Firebird Tremolo: What's a good aftermarket Vibrola?
Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 12:53 am
I have a Firebird kit that I want to put together and think of installing a Vibrola unit instead of the hardtail piece. Read a lot about it online and it seems as if it is pretty difficult to get it right - the break angle behind the bridge is critical and varies quite a bit between the available vibrolas
The Gibson original is just too expensive for a Firebird kit build - 259eur from crazyparts.de for example ... that's more than the whole kit has cost so far also - I read a lot about complaints that the Gibson unit too has/had a too shallow break angle - especially units solds around 2005-2010?
Allparts and WD sell a Vibrola unit but only in nickel/gold (not chrome) - also conflicting reports about working fine and being inferior from build quality.. they go for 90-120eur on ebay
Montreux also has a Vibrola unit but there's not too much info online about it and also it is hard to get - they do not seem to have a good distribution in Europe (they are a japanese company afaik) & I can't find a dealer that has that item in their shops..
Funnily enough there are also several Vibrola clones on aliexpress - I would've considered them if they were significantly cheaper but they are around 80-100eur too so.. meh, not really an option.
Anyone tried those units mentioned? Any advice what to get and what not?
Yes Vibrolas tend to be inferior to Bigsby and the Jazzmaster trem but I just can't get the image of a Firebird VII with 3 pickups + Vibrola out of my head
The Gibson original is just too expensive for a Firebird kit build - 259eur from crazyparts.de for example ... that's more than the whole kit has cost so far also - I read a lot about complaints that the Gibson unit too has/had a too shallow break angle - especially units solds around 2005-2010?
Allparts and WD sell a Vibrola unit but only in nickel/gold (not chrome) - also conflicting reports about working fine and being inferior from build quality.. they go for 90-120eur on ebay
Montreux also has a Vibrola unit but there's not too much info online about it and also it is hard to get - they do not seem to have a good distribution in Europe (they are a japanese company afaik) & I can't find a dealer that has that item in their shops..
Funnily enough there are also several Vibrola clones on aliexpress - I would've considered them if they were significantly cheaper but they are around 80-100eur too so.. meh, not really an option.
Anyone tried those units mentioned? Any advice what to get and what not?
Yes Vibrolas tend to be inferior to Bigsby and the Jazzmaster trem but I just can't get the image of a Firebird VII with 3 pickups + Vibrola out of my head