Bronco Bass Review

The Squier Bronco Bass is great for guitarists who occasionally need a bass, for younger beginners, for smaller players or for anyone who likes the feel of a short-scale (30") bass. It tunes easily and sounds full and rich, thanks to its Maple neck, die-cast tuners and solid Agathis body.

Features:	7.5
Sound:	6.5
Action:	6.8
Reliability:	9
Impression:	7
Overall rating:	7.4
Users rating:	5.9
Comments:	13

overall: 5.2

Featured review by: StepsAscending8, on march 26, 2004

Price paid: $ 75

Purchased from: Jensen's Guitar

Features: The Bronco Bass is a total cheapo, Fender rip-off... I LOVE IT. I only had to save up for about a week to buy it and in my opinion it plays just as well as a Fender P-Bass. The neck is amazing,I can play fast on that neck then on any other (because it's a shortscale) 20 Frets i believe. Has one Seymour Duncan in it. The red finish looks nice. Came with a Crate BX15 practice amp. // 6

Sound: // 4

Action, Fit & Finish: The pick-up is bad in this bass and it ruins the sound of the whole bass (since theres only one pickup) and there is no pick-up knobs or selectors to change that. The factory didnt set up the bass well. // 2

Reliability & Durability: This bass has withstood gigs and the hardware holds for itself. The finish doesn't come off easily. Haven't had any strap problems. This is a bass that you can throw against a wall and pick it up and keep playing. I love the durability of Squier products. // 8

Impression: This isn't the greatest match for my music, but it's gets the job done, and thats the reason I bought it. I also own a Squier Standard Jazz Bass which I adore because of the tone, but when I want the P-Bass sound, I rely on my Bronco. If you need a cheap, reliable bass, buy a Bronco. // 6

overall: 7

Reviewed by: MusicalMinority, on may 25, 2009

Price paid: $ 110

Purchased from: secondhand

Features: Made in Indonesia in 2002. Short scale neck. 19 frets, one-piece maple neck, I believe. Agathis body. Comes with one "special design" pickup that's actually a Squier GUITAR pickup. When I bought mine, the previous owner had replaced it with a genuine Fender pickup and shielded the cavities.

Polyurethane finish. Nothing's going to get through. Shaped after the Fender Mustang. The bridge is some cheap economy thing with only two saddles, but it worked well enough. Looked cool too.

One volume, one tone. Pretty straightforward. One of the best things about the neck is that it always feels glossy. Never sticky, and always a pleasure to play. Very thin too. Fast, and comfortable. I'm going to miss that feeling once this bass is sold. Note: Rating is for stock settings. Mine was actually around a 7 or 8. // 6

Sound: It does cleans decently, but can't handle distortion at all, which is sad, because half of what I play is distorted. The most this can handle is a "DeeDee Ramone" sort of loud overdrive. Other than that, the hissing and humming becomes too much to bear. Keep in mind that I'm saying this about a guitar whose cavities were shielded by a professional... But hey, what do you expect out of a single coil?

I couldn't that much variety out of the tone and volume knob, but the sound was decent enough on cleans. A little muddy at times, but that's the price you pay for the ease of playing short scale. // 6

Action, Fit & Finish: Because I bought it secondhand, I have no idea how the factory set it up. However, the action was easy to adjust, I never had to deal with the truss rod, and the intonation was just as simple to fix as it would be on any other bass. I didn't have any other problems with the hardware. Seemed sturdy enough, except for the screws, which looked as if they would strip at the slightest contact of a screwdriver. Didn't worry me too much because replacement screws are cheap and easy to find. // 8

Reliability & Durability: The thing is built sturdily enough to be a tank. I don't know how long the bridge would last under gigging conditions, but replacements are dirt cheap and easy to find. The strap buttons were surprisingly solid. It's finished with ultra-hard polyurethane... It's not getting beat anytime soon. I accidentally hit it against my desk once, and it left a dent in the desk... Only a small scratch on the finish of the bass.

I'd go gigging with this without backup if I personally liked the sound I got out of it. // 9

Impression: I play a little bit of everything, but this thing's not up to "everything." Not exactly a one-trick pony, but don't expect it to be hugely versatile. It's fairly good at what it does well at any rate. I've been playing classical piano for close to eleven years, have been playing guitar for about three years, and picked up bass a year ago. I know quality/tone when I see/hear it. This is one of those halfway basses that isn't quite a beginner's bass, but certainly isn't a pro bass. Don't expect good distorted sounds and slightly muddy cleans.

If this was stolen, I probably would mourn for a day and go try out other basses, as I was planning on selling this one soon anyways. // 6

overall: 7.6

Reviewed by: mwr28, on october 26, 2006

Purchased from: Ickenham Music Store

Features: The Bronco Bass is a great starter bass guitar and is a Squier version of the Fender P-Bass. The guitar was a reasonable price of £160 and they threw in a guitar stand with it. The one thing I love about the bronco is the neck. The neck is smooth and you can play very fast on it because it is short scale. The bronco has 20 frets and has a nice red finish. This guitar sounds very much like the Fender P-Bass. // 8

