NGD (x2) photo

[ItsaBass]

Catching up on the pix for a couple of NGDs. Don't wanna be an Iceman!

My two latest guitars both happened to end up in the same photo yesterday, so I can knock them both out at once:



Squier Bronco Bass and 2006 Explorer. Both are good instruments, and together they cost $700.

You can also sort of see my Latte Cream '04 LP in the background, and part of my mighty mini stack. An Ampeg Jet II jumped over to a Fender Princeton Reverb.

I love the two bleached broads texting in the background. So friggin' typical of L.A., and it captures those petty ****s perfectly. The same two broads also almost got clobbered by someone in the audience for talking **** about our bass player's hot pants! Ha! They wish they had nalgas like our bassist.

[TheLivingDead]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

****ing. Awesome.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Isn't a Bronco Bass just a really cheapened Musicmaster Bass?

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Ok, does this piss me off or am I just an idiot. The two girls on the left are both on their phones? I see local bands play and half the audience is sitting on their phones not looking at anyone or even paying attention to the good (sometimes great) music. Grrrr....

end of rant....

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

^^ It'd pi$$ me off too, though I find phones rude in most situations; wonder how Segovia would react had he lived into the age of mobile phones .

Bearded man + explorer = .

[dreadguard268]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Bearded man + explorer = .

+1

[ItsaBass]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Isn't a Bronco Bass just a really cheapened Musicmaster Bass?

It is a Musicmaster with a few differences. MMs never had one-piece maple necks. The pick guards are different shape and different numbers of plies. (Bronco has a more attractive p/g shape IMO.) Musicmasters had black pickup covers. The shapes of the heads are different (but basically similar). The tuners are different (stamped POSs on the Bronco, and also-cheap, but better, ones on the MM). And, of course, the body of the Bronco is some Asian mystery wood (probably agathis, but who knows), while the MM is some American mystery wood (probably alder, but who knows). Also, the finish of the MM is nitro clear coat over poly color coats, while the finish of the Bronco is whatever plasti-coat material that Squire uses for paint at this time.

It's not super cheap, though; not in a terribly bad way. The bridge, aside from the great fact that it has the proper MM shape, is actually decent quality for a Squier. It doesn't feel like some crazy pot metal crap like on my other Squier. And the neck is solid and playable, with better fret work than you'll see on a Gibson or MIM Fender (and much better finish work on the neck than on my other Squier or on my MIM Strat). There are no stripped screw holes or terrible finish flaws like on my other Squier. The pickup sounds fine to me. It leaves nothing to be desired. The only thing that needs to go is the set of tuners. Everything else can be left stock, and you have a great bass. Best $150 new bass out there. (I got mine for $100 used via Craig's List.) They could seriously just do a tuner upgrade and sell them for twice as much as part of the Classic Vibe line. And, remember that Fender MMs were no prizes. I think they were literally the cheapest model basses that Fender sold during the '70's. If Squiers had existed back then, it definitely would have been one.

They are also probably the hands-down best choice for a Bass VI conversion on the cheap. The scale length is the same, and a Fender Toronado guitar bridge is built on the same frame as the Bronco's (and MM's). All you have to do is put one of those bridges on, convert to string through, make a nut, plug the tuner holes, and install six tuners instead of four. Bam. You have a $300 Bass VI that is actually decent quality.

For comparison, here is a '76 MM:

[BTMN]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

She's rawking and they aren't that's why they were talking trash.

Rawk on with a good looking pair of instruments.

[80's_Metal]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Nice explorer! that thing is ****in hot!

Those chicks were both texting me actually... they wanted know if I could play that song.... sorry...my bad. I told em to put their phones down, pull their shirts off and start moshing... did it work???

[arellanon]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Hey what venue was this? Sorry for the trouble maker texting girls. Btw great action shot!

[ItsaBass]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Hi,

This was at the Down-N-Out, the lobby bar of the Alexandria Hotel on 5th and Spring. We did a show a week there in Jan.

[AlexR]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

From that photo you've got a serious Brett Hinds/Mastodon lookalike thing going on.

Like the explorer.

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Nice axes! Dig the mountain man beard!

[75lespaul]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

Congratulations on the awesome guitars, and the awesome beard. What would have been a better action shot would have been if both you and the bass player did the old "sling the guitar backwards and over your shoulder" move simultaneously whilst the upswing caught both of those dchbgs in the jaw, lol. The pic snapped at that exact moment would have=incredible.

[FretFire]

Re: NGD (x2) photo

I played a show in Denver a few months ago and was amazed how many people sitting in that room were looking down at a backlit screen the entire time. Weird stuff. Very cool guitars man, the white explorer is sweet!