My wife recently expressed an interest in learning bass, and like many of us, I certainly couldn't turn down an opportunity to hunt for new gear! There has been a bass in our home before, in the form of a beautiful Shoreline Gold Squier PJ bass which was a lovely thing but was sadly sold during a cull. We did recall that she really didn't like picking that one up though due to the size, being a 'full' scale P bass at 34", so perhaps a short scale would be the way to go.
After a quick scan online at short scale models on a budget, I had a few in mind but in an effort to try a few to see which suit best, we headed to one of the local Birmingham guitar shops. Although models like the Ibanez Talman short scale bass were jam packed with great specs, the bulkier body and much chunkier neck on that particular bass meant that the Squier Bronco soon won our hearts. Although an incredibly simple configuration, the classic 'student model' 50s Fender looks, manageable body size, comfy neck and surprisingly good overall build quality for it's £150 ish price point is such a winner. Obviously at that price point it's clear these are just 'box shifters' for the factory and selling dealer, so it's in need of a good set-up, but most musicians accept that and are happy to carry out that kind of work. Although out the box it does do the job nicely, you can't help but feel there is some room for improvement, in particular it's plugged in tone. That's mostly down to it's standard Strat (6 pole!) guitar pickup installed as standard, and the usual Indonesian Squier low quality wiring components. I couldn't help myself as I'm always up for a good project, so I contacted Tim at McNelly Pickups to ask about options for these and luckily for me, he does indeed make a specific upgrade pickup! This pickup was originally designed for the Musicmaster, but as that shares the same pickup footprint, it is also the same sizing and mounting for the Bronco bass. This pickup features double pole pieces and a chunky wind, achieving an output/DCR of around 10.5k. So it really packs a punch!
This is a 'drop in' replacement in terms of size and mount, so still sized like a strat single coil that the Bronco has from the factory and uses the same pickguard mount so you won't have to reach for a router make a new pickguard. But more than that, this is a specifically designed bass pickup with a nice high output that produces overall fatness along with great clarity which will transform a Bronco or Musicmaster bass.
A common, simple mod many Bronco players carried out at the time of taking on this project in 2018 was to install a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail Strat Pickup. So still a guitar pickup rather than a bass pickup, but due to the rail magnets they didn't have to worry about pole piece spacing, and they're a high output pickup so just about managed the bass response too. By the sounds of people's demos online, this a cool sounding upgrade to make. But to me that felt a shame to fit another 6 string guitar pickup rather than a specific bass model pickup designed for these short scale models, so I gave the McNelly a whirl!
It would certainly be a shame to drop this beautiful new pickup into the bass with the existing wiring, so I put together a wiring kit with some nice quality, tight tolerance CTS 450 Series 250k pots, Gavitt 22AWG wire, a Pure Tone jack socket and a Mustard style .022uF tone cap. McNelly recommends the .022uF for this pickup, just to bring out a good range of tonal adjustment, but ultimately it works well with a variety of values depending on your personal preferences. I stuck with the recommended value though to start with.
After installing all of these, even through our 'humble' Rumble 15 Fender amp, the difference was astonishing. So much so, that I've decided to offer the McNelly Musicmaster / Bronco single coil bass pickup as a standalone product now, which is available on the website as I type! As well as my Bronco wiring harness kit too.
Want to hear an A/B comparison? Well thankfully Joe over at the Guitar Nerds podcaster kindly put some clips together for me showcasing a completely standard Bronco bass, against a McNelly / Home of Tone modded Bronco to show just how different they are. I just want to throw a thank you out there to the good people at the Guitar Nerds, as since this article went out in 2018 and I shared my modded Bronco, they have been incredibly supportive of the mod and shared it a lot which has been amazing. So thank you for their support on these kits!
The wiring harness is also drop in, in terms of component placements, but due to the factory components being smaller, lower quality spec parts, there is a little modification required to fit. This is simply widening the pickguard pot and jack mounting holes to suit the larger USA imperial spec shaft diameter. But a couple of minutes with a step cutter bit or a 10mm drill bit if you're careful and you're all ready to install, and is well worth doing as the wiring will help bring out the best in the pickup. You can now order this Bronco upgrade harness on the website, and I've also listed the option to order a complete Bronco upgrade kit which is for a Signature Series harness and the McNelly Bronco single coil bass pickup as a bundle. Two specifically designed items with the Bronco bass in mind, a cool upgrade to make to this great value short scale!
