1940, short for vibraphone; attested from 1967 as an abbreviated form of vibration in the 1960s slang sense of "instinctive feeling." Related: Vibes.
Entries linking to vibe
vibraphone n.
1926, a hybrid from vibrato + -phone.
vibration n.
1650s, from Latin vibrationem (nominative vibratio) "a shaking, a brandishing," noun of action from past participle stem of vibrare "set in tremulous motion" (from PIE root *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically"). Meaning "intuitive signal about a person or thing" was popular late 1960s, but has been recorded as far back as 1899. Related: Vibrational.