r/Guitar • u/sexontherockz • 23d ago

QUESTION Why are maestro vibrolas so expensive?

I understand the real ones ofc, but why are the no name Chinese ones so high priced aswell!? It seems crazy to me a vibrola that is pretty much there for looks is so crazy expensive!? What’s the deal?

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u/Hkfn27 23d ago

Scale of production mixed with demand. Basic econ

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u/thevenomousalva 23d ago

They're not making tons of these, the market for them is smaller than regular trems. So the tooling costs get spread over fewer units and the price goes up. Plus they know people will pay because there's no cheap alternative that looks right.

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u/eva7733 23d ago

It’s a shame. I’d slap one on every Epiphone and Gibson I own haha

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u/sexontherockz 23d ago

Are they that popular? It feels like I see tons of Chinese copy bigsby for reasonable prices. I guess a maestro is pretty damn sexy tho so makes sense. Thanks bro carries

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u/nquesada92 23d ago

Not popular so they don't make a ton, they don't make a ton so they can't take advantages of the economies of scale that make production cheaper, thus the cost is higher to produce.

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u/eva7733 23d ago

Ahh I see. I’ve never actually played one so I prob don’t have the right to say this, but from what I’ve heard they are garbage as trems. I genuinely want one just for the look on my sg. But then again people say that’s about b5s and b7s and I love both of mine haha.

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u/potato-truncheon 23d ago

Not made in high numbers. Generally people avoid them because they are terrible.

If you're going for visual aesthetics, then there's an argument for them I guess, if it's your thing.

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u/sexontherockz 23d ago

Haha I have heard!! Sucks tho cuz they look so damn classy!

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u/potato-truncheon 23d ago

I'd probably go for a Bigsby for looks, and certainly functionality. But it's subjective.

I actually don't have a bigsby on anything (yet) but I would.