Replacement bridge for Squier Bronco

MartinBush

Hi all

At some point I will take my Squier Bronco bass in for set up and wondered about the bridge which, to me, seems to be something that could be improved. 

Is there an equivalent with four saddles instead of two? or simply just a better one I should look at?

Winny_Pooh

Wilkinson do a decent 4 saddle, check the string spacing first. 

MartinBush

Thanks @Winny_Pooh those look OK. My only objection to Wilkinson gear is that the branding reminds me of Wilko's... I may have to get over that

Funkfingers

The problem with Squier Bronco bridge replacement is mainly fiscal. A fully adjustable modern bass bridge could cost half as much as the instrument itself.

The simplest solution would be to drill the back edge of the bridge plate to accept intonation screws for four individually adjustable saddles.

For deeper pockets, I am tempted to suggest a Fender Hi-Mass bridge, a Gotoh 201B or a Schaller 3D-4. The only issue with these is aligning the mounting holes into the body. None of them follows the screw hole positions of the two-saddle Bronco bridge.

THINKS: How long are the rod sections that form the saddles on the Bronco? I may have some suitable replacements stashed away in a drawer.

MartinBush

I will have a look @Funkfingers ;

I do think that whatever approach I take it will involve a trip to the guitar tech - it needs setting up properly anyway. The intonation is well off on the E for a start, but sorting that will surely put the A out... and that's where I run out of competence!

I get the cost argument with this one, and I do want to keep costs down. Really all I want is this guitar, but with four saddles rather than two (I think the new Sonic version has four, so they must have learnt something).

ICBM

These basses do vary quite a lot in tone, but given that the hardware is common to all of them and should be pretty consistent, the differences are in the woodwork and not the parts - so if yours doesn't sound that good, it probably still won't even if you spend a fair amount on new parts... but if it does sound good, it probably doesn't need upgrading anyway! If that makes sense .

Unless the intonation is actually noticeably off I would leave it - I think the simple but effective bridge, which is more stable under each string than a four-saddle one, might actually be part of the better-than-expected tone. The key to setting it is to adjust each saddle for the *sharper* of the two strings (D and E), not an average of the two - a sharp string is much more noticeable than a flat one, and can't be compensated for by a slight finger bend.

The same applies to the pickup - it's a guitar pickup under the cover, with six polepieces, but it sounds fine and you'd probably have to spend quite a lot to improve on it. If you do want to, there are a large variety of 'blade' magnet humbucking ones which might be a good choice.

MartinBush

Thanks @ICBM ;

The intonation is way off. I am not trying to do anything fancy at the moment as I am also trying to learn to record, so it's just root notes mainly on the E string and that shows how off it is. 

I appreciate I could have a go at sorting it relatively easily, but if I am having it set up I thought a different bridge might not hurt. Maybe also a set of strings (I don't know what the factory set are).

To my ears it sounds perfectly good other than intonation. For me for the moment it's just something to play bass notes on so I want it functioning correctly without extravagance.

Funkfingers

MartinBush said:

To my ears, it sounds perfectly good other than intonation.

The budget bodge it solution to that is to smother your bass sound in chorus or flanger.

Another inexpensive option is to cram a foam muting pad under the strings, just in front of the bridge. This always compromises intonation accuracy. Blame the foam.

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Gotoh S203 bass bridge saddles are 18mm across. They should preserve the correct string spacing with the stock bridge baseplate. This conversion requires the drilling of four new holes in the bridge, in its back edge, where they will be hidden. 

Hipshot manufactures some incredible hardware but, IMO, it is way over budget for an instrument of this value.

Winny_Pooh said:

Wilkinson do a decent 4 saddle, check the string spacing first. 

Wilkinson (by Gotoh) also does a '51 P Bass lookalike bridge with swivelling saddles. The saddles are plain brass rod. So, the strings will sort out their own alignment under tension.

Retrovibe offers a '51 lookalike bridge with four independently adjustable saddles. 

On a two-saddle bridge with grooves for string alignment, it ought to be possible to remove brass from the grooves in the manner of Gotoh "In Tune" saddles for Telecaster. For all that I know, Gotoh may already make something like this.

MartinBush

I will have a go at adjusting the saddles myself. I never used to be reticent about these things, but these days I have the idea that anything I do will make matters worse!

From there I will consider whether some of the options above are the way forward. Or getting another bass...

victorludorum

There is a Squier 4 saddle one that exists. I bought one years ago and it's a drop in replacement. I think it came from their Mustang Vista bass. You'll probably struggle to get one new, but someone may have one sitting around somewhere. It's a string through model though, so you'll have to get the Bronco body drilled for that.

victorludorum

It looks like this firm is making a replacement:

https://www.ampshopbassexchange.com/product/fender-squier-musicmaster-vista-replacement-albridge-parts-mms418m-bridge-for-musicmaster-short-scale-direct-replacement-18mm-string-spacing-polished/