This article investigates the effectiveness of using a non-traditional vibration absorber for the purpose of simultaneous vibration suppression and energy harvesting. Unlike the commonly used vibration absorber in which the absorber damper is attached to the primary mass, the non-traditional vibration absorber under study has its damper connected between the absorber mass and the ground. In this article, an apparatus of such a configuration is developed. It consists of a primary system subjected to a ground excitation and the non-traditional vibration absorber whose frequency and damping can be tuned. An electro-magnetic device serves as both the absorber damper and the energy harvester. The optimum parameters of the vibration absorber are derived based on the classical “fixed-points” theory. The mechanism of the electro-magnetic damper is developed and its energy harvesting performance is investigated. The results are validated using both computer simulation and experiment. The study shows that when the vibration absorber is optimally tuned with respect to the frequency tuning ratio and load resistance, the frequency response function of the primary mass can be made near flat in a wider frequency band. It also demonstrates that the dual purpose of vibration suppression and energy harvesting can be achieved with the proposed absorber.