Old school Shimano stradics

[Bassnajr]

Hello all...

I just came upon 2 Shimano Stradic 4000 reels...old school with the pearl finish. I have been told that these are sought after and quite valuable. Both are in great shape. Comments? Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

[NOC 1]

3 minutes ago, Bassnajr said:

Hello all...

I just came upon 2 Shimano Stradic 4000 reels...old school with the pearl finish. I have been told that these are sought after and quite valuable. Both are in great shape. Comments? Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

not trying to be a wise guy, but what do YOU think of them. It really doesn't matter who is seeking them if you don't car for them.

[georgeyew]

25 minutes ago, Bassnajr said:

Hello all...

I just came upon 2 Shimano Stradic 4000 reels...old school with the pearl finish. I have been told that these are sought after and quite valuable. Both are in great shape. Comments? Opinions?

Thanks in advance!

I have a friend that had a couple. He loved them. The lasted him about 15 years and was still super smooth. But it got to the point that the replacement parts were getting hard to find. He had buy damaged reels to strip them for parts. He sold them for a premium a couple of years ago.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

There were at least 2 white straidc I know.  The FJ with the black handle was the newer model.  I cant remember if the older with the wooden handle is called the FI,FE, FA something with an F lol.  As far as value goes im not so sure about them being worth a lot of money.  There not old enough to be vintage and not new enough to be modern.  At the time when they came out they were great especially for the price.  I still see people using them quite often which is a testament to the build quality .  Even though they great reels being close to 20 years old parts are going to fail sooner or later depending on how you maintain them.  I see parts on ebay ranging from fair to unreasonably high.  If you were planning on buying them to fish with I would suggest getting a reel is currently in production.

48 minutes ago, georgeyew said:

I have a friend that had a couple. He loved them. The lasted him about 15 years and was still super smooth. But it got to the point that the replacement parts were getting hard to find. He had buy damaged reels to strip them for parts. He sold them for a premium a couple of years ago.

My buddy had 3 of them.  Somehow he bent the spool shaft and when he took it to get worked on dude told him there was no way to get a new one to fix it.  So hes just going to use the broken reel for spare parts in the future.

[Bassnajr]

NOC 1

I like them...good quality. They are a bit heavy. A friend had a 2500 that I used for a while...also very nice and a good bit smaller.

These are 4000 FE made in Japan...

Forgot ro mention that...

.

[Guitarfish]

I've got (2) Stradic 3000's, (1) 2000, (3) 1000's, and (1) Sustain 1000.  ALL with the wooden handle.  ALL working fine.

 

I'm easy on my stuff,  I only catch little fish.

[NOC 1]

6 hours ago, Bassnajr said:

NOC 1

I like them...good quality. They are a bit heavy. A friend had a 2500 that I used for a while...also very nice and a good bit smaller.

These are 4000 FE made in Japan...

Forgot ro mention that...

.

I'm sure that they are excellent quality. I am generally a big fan of the top drawer reels made back then. i never had one of those, but I know that Shimano and Daiwa were both making reels the quality of which they cannot make today at a price that anyone would buy. IMO the 1990's and early 2000's were the pinnacle of quality builds.

 

The guys warning of dwindling parts supplies do have a point. But, then again, I have at least a dozen reels from back then that I use all the time and somehow I've always managed to find parts. Eventually maybe there will just be none at all, but right now it is just expensive or inconvenient and sometimes both.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

6 hours ago, Guitarfish said:

I've got (2) Stradic 3000's, (1) 2000, (3) 1000's, and (1) Sustain 1000.  ALL with the wooden handle.  ALL working fine.

 

I'm easy on my stuff,  I only catch little fish.

I was 12 or 13 when the wooden handled ones came out.  $120 was a lot of money as a kid, so we would buy a 4k and use it for everything.  They held up surprisingly well given the circumstances. When you fish almost everyday with the same reel you're more likely to have issues caused by wear.  If the workload is shared between 3 or 4 reels your much less likely to have problems.  Having said that I didn't have any problems with mine other then bail separating from the bail assembly and the roller bearing wearing out every year.     

