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I hate to be . . . but what exactly is a Vibrola?
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2005 4:25 pm
by tito
Yea. . .haha. I'm kinda new to the whole "accent vibrato". Could someone put it in plain english?
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2005 8:48 pm
by jwr2
I asked the same question ... since I am a bass player I had no idea what a "Vibrola" was ... I'll let the guitar experts chime in on this ...
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:24 pm
by dale_fortune
The Vibrola was Doc Kaufmann's invention in the mid-30's. It's a lo-tech by todays standards, vibrato/tremolo/whammy bar/etc. The 1st one was used on a Rickenbacker Bak-o-lite guitar in the 30's by Doc. It had a sewing machine motor mounted inside the body that attached to a cam like device that hooked to the vibrola arm and allowed the instrument to have a slow to fast vibrato effect that was controlled by a foot pedal much like a sewing machines speed was controlled. By it's self it wasn't much, very hard to keep the guitar in tune, but as a constant opperating device it worked great.
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:52 am
by jingle_jangle
This same basic feature, operated manually by a detachable whammy bar, was used on a number of Rickenbacker guitars in the late '50s, and is currently available on the C58 Lennon replica. It is tough to keep in tune, and works rather oddly--instead of the up-and-down motion of, for instance, a Bigsby vibrato, the Kaufman works side-to-side, leading to scratched guitar tops for the uninitiated.
John Hall once told me that when the Lennon replicas needed Kaufmans, a number of the parts were re-tooled and some were NOS, left over from original issues in the '50s!
The Accent is an entirely different animal, consisting of only three pieces (the Kaufman has about a dozen). There is a simple tailpiece, a spring steel connector which acts as the tensioner to absorb the force and return the strings to original tune, and a string anchor piece.
The Accent became available in the early '60s and is still made.
Both are brilliant designs, but Doc's should never have been adapted for guitar use.
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:17 pm
by tito
Paul-"The Accent is an entirely different animal"
Could you explain what the Accent is, and how it could be used? I still don't understand! Sorry
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 6:16 pm
by jingle_jangle
Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 6:16 am
by tito
Whoa, where do you go to get links like that?
So is this vibrato thing. . .is it like a whammy bar??!?!?!?!
Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:36 am
by jingle_jangle
1. Go to Rickenbacker's website.
2. Yes.
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 7:46 am
by sloop_john_b
Jeez...
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 11:51 am
by tito
What. . .
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:38 pm
by jingle_jangle
Hey...
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:09 pm
by ozover50
Who...
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:20 am
by jingle_jangle
Yo!
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:20 am
by jingle_jangle
... ...
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 8:21 am
by jingle_jangle
I passed 3000 and didn't realize it...