The wiring, and the pickup will both be suitable upgrades for the Affinity and Sonic Series Broncos.
Home of Tone 'Signature Series' Bronco wiring harness kit
McNelly Musicmaster / Bronco single coil bass pickup
After a quick scan online at short scale models on a budget, I had a few in mind but in an effort to try a few to see which suit best, we headed to one of the local Birmingham guitar shops. Although models like the Ibanez Talman short scale bass were jam packed with great specs, the bulkier body and much chunkier neck on that particular bass meant that the Squier Bronco soon won our hearts. Although an incredibly simple configuration, the classic 'student model' 50s Fender looks, manageable body size, comfy neck and surprisingly good overall build quality for it's £150 ish price point is such a winner. Obviously at that price point it's clear these are just 'box shifters' for the factory and selling dealer, so it's in need of a good set-up, but most musicians accept that and are happy to carry out that kind of work. Although out the box it does do the job nicely, you can't help but feel there is some room for improvement, in particular it's plugged in tone. That's mostly down to it's standard Strat (6 pole!) guitar pickup installed as standard, and the usual Indonesian Squier low quality wiring components. I couldn't help myself as I'm always up for a good project, so I contacted Tim at McNelly Pickups to ask about options for these and luckily for me, he does indeed make a specific upgrade pickup! This pickup was originally designed for the Musicmaster, but as that shares the same pickup footprint, it is also the same sizing and mounting for the Bronco bass. This pickup features double pole pieces and a chunky wind, achieving an output/DCR of around 10.5k. So it really packs a punch!
This is a 'drop in' replacement in terms of size and mount, so still sized like a strat single coil that the Bronco has from the factory and uses the same pickguard mount so you won't have to reach for a router make a new pickguard. But more than that, this is a specifically designed bass pickup with a nice high output that produces overall fatness along with great clarity which will transform a Bronco or Musicmaster bass.
A common, simple mod many Bronco players carried out at the time of taking on this project in 2018 was to install a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail Strat Pickup. So still a guitar pickup rather than a bass pickup, but due to the rail magnets they didn't have to worry about pole piece spacing, and they're a high output pickup so just about managed the bass response too. By the sounds of people's demos online, this a cool sounding upgrade to make. But to me that felt a shame to fit another 6 string guitar pickup rather than a specific bass model pickup designed for these short scale models, so I gave the McNelly a whirl!
It would certainly be a shame to drop this beautiful new pickup into the bass with the existing wiring, so I put together a wiring kit with some nice quality, tight tolerance CTS 450 Series 250k pots, Gavitt 22AWG wire, a Pure Tone jack socket and a Mustard style .022uF tone cap. McNelly recommends the .022uF for this pickup, just to bring out a good range of tonal adjustment, but ultimately it works well with a variety of values depending on your personal preferences. I stuck with the recommended value though to start with.
After installing all of these, even through our 'humble' Rumble 15 Fender amp, the difference was astonishing. So much so, that I've decided to offer the McNelly Musicmaster / Bronco single coil bass pickup as a standalone product now, which is available on the website as I type! As well as my Bronco wiring harness kit too.
Want to hear an A/B comparison? Well thankfully Joe over at the Guitar Nerds podcaster kindly put some clips together for me showcasing a completely standard Bronco bass, against a McNelly / Home of Tone modded Bronco to show just how different they are. I just want to throw a thank you out there to the good people at the Guitar Nerds, as since this article went out in 2018 and I shared my modded Bronco, they have been incredibly supportive of the mod and shared it a lot which has been amazing. So thank you for their support on these kits!
The wiring harness is also drop in, in terms of component placements, but due to the factory components being smaller, lower quality spec parts, there is a little modification required to fit. This is simply widening the pickguard pot and jack mounting holes to suit the larger USA imperial spec shaft diameter. But a couple of minutes with a step cutter bit or a 10mm drill bit if you're careful and you're all ready to install, and is well worth doing as the wiring will help bring out the best in the pickup. You can now order this Bronco upgrade harness on the website, and I've also listed the option to order a complete Bronco upgrade kit which is for a Signature Series harness and the McNelly Bronco single coil bass pickup as a bundle. Two specifically designed items with the Bronco bass in mind, a cool upgrade to make to this great value short scale!
The wiring, and the pickup will both be suitable upgrades for the Affinity and Sonic Series Broncos.
Home of Tone 'Signature Series' Bronco wiring harness kit
McNelly Musicmaster / Bronco single coil bass pickup
