How does this compare with the neck on the Bronco? Have you played a Squier Bass VI and can you get on with the tight string spacing?

 

I've given up with "traditional" Bass VIs and moved on to the Eastwood copy of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass that has a nut width of 50mm and 42mm between the centres of the two E strings). I find that much more comfortable to play.

 

If the Bronco neck is going to be suitable for your needs, then moving on to the bridge. On the Squier the bridge is relatively wide (55mm between E string centres), and while I don't think it's identical to the similar guitar designs it's close. Of course if you're not intending on having a vibrato mechanism you'll need to find a suitable tail-piece for it.

 

I also have a Burns Barracuda Bass VI and that has the Burns version of the "Stratocaster bridge" and is somewhat narrower at 52mm E-E. Fitting the low E string is a bit of a chore but it can be done. The thing to watch is having sufficient travel on the saddles to get the intonation right, especially if you intend to use the heavier Bass VI strings (those with at least a 95 gauge E string) which most bassists seem to prefer. Both the Squier and the Burns came with lighter strings and while the intonation was fine out of the box, fitting LaBella or Newtone Axion Bass VI strings have made it impossible to get the low E string saddle far enough back. If you can get on with Strat type string spacing at the bridge look for a version with a long bass plate and intonation screws so you sufficient travel to get the E string intonated. You'll probably also need to drill out the holes for the low E and A strings to get them to fit.

 

I can't help you with machine head spacing at the headstock other than to say the Squier machine heads are very similar to guitar ones, so standard Strat spacing should work here. Regarding machine heads my personal preference is for the ones on the Burns which has large guitar style buttons but posts similar to the narrower ones found on basses.

 

Finally have you considered just getting a Squier Bass VI? They are less than £400 from Thomann.

[Baloney Balderdash]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

Not wanting to put a damper on your quest but a few questions first.

 

How wide is the neck on the Bronco at the nut? IMO the neck on most Bass VIs is far too narrow and the problem is only compounded by the extra girth of the bass strings. For instance the nut width on my Squier Bass VI is 40mm (that's less than it is on both my standard guitars) but the actual distance between the centres of the two E strings is only 35mm. How does this compare with the neck on the Bronco? Have you played a Squier Bass VI and can you get on with the tight string spacing?

 

I've given up with "traditional" Bass VIs and moved on to the Eastwood copy of the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass that has a nut width of 50mm and 42mm between the centres of the two E strings). I find that much more comfortable to play.

 

If the Bronco neck is going to be suitable for your needs, then moving on to the bridge. On the Squier the bridge is relatively wide (55mm between E string centres), and while I don't think it's identical to the similar guitar designs it's close. Of course if you're not intending on having a vibrato mechanism you'll need to find a suitable tail-piece for it.

 

I also have a Burns Barracuda Bass VI and that has the Burns version of the "Stratocaster bridge" and is somewhat narrower at 52mm E-E. Fitting the low E string is a bit of a chore but it can be done. The thing to watch is having sufficient travel on the saddles to get the intonation right, especially if you intend to use the heavier Bass VI strings (those with at least a 95 gauge E string) which most bassists seem to prefer. Both the Squier and the Burns came with lighter strings and while the intonation was fine out of the box, fitting LaBella or Newtone Axion Bass VI strings have made it impossible to get the low E string saddle far enough back. If you can get on with Strat type string spacing at the bridge look for a version with a long bass plate and intonation screws so you sufficient travel to get the E string intonated. You'll probably also need to drill out the holes for the low E and A strings to get them to fit.

 

I can't help you with machine head spacing at the headstock other than to say the Squier machine heads are very similar to guitar ones, so standard Strat spacing should work here. Regarding machine heads my personal preference is for the ones on the Burns which has large guitar style buttons but posts similar to the narrower ones found on basses.

 

Finally have you considered just getting a Squier Bass VI? They are less than £400 from Thomann.

I think the current production Squier Bass VI's actually got a slightly wider nut width, but I was about to post a somewhat similar reply, that is that the nut width of the Bronco most likely being way more narrow than OP likely would want, or even quite possibly what will strictly physically allow for proper fretting of the individual strings near the nut.

 

My Harley Benton GuitarBass, which is also a take on the Bass VI concept, but with a much flatter fretboard radius and a fixed TOM style bridge, in fact more similar to the Shecter Hellcat VI, has a 42mm wide nut, and that is about as narrow as can be for me to be able to still fret the individual strings properly near the nut.

 

Mind while being a real issue when I first got the instrument all it took was a little practice and getting used to it, and the tight string spacing it is actually not really an issue for me now, not even at the first fret, but as said I would definitely want to go any narrower, as I think that would make it physically impossible for me to fret the individual strings properly at the first few frets.

 

OP might want to consider the Harley Benton GuitarBass, it generally gets amazing reviews, and I was generally impressed myself with the quality of mine, some claim it is better quality than the over twice times more expensive Squier.

 

The stock pickups sound great, the fretwork on mine was perfect from stock, heck, even the nut slots were cut perfectly, and overall it plays and sounds amazing.

 

The Harley Benton GuitarBass is genuinely great instrument and not only for the money.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[BigRedX]

@Baloney Balderdash What strings do you have on your HB GuitarBass? And if you have either the LaBella's or the Newtone Axions can you get the low E string saddle far enough back for the string to intonate correctly?

[Baloney Balderdash]

19 hours ago, BigRedX said:

@Baloney Balderdash What strings do you have on your HB GuitarBass? And if you have either the LaBella's or the Newtone Axions can you get the low E string saddle far enough back for the string to intonate correctly?

Admittedly I use a custom made Newton set of roundwound nickle plated hex steel core guitar strings of the gauges .080 - .060 - .045 - .034 - .027 - .020, and have it tuned to F# standard tuning, that is 2 half steps higher than usual, though if I wanted to tune it to regular E standard tuning I would end up using a gauge .090 low E string for the same tension, as I actually prefer that low tension, and I even usually will prefer a gauge .095 string set for regular short scale 4 string bass, and just as long as the gauge doesn't get any higher than that I am quite confident that the string spacing still would be fine for me (with a gauge .090 low E string and a gauge .068 low A string, which would match the tension on the current low F# and B string for the F# standard tuning that I use, that would only result in something like just 0.009" (~0.23mm) tighter string spacing between the low E and low A, compared to the set I currently use for the F# standard tuning. And for a respectively gauge .095 and .070 balanced tension low E and A  string that would be 0.0125" (~0.32mm)).

 

But any higher than gauge .095 for the low E string, should one not be comfortable with the relative low tension, and I think the string spacing would become an issue, for me personally at least.

 

And as far as intonation goes the saddle pieces in the TOM style bridge just barely have enough travel to get the intonation right, though if more travel room was needed it would only be a matter of buying a broader 3rd part TOM bridge piece, which wouldn't necessarily have to cost much, and be easy to install without any additional tools or modifications needed, it would quite literally be a drop in (on) replacement. 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash