Fender Bronco Solid Body Electric Guitar (1968)
LOADING IMAGES
Fender Bronco Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1968), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 216420, red lacquer finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original grey hard shell case.
This is a very nice early example of CBS/Fender's final student electric of the 1960s, The Bronco. This little red pony is the hot rod of the bunch, essentially a one-pickup Mustang with a simplified vibrato, or if you prefer, a 24" scale Musicmaster with the pickup moved to the bridge position and added whammy. That is a much simpler design than the floating Mustang trem, built around a pivoting plate sprung from below but still quite functional. The saddles are cheap but effective stampings, adjustable for intonation but not individual height. The pickup is the same as Fender's other budget models, wired to tone and volume controls topped by fancy knobs also used on the solid-state Zodiac amplifiers.
Offered as a student-friendly set with a matching amp, the Bronco was fairly successful, but as it missed the '65-'66 era guitar boom and as a result is less commonly seen today than other similar Fender student models. The Bronco was announced in November 1967; with a neck dated January. '68, this one would be from an early production batch. In an amusing example of a Fender Factory production oddity, the neck stamp originally read "67" and was overstamped to "68"; the worker initially forgot to roll over the year on the rubber stamp. Perhaps it was one of the first days of the new year! At any rate with its treble-accented electronics and snappy vibrato, the Bronco is a different flavor in a lower-priced Fender. It is a well designed, user friendly instrument; a cool little gigging guitar, a relative bargain in a vintage Fender as well and a cool bit of Fullerton history.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This is a nice all-original and unaltered example, relatively clean overall with some minor dings and dents including light wear to the body edges and back of the neck. The B string saddle has a broad notch filed into the top this is not causing any buzzing issues. The high E tuner is a bit bent but fully functional. There is some wear to the first few frets but the guitar still plays well, complete with the original HSC. This is solid with some general wear and a stencil on the lid from a previous owner. Overall Excellent - Condition.
This is a very nice early example of CBS/Fender's final student electric of the 1960s, The Bronco. This little red pony is the hot rod of the bunch, essentially a one-pickup Mustang with a simplified vibrato, or if you prefer, a 24" scale Musicmaster with the pickup moved to the bridge position and added whammy. That is a much simpler design than the floating Mustang trem, built around a pivoting plate sprung from below but still quite functional. The saddles are cheap but effective stampings, adjustable for intonation but not individual height. The pickup is the same as Fender's other budget models, wired to tone and volume controls topped by fancy knobs also used on the solid-state Zodiac amplifiers.
Offered as a student-friendly set with a matching amp, the Bronco was fairly successful, but as it missed the '65-'66 era guitar boom and as a result is less commonly seen today than other similar Fender student models. The Bronco was announced in November 1967; with a neck dated January. '68, this one would be from an early production batch. In an amusing example of a Fender Factory production oddity, the neck stamp originally read "67" and was overstamped to "68"; the worker initially forgot to roll over the year on the rubber stamp. Perhaps it was one of the first days of the new year! At any rate with its treble-accented electronics and snappy vibrato, the Bronco is a different flavor in a lower-priced Fender. It is a well designed, user friendly instrument; a cool little gigging guitar, a relative bargain in a vintage Fender as well and a cool bit of Fullerton history.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 12 1/4 in. (31.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This is a nice all-original and unaltered example, relatively clean overall with some minor dings and dents including light wear to the body edges and back of the neck. The B string saddle has a broad notch filed into the top this is not causing any buzzing issues. The high E tuner is a bit bent but fully functional. There is some wear to the first few frets but the guitar still plays well, complete with the original HSC. This is solid with some general wear and a stencil on the lid from a previous owner. Overall Excellent - Condition.