Guitar Man

Can’t believe it was as long ago as 23rd July that I first blipped about possible upgrades for the cheap bass guitar I’d bought the week before.
But it’s not as if nothing has happened in the interim. After a couple of failed attempts I managed to be the winning bidder for a Schaller bridge, at a cost of half what it would be if I’d had to order a new one from the USA. I also ordered a new scratch plate but had to wait a couple of weeks as the guy who makes them was on holiday! Because of these delays, I even indulged and ordered a brass nut from the states - it actually arrived first! Don’t think it’ll make a noticeable difference, but it wasn’t expensive and looks good!
R&T Music in Barrow will be supplying and fitting a new Seymour Duncan pickup and they will also do the final fettling and set up. But I said I would fit the new bridge though, annoyingly, the mounting holes didn’t line up with the ones for the old bridge. So it was out with masking tape, ruler and electric drill. The general rule is “measure twice, cut once” but I think I went with “measure ten times, drill once” just to be on the safe side.
I also took the opportunity whilst it was all stripped down to get out the wire wool and remove a couple of rough areas on the back of the neck. Whole thing is smooth as silk now!
Electrics transferred to new scratch plate to check everything fits and lines up, and decent strap locks fitted.
R&T are also thinking about modifying some of these Bronco basses as they say there is a definite market for them - not everyone is willing (or able) to do some of the work themselves, like me. Based on what they reckon they can sell a modified bass for, I might just break even on the deal, not having the advantage of being able to buy the parts at trade prices. But because of that, I have gone down a slightly different route, spec wise, and it will be interesting to compare our finished results.
Picture shows the before and after - fully stripped down to trial assembly. Further update to follow when the “guitar man” has worked his magic....