Sound: My style of music is Indie/Rock. This bass goes well with that syle and can also play some funky stuff to. At the moment I am Using a Marshall Bass 12 Amp. The bass has quite a Rich and Full sound and is very versitile because I believe it can play all sorts of music on it. The bass is ok for slap bass and has a clear sound. (no hissing or scratchiness). // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: The action on the bass was set up well and I haven't had to lower of higher it. There were no loose guitar parts at all when I bought it and it is a good quality wood. The only problem with the bass is the pickup. Although the bass gives out a great sound it could be a lot better if it was to have better pickups. The guitar only has 1 pickup up and no pickup knobs. // 7

Reliability & Durability: Reliability & Durability When I purchased the bronco the action was perfect and still is after 6 months. There have been no chips on it although it has had a few bumps. The finish doesn't come off easily and I can honestly say squiers products are long lasting. // 9

Impression: The guitar is great for a cheap starter guitar and has a similar sound to the P-Bass. I probably wouldn't get this bass again if it was to be stolen. Not because it's bad but just because I would want to upgrade to something Fender. You wont go wrong with a Bronco Bass. // 7

overall: 9.6

Reviewed by: reverber21, on november 18, 2008

Purchased from: given to

Features: Made in 2008, 19 frets, solid body, maple neck and agathis body, torino red Polyurethane Finish, the body style is a stratacaster body style, and the bridge style is a Wilkinson style. comes with crome control knobs for volume and tone. it has standard covered mini-tuners, and the bridge is two-saddle chrome. // 10

Sound: this guitar is perfect for my music playing style and I us a Peavey bass amplifier with it. the bass is a little noisy when playin in the 6th fret plugged into my amplifier but when using a larger amplifier the bass has good sound quality. the sound without any effects has a wide variety by itself. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: I have no knowledge on this information of my product. I do know that my bass contained no flaws and that the guiitar is in perfect condition. the guitar is pretty solid I have drop it at least 4 times on tiles and have yet to find a scratch or dent in the body or neck. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar could withstand dozens of Live concerts, and the hardware wouold seem to last just as long. I can depend on the guitar totaly. I believe that the finish on this product is good enough to last years of playing. I would use this guitar at a gig wothout a backuo because of te condition it is in and because of all of the roughin' up it has already gone through, it could withstand anything. // 10

Impression: I play alternative rock and rock and roll, this guitar is perfect for my style of playing. I've been playing for 6 months, I also own a 1981 Ibanez blazer that can be seen on my profile. I wish that this bass could have a toggle Switch on it to acheive more effects. // 9

Comments

[mowerol]

A great bass starter definately compares to a fender jazz bass. it has a great neck which is unbelievably smooth. Gives out a good powerful sound.

[hotpants181]

its a good bass, well built the only problem is the cheap pickup on it i looks like it has come off a cheap strat.

[the_guy]

for a bass though 1 small single coil really isn't enough power

[MEmmett]

I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a Seymour Duncan pickup. I'm definate it isn't the Squier version of the P-Bass; the Squier P-Bass is the Squier version of the P-Bass.

[chillipepper777]

Its best to replace the standard pick up with a seymor duncan hot rails guitar pick up (neck position). Also some people by pass the volume and tone pots and just connect the pick up to the jack. In this way the amp get the full signal.
Overall the Bronco is a fun , tough and cheap little bass.

[wilkozade2005]

yey tis my first bass have had it bout a month and is brill! only cost me £80 and sounds great
i agree the pickup could changed or something but i cba

[shortscale]

I've been playing bass for about 30 years now.
I own a bronco.
In that 30 years I have had many different basses.
I am not any kind of brand snob.
I used to take a lot of flak over my
and cheapo copies and strange unheard of brands, but,
you won't play any better on the most expensive bass.
One of my coolest basses was during the 80's punk era -
a ten dollar garage sale special - no idea what weird off beat brand it was -it had a home-made particle board body spray painted with lots of drips and runs. it also had wires hanging out of it here and there.
all the frets had been pried out.
you WOUND'T believe the cool sounds I could get out
that thing!
Anyway, about my Bronco.
Nice neck, machine heads fair, pickup so-so
bridge only has two saddles instead of four,
Body style,non-metallic red paint and white pick guard are BORRRRINNNGG.
It is the most boring-looking bass I have ever owned
I will have to put stickers all over it or something
change the pick-guard.
About the price? well,I've never spent much, the most I ever spent was $359 for a new Yamaha fretless.
I'd rather have bought something cooler looking second-hand but couldn't find any used short-scales, which was my main consideration.
In a word, it's....ok.

[shadow of deth]

i played this at guitar center a few weeks ago what a waste its so small sounds bad there are a lot better squiers out there

[Morphox]

I don't play a lot of bass, I mainly play guitar but wanted a bass in case I ever got bored... I had a Squier Strat as my first guitar and I'd say it was the best beginner guitar I could have got. Based on the presumption that Squier was a quality beginner instrument, I got a Squier Bronco bass.

I may just be a shit bassist (so far) but I think the action is way to high and it's very hard to play (compared to all the other basses I've played). I feel ripped off because of it's hard to play and the pickups are... not that good. I payed quiet alot for it and want my money back.

[vsdornelas]

SQUIER? 75 BUCKS?! MY DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE!!!

[fastlanestoner]

i love it

[Invader Jim]

Played one once and really liked it. I mainly play guitar, but want to get a bass. I was gonna buy this off my buddy but he had to give it up for rent payment. :mad:

[MiNi DiRnT]

i have one these guitar and they are great they have great sound and they are one of my favourite makes they are pretty light asswell wich is great they are really good bass guitars i know cause i love mine