Where are current Abu round reels made?

[Cgolf]

I got an old black max 3600 for 10 bucks at an estate sale and on vaca I put it on a rod to try it on a session and switch to a more modern reel for the next session. Well it never came off the rod and it was a very solid reel and I found I really liked the feel of round reel.

, especially where my thumb rests. The black max like my C3 musky reels were made in Sweden. The new Abu round reels, are they sourced from the same place as their other baitcasters or are they still made in Sweden?

[jimmyjoe]

   Take this with a grain of salt:

 

   1) All "S" series round reels are made in China out of Chinese parts.

   2) On the ABU Garcia website, the Ambassadeur Pro Rocket BE and the Ambassadeur 100th Anniversary models have a subscript "Made in Sweden". As far as I could see, none of the others do.

   3) However, Tackle Warehouse lists the Beast, C3 and C4 series as "Made in Sweden".

   4) I would e-mail ABU Garcia for better information, including where individual parts are manufactured.         jj

[Cgolf]

6 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

   Take this with a grain of salt:

 

   1) All "S" series round reels are made in China out of Chinese parts.

   2) On the ABU Garcia website, the Ambassadeur Pro Rocket BE and the Ambassadeur 100th Anniversary models have a subscript "Made in Sweden". As far as I could see, none of the others do.

   3) However, Tackle Warehouse lists the Beast, C3 and C4 series as "Made in Sweden".

   4) I would e-mail ABU Garcia for better information, including where individual parts are manufactured.         jj

Thanks, my C3s are 10 plus years old. The reason I was curious was that I wasn’t pleased with my recent S, SX, and STX reels, they were inconsistent in performance. I don’t hate them but I have used better. The C3s and the black max are amazing reels. Now I wish I would have bought more C3s back in the day when they were even cheap too:)

[bulldog1935]

No question your Revos were made in Korea by Doyo, next to Lew's and ZPI Alcance.  

 

  

 

They're a completely different animal from a C3 and will outperform the latter even in race form.  

 

[redmeansdistortion]

S, SX, STX, and BCX are made in China. The 7000 is made in Taiwan.  C3, C4, CS, and Morrum are made in Sweden.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

I was always wondering why the BCX I have sucks so bad. Now I know! 

[Cgolf]

6 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

No question your Revos were made in Korea by Doyo, next to Lew's and ZPI Alcance.  

 

  

 

They're a completely different animal from a C3 and will outperform the latter even in race form.  

 

For me my C3s and Black max outperform my Revos. The Revos aren’t junk by any means but I was disappointed for what I paid. I have older and much cheaper reels that outperform them in all areas except casting distance. Most of the newer reels outdistance the older reels so this isn’t surprising. 

 

4 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

S, SX, STX, and BCX are made in China. The 7000 is made in Taiwan.  C3, C4, CS, and Morrum are made in Sweden.

 

 

Thanks and this is a bummer because the made in Sweden reels are swimbait/musky sized reels. Maybe I do a search for more black max 3600s but I doubt they would be in the same shape as the one I got this year. 

[bulldog1935]

I'm having a blast with my raced-out 1500C and 4600C3 - either one with short rods will throw 1/8 oz past 80'

40 years ago, I was fishing Ambassadeurs with weightless rigs and spiral cast.    

The ZPI Alcance with magnesium/titanium spool probably isn't a fair comparison, but I'm more impressed with it than Daiwa Zillion and Steez, and I dig all these reels

Clearly, you use them for different reasons, set up to cast where you plan to fish them.  

My Ambassadeurs are really for fishing close - the other 3, a range of lures over distance.  

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, bulldog1935 said:

I'm having a blast with my raced-out 1500C and 4600C3 - either one with short rods will throw 1/8 oz past 80'

40 years ago, I was fishing Ambassadeurs with weightless rigs and spiral cast.    

The ZPI Alcance with magnesium/titanium spool probably isn't a fair comparison, but I'm more impressed with it than Daiwa Zillion and Steez, and I dig all these reels

Clearly, you use them for different reasons, set up to cast where to plan to fish them.  

My Ambassadeurs are really for fishing close - the other 3, a range of lures over distance.  

 

Yeh the revos are mostly for moving baits and same with the round reels. For me all up close plastics I use spinning reels. When I fish in reed beds with moving baits both the round and the revos perform fine on shorter pitches or roll casts. My issues with the revos are that they just aren't as smooth as other reels which has surprised me. Like I said they aren't pulled from my lineup like my pfluger president spinning reels, I just had higher expectations for the price points.

[WRB]

Since 2000 Abu Ambassador round reels use gears and other parts made in China assembled in the Abu factory in Sweden.

The special higher reels are made in Sweden.

Pre 2000 Abu reels we made in Sweden and valuable today for parts and super tuning.

The issue with all Chinese made products is use of counterfeit parts and sub quality materials without inspection, false certs.

It’s  a crap shoot. 

Lots of good after market parts for the Abu reel available today.

[Cgolf]

3 minutes ago, WRB said:

Since 2000 Abu Ambassador round reels use gears and other parts made in China assembled in the Abu factory in Sweden.

The special higher reels are made in Sweden.

Pre 2000 Abu reels we made in Sweden and valuable today for parts and super tuning.

The issue with all Chinese made products is use of counterfeit parts and sub quality materials without inspection, false certs.

It’s  a crap shoot. 

Lots of good after market parts for the Abu reel available today.

 

I will look for some more Black Maxs on ebay. It has to be a pre 2000 reel and it is just awsome once you get used to how heavy it is. The only thing I need to update on it is the paddles as the rubber is slighlty sticky and and keeps the reel from feeling silky smooth. Adding oil to the paddles helps, but pretty much need to do it each trip. Just having a comfortable place to set my thumb while using the reel makes all the difference in the world. With low profile baitcasters I find my thumb sometimes resting lightly on the spool as I reel in.

[redmeansdistortion]

5 hours ago, cgolf said:

 

I will look for some more Black Maxs on ebay. It has to be a pre 2000 reel and it is just awsome once you get used to how heavy it is. The only thing I need to update on it is the paddles as the rubber is slighlty sticky and and keeps the reel from feeling silky smooth. Adding oil to the paddles helps, but pretty much need to do it each trip. Just having a comfortable place to set my thumb while using the reel makes all the difference in the world. With low profile baitcasters I find my thumb sometimes resting lightly on the spool as I reel in.

Look for one in the 1600 size too, the Black Max is a great reel.  The drag stack in it is the same as a 4000 to 6000 size Ambassadeur.  The handles and star wheels are also cross compatible.  If you want faster gears, the 6.3 set from the SMax is a drop in replacement.  Lastly, experiment with the brake blocks.  Abu makes 3 different kinds.  From heaviest to lightest, there are white, black, and blue.  You can mix and match them according to your tastes.  My Black Max 1600 will throw a true 1/8 comfortably with the blue blocks installed. 

 

There are a few reels that use that same platform; Black Max, Pro Max, Silver Max (sold as SM or SMax), and the Tournament Pro.  The Tournament Pro was a Bass Pro Shops exclusive and has a different line guide.  Other than that, those models are all the same internally and parts will readily swap between them.  These reels were all sold with a lifetime warranty and every single part can still be sourced from Abu Garcia.

 

Here's a great article you may find informative: http://www.realsreels.com/servicing/servicingtuningABUBlackMax.html