Where to begin with reel customization (Tatula SV)?

[Dirtyeggroll]

Here and there I see guys talking about switching out bearings, spools and accessories to "pimp out" there reels.

 

Where is a good place to start when thinking about these kinds of things? Where are good places to get parts? For the most part are these mods simple enough for everyday anglers to do without risking damage to the reels?

 

Specifically, I am interested in making some changes to a couple of Daiwa Tatula SV 8.1 reels. I'm not a huge fan of the purple. Moreover, I thought I read recently about someone make a simple (bearing?) upgrade which really improved the reel?

 

I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

[HazeRVA]

Been looking into this myself. For bearings, either Office ZPI or Hedgehog ZR. I've been looking at Hedgehog Studios, TackleTrap, and JapanTackle for parts, but with so many options my head is spinning haha.

[kschultz76]

Start with function over form upgrades. Have it professionally cleaned and supertuned as a starting point. Then upgrade spool bearings with the HH ZRs, then add bearings under the knobs to replace the plastic bushings, and while having it professionally cleaned add level wind bearings. Not all of those are required upgrades, and some of them will be barely noticeable on their own, but put it all together and the result is a really smooth and high performing reel in my experience with my Tatula SV. 

[Dirtyeggroll]

1 hour ago, kschultz76 said:

Start with function over form upgrades. Have it professionally cleaned and supertuned as a starting point. Then upgrade spool bearings with the HH ZRs, then add bearings under the knobs to replace the plastic bushings, and while having it professionally cleaned add level wind bearings. Not all of those are required upgrades, and some of them will be barely noticeable on their own, but put it all together and the result is a really smooth and high performing reel in my experience with my Tatula SV. 

^^This is a foreign language to me. Haha.^^

 

However, now I have something to learn about. Thanks.

[webertime]

There's the "I want a Ferrari" mentality with reel upgrades, and if you've got the coin and desire go for it.  I've got tuned Daiwas and all the good stuff myself.  However a pair of Boca Abec 5s is 99% as good as the Jdm bearings and all the other bearing voodoo.  Use cheaper Ebay bearings on things like drive shaft and worm gears (the don't spin fast enough to gain anything by using super bearings).  

 

Clean the reel deeply and lightly lube it.  The drags on tatulas and fuegos is fine as is, but a smooth drag is like $8.

 

Colored chi chi's well that's just for fun...   

 

 

PS I'll take the purple off your hands when the time comes.

[Dirtyeggroll]

9 minutes ago, webertime said:

There's the "I want a Ferrari" mentality with reel upgrades, and if you've got the coin and desire go for it.

 

 

PS I'll take the purple off your hands when the time comes.

Definitely not wanting a Ferrari out of Tat SV. I would probably wait to start with a Steez or SV103 to do that. Mostly just looking to make it match my all silver Tatula Elite rod a little better and maybe get a little more casting distance out of it for fishing deep structure.

[webertime]

Cleaning will get the distance.  Spool and brake profile will help too.  If it's silver stuff you want then go with hedgehog studios or any number of sellers on Alibaba or ebay.

[CrankFate]

4 hours ago, webertime said:

There's the "I want a Ferrari" mentality with reel upgrades, and if you've got the coin and desire go for it. 

It’s going to cost more than a Ferrari to make a regular car equal it’s performance. So start with either what you want to achieve or your budget.

 

Hawgtech bearings are probably the best bang for your buck here. The color is irrelevant to performance and will cost more than performance parts. But might make you feel better about everything and still be worth it at any price  

 

If you really want to spend money, go with colors you like and as many grams as you can prossibly take off of the scale.

 

The fish love that stuff.

 

[Dirtyeggroll]

6 minutes ago, CrankFate said:

It’s going to cost more than a Ferrari to make a regular car equal it’s performance. So start with either what you want to achieve or your budget.

 

Hawgtech bearings are probably the best bang for your buck here. The color is irrelevant to performance and will cost more than performance parts. But might make you feel better about everything and still be worth it at any price  

 

If you really want to spend money, go with colors you like and as many grams as you can prossibly take off of the scale.

 

The fish love that stuff.

 

I have no idea about what parts cosmetic or performance cost, so I have no reference as far as parts are concerned as to what is cheap vs. expensive.

[Basseditor]

I’ve spent the last couple hours looking at Hedge Hog and Office ZPI parts to change colors on my Daiwas to match some of my rods. 

 

I still don’t understand why I need to change my SV spool to the ZPI spool, which was recommended to me.

 

does anyone have a comparison of the HH and ZPI bearing oil? I don’t know what to get?

 

but I can see where I could “upgrade” parts and be in it as much as or more than the cost of the original reel? Spools 140, handle 100+, bearings, nuts, special drag star handle, etc. like the original poster, my head is spinning.

 

 

[LonnieP]

I’ve been thinking about putting Hedgehog ZR bearings in my SV. What can I expect performance wise?

[iabass8]

1 hour ago, LonnieP said:

I’ve been thinking about putting Hedgehog ZR bearings in my SV. What can I expect performance wise?

Better casting.

 

11 hours ago, basseditor said:

I’ve spent the last couple hours looking at Hedge Hog and Office ZPI parts to change colors on my Daiwas to match some of my rods. 

 

I still don’t understand why I need to change my SV spool to the ZPI spool, which was recommended to me.

 

does anyone have a comparison of the HH and ZPI bearing oil? I don’t know what to get?

 

but I can see where I could “upgrade” parts and be in it as much as or more than the cost of the original reel? Spools 140, handle 100+, bearings, nuts, special drag star handle, etc. like the original poster, my head is spinning.