[J Francho]

I have a 1000 with a wood handle.  Love it.

[Bassnajr]

I have also been told that these reels were made in the USA and Japan but the Japanese versions are better built and more desired by collectors and fishermen alike.

[J Francho]

I don’t think any were ever made in the US. 

[Bassnajr]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

I don’t think any were ever made in the US. 

Good to know...

[jimmyjoe]

5 hours ago, Bassnajr said:

I have also been told that these reels were made in the USA and Japan but the Japanese versions are better built and more desired by collectors and fishermen alike.

 

   What you probably heard is that some were made FOR the US market, and some for the Japanese market. And yes, when that happens there are some that are more desirable to collectors.

   That does NOT mean that the same ones are more desirable for fishing. Some JDM merchandise is built better than the USDM merchandise, but some of the USDM stuff is better than the JDM stuff. Just depends. Alan Hawk has stated that the JDM Daiwa BG and Shimano Spheros have what he calls "inferior gearing" compared to the USDM models. Hawk reviews spinning gear only; I doubt that the spinning reels are the only merchandise that have this sort of differences, although I could be wrong.

   Simply proof of good advice: Don't buy blindly.         jj

[5/0]

I have the 1000 FG and the 2500 FH. I believe both are close to 20 yrs old. Both a still ticking. As has been mentioned parts will be hard to find. Mine were serviced last year and was told they were in good shape. So far the only problem I had was the spacers for even line lay. I misplaced the ones that came with the reels so I used ones that came with a Sedona and Sahara I bought around the same time. I’ll use them until they give up the ghost.

[FishTank]

I have an FJ 2500 and it needs some TLC but it's still going.   I don't know about valuable though.  The condition will definitely effect the value and the fact that they are 4000's makes them a little big for bass fishing but not unusable. 

[Jaybert]

I still use my 1000 with wood handle.  Have the receipt and box from purchase in 1997, first good reel I bought as a teen.  It’s been a rock solid piece of my arsenal over 20 years. Last year I sent it to shimano for a full clean and service, put in new carbon drag washers polished the exterior all up and put it back to work.  It landed my biggest smallie last year and my wife caught our biggest so far this year on that reel. these are an example of old school shimano made in Japan quality. I Have a 2500 FH pearl white 15 seasons or so old and going strong too.  I have new stradic ci4s that are great reels.  But I never hesitate to pick these old ones up of the deck either. Buy em if you like em I say.  

[Bassnajr]

On 8/28/2020 at 9:24 PM, FishTank said:

I have an FJ 2500 and it needs some TLC but it's still going.   I don't know about valuable though.  The condition will definitely effect the value and the fact that they are 4000's makes them a little big for bass fishing but not unusable. 

The spool says 8lb 10lb 12lb line approximates. I thought they were a bit big as well but very sturdy.

[fvogel67]

Love my Stradic FJ

one of the best reels I’ve ever bought.

The old made in Japan Symetres FG and FH are also rock solid.

 

[Randy Price]

Had the 2000 for years.  Bought new in '98 I believe.  After years of trouble free service I gave it to a friend that diesn't fish much.  I was worried about parts availability so I bought a new (at that time) Stradic Ci4+.

 

[OnthePotomac]

Here is a good one.  In  October,1996 I was getting into bass fishing and not knowing what I was doing I bought a Stradic 4000 FE for $120 from a tiny tackle shop.  I used it a half dozen times (my only spinning reel) realized it was too big for me, switched to a Sahara 2500 and put the 4000 away in its original box (with the free extra spool) and there it sat until last year when I decided to put it to use again.  Lubed it up and checked everything and it is back in business.  Needless to say it fishes like a new reel LOL.  The only problem I have is turning down offers to buy it.  I had completely forgotten it came with a free spare spool.