2ndhandband
New member
I modded my Firebird some months ago with an aftermarket Crazyparts short vibrola. I was a little nervous because they have a bit of a reputation for tuning stability issues but I really love the way the guitar sounds and feels, I want to gig it, and when I'm playing a hartail guitar I'm always reaching for the bar and wishing it was there. I tried a stetsbar but found it to be a tremendous tone-suck so I finally decided to take a chance on a vibrola. Here are my thoughts in no particular order:
1) If you are having tuning stability issues it is NOT the vibrola's fault. The strings are either hanging up in the bridge or the nut.
2) Get a roller bridge. The Wilkinson works perfectly and doesn't suck tone. After installing that and lubing the nut I have been unable to knock this guitar out of tune.
3) This might just be the most maintenance-free vibrato tailpiece on the planet. The only moving part is the bar.
4) It has much more range going down than a Bigsby. You can't quite dive-bomb but it's enough for 95% of what I do with a bar. It also has some upbend.
5) Come to think of it, it's superior to a Bigsby in every way.
6) It actually enhanced the tone! It shouldn't have been a surprise that replacing a light aluminum stop tailpiece with a heavy chunk of rolled steel would have an effect.
7) Due to the design, it twists a little when you actuate the bar so the treble strings move more than the bass. This is good! It takes a greater change in tension to change the pitch of the thinner strings. Therefore the pitch change on one of these is much more even across the strings than on any other design. Using the bar on chords sounds much more in tune than it does on anything else I've used.
8) There are two aftermarket manufacturers making vibrolas. DO NOT buy the one from allparts! Sadly that is the one gibson uses for the reissues but it is kind of a piece of crap (I won't detail the road I traveled discovering this). You want the one from Crazyparts. It's a bit more $$$ but worth it. Also, my vibrola came with a pack of Gummy Bears because Germans are awesome.
In summary, I can't recommend these enough... it's my new favorite whammy.
1) If you are having tuning stability issues it is NOT the vibrola's fault. The strings are either hanging up in the bridge or the nut.
2) Get a roller bridge. The Wilkinson works perfectly and doesn't suck tone. After installing that and lubing the nut I have been unable to knock this guitar out of tune.
3) This might just be the most maintenance-free vibrato tailpiece on the planet. The only moving part is the bar.
4) It has much more range going down than a Bigsby. You can't quite dive-bomb but it's enough for 95% of what I do with a bar. It also has some upbend.
5) Come to think of it, it's superior to a Bigsby in every way.
6) It actually enhanced the tone! It shouldn't have been a surprise that replacing a light aluminum stop tailpiece with a heavy chunk of rolled steel would have an effect.
7) Due to the design, it twists a little when you actuate the bar so the treble strings move more than the bass. This is good! It takes a greater change in tension to change the pitch of the thinner strings. Therefore the pitch change on one of these is much more even across the strings than on any other design. Using the bar on chords sounds much more in tune than it does on anything else I've used.
8) There are two aftermarket manufacturers making vibrolas. DO NOT buy the one from allparts! Sadly that is the one gibson uses for the reissues but it is kind of a piece of crap (I won't detail the road I traveled discovering this). You want the one from Crazyparts. It's a bit more $$$ but worth it. Also, my vibrola came with a pack of Gummy Bears because Germans are awesome.
In summary, I can't recommend these enough... it's my new favorite whammy.