 

 

You don't "need" to do any of it. Dress up parts are something we add to reels we really like and to set them apart. I have handles that cost more than some people's budget for reels. 

 

The ZPI NRC spool gets steller reviews. Once the color I want comes in, I'm getting one for a Steez A. 

 

Haven't used the ZPI oil but I do like the Hedgehog Alchemy long cast for spool bearings. 

[Stephen B]

Its all personal preference. If you do buy aftermarket parts, buy direct if possible or through whichever reel tech you go with. I just regularly maintain them through a quality reel tech and upgrade as needed. Go to a good reel tech and let them do there magic before buying spools. I have some ZPI Office bearings and they are quality bearings but no way would I pay for the ZPI spools, but that just me. 

 

DVT could add more information but I've been told by many people that it's recommended to use the bearing manufacturers oil as the oil was specifically designed for there bearings. I assume it has something to do with the matching of the viscosity of the oil in relation to the tolerances. 

[fishwizzard]

A drag upgrade is almost a no-brainer, I buy a lot of reels used and it's always the first thing I do.  Bearings can make a difference, but a good clean is about 80% of it, unless you are looking at BFS stuff, where I do believe the HH Air bearings make enough difference to be worth the money.  

[Stephen B]

14 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

A drag upgrade is almost a no-brainer, I buy a lot of reels used and it's always the first thing I do.  Bearings can make a difference, but a good clean is about 80% of it, unless you are looking at BFS stuff, where I do believe the HH Air bearings make enough difference to be worth the money.  

I tried the HH Airs but hated them. They were so noisy (Not in an amusing way like a DC) and gave my Curado 70 a gritty feeling compared to the stock bearings. I replaced them immediately. The jury is still out on the ZPIs which I will install tomorrow. 

[fishwizzard]

8 hours ago, Stephen B said:

I tried the HH Airs but hated them. They were so noisy (Not in an amusing way like a DC) and gave my Curado 70 a gritty feeling compared to the stock bearings. I replaced them immediately. The jury is still out on the ZPIs which I will install tomorrow. 

They are noisy for sure, but gritty makes it seem like they were defective?  I have two pairs, one in a Pixy and the other in a Alphas FC and they really improved casting at the extreme lower ends of both reels. 

[Chris at Tech]

I'd venture to say that 90% of the general fishing population would not notice a difference between a new out of the box reel and a supertuned/upgraded version of the same reel.

 

With that said, there are upgrades which are purely cosmetic (screws, bumpers...), performance upgrades that are somewhat helpful (supertuning, bearing upgrades, spool upgrades) and some that really do add value/performance (a deep cleaning, carbontex drags...)

 

The first thing I'd recommend when you look to do reel upgrades is to find yourself a trustworthy reel tech who will give you honest advice on which upgrades are worth it and which are not.  DVT and the Tackle Trap are two I've dealt with that I'd recommend.

[Stephen B]

1 hour ago, Chris at Tech said:

I'd venture to say that 90% of the general fishing population would not notice a difference between a new out of the box reel and a supertuned/upgraded version of the same reel.

 

With that said, there are upgrades which are purely cosmetic (screws, bumpers...), performance upgrades that are somewhat helpful (supertuning, bearing upgrades, spool upgrades) and some that really do add value/performance (a deep cleaning, carbontex drags...)

 

The first thing I'd recommend when you look to do reel upgrades is to find yourself a trustworthy reel tech who will give you honest advice on which upgrades are worth it and which are not.  DVT and the Tackle Trap are two I've dealt with that I'd recommend.

I definitely agree with you. Dan Isaac at Reelex, and DVT are great reel techs that I recommend. I tried to take an old Curado 200E7 apart for a deep cleaning back in the day apart and learned my lesson haha. I leave that to the professionals.

[CrankFate]

On 8/24/2018 at 10:12 PM, Dirtyeggroll said:

I have no idea about what parts cosmetic or performance cost, so I have no reference as far as parts are concerned as to what is cheap vs. expensive.

Well my Daiwa Tatula CT cost more than a Steez. So use that as a guide. 

 

 

On 8/25/2018 at 12:42 AM, BaitFinesse said:

Come join the dark side.  You'll like purple then.

 

[Big-Bass]

On 8/25/2018 at 12:42 AM, BaitFinesse said:

You just need a matching purple Megabass rod is all.  Come join the dark side.  You'll like purple then.

 

 

 

If you want to de-purple the Tat SV the spool tension knob and handle locking plate are an easy fix but I don't know where you can get another mag dial.

 

What Orochi XX do you have the IP68 on?  

[Dirtyeggroll]

Started browsing Japan Tackle. What can of worms have I opened!?!?

 

Does anyone have any resources on tips/tricks on replacing the handle knobs? Kind of seems like the just click together, but I don’t want to go wrenching on it and break anything.

[iabass8]

1 hour ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Started browsing Japan Tackle. What can of worms have I opened!?!?

 

Does anyone have any resources on tips/tricks on replacing the handle knobs? Kind of seems like the just click together, but I don’t want to go wrenching on it and break anything.

take the knob cap off and unscrew the handle screw from the handle. 

[jtesch]

Remember the Tat SV doesn’t have a free floating spool like most Daiwa reels. The spool shaft runs through the reel and a third bearing. Not saying bearings won’t improve the reel but I’d get the spool shaft polished as well. Honestly I cleaned the stock bearings and used a little Alchemy oil and it was a big improvement. Also not sure if there are screws on the handle knobs or if they use a rivet like s lot of Daiwa reels.