Daiwa?

[papajoe222]

I've been looking into getting a Zillion, but they're just a bit out of my price range.  I was wondering, If I did a gear swap on a 100PH to 6.3:1 wouldn't I end up with basically a 100HA??? I mean, all the specs look the same except the gears. I can get that reel and those gears for about $50 less than the 100HA/   What do you Daiwa guys think? 

[Grantman83]

That should work fine. Previous generation zillions are going for ultra cheap now so you can get them for $180-200 which is an awesome deal

[Raul]

Gearing is interchangeable, you'll end up with the "wrong" spool color and markings but that's it.

[War Eagle 44]

I had a Zillion some years back, shortly after they were released, it was the HS model. I used it for a frog reel and it was great. I'm a Shimano guy now, back then I was still figuring out what tackle I liked best so I had rods from many manufacturers and reels from Shimano, Daiwa, Garcia, and Quantum. Though I haven't fished with a reel that wasn't a Shimano in at least 5 or 6 years now I still feel very confident in saying that Shimano and Daiwa are by far the top two tackle manufacturers. Their product lines are both excellent it simply comes down to the type of braking you prefer, (or it did for me at least) magnetic or centrifugal. Some guys are able to switch between both without causing any problems but I wasn't one of them. Going from one brand to the other quickly while out fishing often caused my casts to be off target or backlashes. Thus my decision to choose just one and stick with it. 

 

All the Daiwa baitcasters that I previously owned were great and as best I can remember I never had a single issue with any of them. I had a Pixy (yellow), Alphas, TDZ, Fuego, Zillion, and a Steez. The only one I kept was the Alphas because it was my favorite.

 

I think which ever direction you choose to go you'll be happy because Daiwa really hit a home run with the first gen Zillion line of reels. Anyone picking one up now at the reduced prices is really getting a smoking deal. Plus Daiwa reels have more aftermarket parts available for them that anyone else.  

[papajoe222]

I love my Daiwa reels ,but the low geared ones leave me wanting my Curado back. I prefer brakes over magnets for that application. I'm thinking that is why I can get the cranking model so much cheaper.

Thanks for the replies. I don t care what the reel appears to be as long as it lives. Up to the performance I've come to expect after the swap.