Abu fans

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Abu garcia no longer produces the 4600 size reels and of course the 4500...

This took a while as abu kept sending me links to buy other abus

 

[bulldog1935]

Factory tuned reels are in production, along with 2500CI.  

30,000 of these are going first to Japan before being reintroduced here.  

https://japantackle.com/casting-reels/abu/reg0000344.html

 

https://japantackle.com/casting-reels/abu/reg0000338.html 

 

https://www.purefishing.jp/product/abugarcia/ambassadeur-4500c4501c5500c5501c6500c6501c-factory-tuned.html

 

The thing is, they're so easy to work on, and so many great aftermarket parts are made for them, older reels are begging for you to upgrade them.  

[Maxximus Redneckus]

I upgrade mine as well that one u got looks great I love them i have about 170 of them..all diff variations..c3c4c5 ca cb c ...i guess the revo  took over in that class same amount of line ..i can do it all with the 4600 ..bass to striper 

That  handle who makes that 

[bulldog1935]

I found a coup in Japan - NS Akios barstock LW frame for my bench-made 6500CS Rocket, casting lures in surf on PE#2 X-braid (set-up backlash-proof with Avail internal mag brake - 9 BB on spool and LW).  

 

 

@Stale KracKer handles - Whiplash Factory on my CS Rocket, Haneda Craft on my '77 4500C bench reel in my first post   I like Haneda Craft handles.  

  1500CI

4600C Express

Avail handle on my 5500CT NLW

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Love them man them frames they stopped making i do believe 

[bulldog1935]

The Akios barstock frames were made in two limited runs (first run included 5500), and they left the parts business, now selling only completed reels.  

The barstock frames have limited application because of the Akios 73-mm-long foot.  Takes a custom split reel seat (L3 >70mm), or saddle bands on a long surf/tournament rod.  

custom 8' 2-hand rod..........................................................................14' rod

 

But they drop the spool 8 mm closer to the rod than the stock Abu frames.  

The Zzeta frames are a bit easier to match with a 68-mm foot.  

Of course only Akios made LW barstock frames.  

 

The top guide bar also had freeplay because of diameter and key clearance in the end brackets.  I solved that with square-section o-rings and the socket-flatheads, which I could torque to compress the o-rings - filled the gaps and centered the guide bar rock-solid.  

It's noteworthy my LW 6500CS Rocket will cast light lures to the same distance as my NLW 6500CT, both using the 8' 2-hand rod.  

Though 5500CT and 4500CT (only Zzeta makes 4500 frame) stand apart for extreme distance.  Here's my 6.3-geared 4500CT on 8'9" shore micro-jigging rod.  

[redmeansdistortion]

Japan gets all the highly sought after Abus because the market there is still very large compared to other countries.  The 4000 size was discontinued here because it was eating into sales of the Revo.  I myself am waiting on availability of the 4500C FT that's due to release this month.  Japan still even gets the Cardinal 3/33/33x spinner, built by Abu in Japan but marketed by Daysprout.  People here know this reel as the Zebco Cardinal 3.  The newer variants are slightly upgraded from the old as well; now with 2 driveshaft bearings plus a braid friendly line roller.  They typically release them later in the year in limited runs and range in price from $350 on up depending if it's a CDL (24k gold accents) or not.

[bulldog1935]

@redmeansdistortion - you have some nice reels to show-and-tell here also, bro.  (photos are the stuff of internet forums)

[redmeansdistortion]

[Eric 26]

@redmeansdistortion @bulldog1935

[bulldog1935]

13 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Japan gets all the highly sought after Abus because the market there is still very large compared to other countries. ...

Japan has a fishing sub culture built around Abu round reels, from stream trout and bass, to inshore, surf and offshore.  Of course, you know all this.  Avail has been making Ambassadeur aftermarket parts since 1985.  In addition to BFS, drive and trim upgrades, they make lightweight offset frames to lower the small-frame Ambassadeurs on a straight-seat rod.  

 

Japanese also make a range of rods with offset reel seats just for round reels.  Some are offered as 1-pc rods, and many more offered as separate handles and matching rod blades.  They all interchange between the different Japan rod and handle makers, using a common 12-mm butt ferrule that's the Japan standard. 

Here's a range of handles offered by Smith (in magnesium) and Bright River (aluminum).  Other makers include Frog Products, APHL, Dowluck, Sam Lures, Scream, Line Slack, Robelson. 

   

 

Unlikely to find these at Digitaka, though Asian Portal does a good job of stocking Smith - they're mostly snapped up by Japan lure shops, and most sold in advance when a batch is announced.  

When batches hit the market, they normally sell out quickly. The Robelson offset handle is composite carbon+resin and very lightweight, but they're hens' teeth since the last 2021 batch.  

You can buy rod blades to fit the handles that range from multipiece UL stream pack rods to 8' 1-pc shore rods. 

Here's another good-looking lightweight handle/blade from Sam Lures, Light Trip 55L.J-ESCH, sounds like a stream rod, and looking all over Japan and Yahoo, couldn't find one remaining in stock - even had my Japan broker searching for me.  I googled one in-stock listing and he called, but no stock.  

[Maxximus Redneckus]

Niceee i love that short straight handle ..thks for this epic eyecandy now to find and see how deep my pockets can get lol

[WRB]

On 7/14/2023 at 5:09 AM, Stale KracKer said:

Abu garcia no longer produces the 4600 size reels and of course the 4500...

This took a while as abu kept sending me links to buy other abus

 

Not getting into the weeds on this but ABU hasn’t been mfg 2500, 4500 or 4600 reels since 2000, production reels were sent to S.Korea and China.

Pre 2000 ABU’s became a sought after item for the original ABU reel parts the now vintage reels.

This thread reminds of the vintage car racers rebuilding and  modifying the older cars.

Bulldog1935 has a fabulous reel collection.

Tom

[Maxximus Redneckus]

9 minutes ago, WRB said:

Not getting into the weeds on this but ABU hasn’t been mfg 2500, 4500 or 4600 reels since 2000, production reels were sent to S.Korea and China.

Pre 2000 ABU’s became a sought after item for the original ABU reel parts the now vintage reels.

This thread reminds of the vintage car racers rebuilding and  modifying the older cars.

Bulldog1935 has a fabulous reel collection.

Tom

Ive bought plenty of 4600c3 up until last yr now they are not produced in sweden only the 6k and 5k size round reels are made in sweden ..i already know the 4500s havent been made in a while some countrys had special runs in the 90s..

Oops morrums are still made in sweden...

[WRB]

5 minutes ago, Stale KracKer said:

Ive bought plenty of 4600c3 up until last yr now they are not produced in sweden only the 6k and 5k size round reels are made in sweden ..i already know the 4500s havent been made in a while some countrys had special runs in the 90s..

Oops morrums are still made in sweden...

You know but the average buyer of these reels still believe the ABU reels are all made in Sweden.

Tom

[Maxximus Redneckus]

5 minutes ago, WRB said:

You know but the average buyer of these reels still believe the ABU reels are all made in Sweden.

Tom

Yup ..made in china sticker on reel feet..engineered in sweden...all i know is Ebay gonna get busy next pay day..lol

[bulldog1935]

@WRB and @Stale KracKer

The nice thing about kayak fishing, can't normally take out more than 3 rigged rods (plus a back-up in the hold).  

However, I cover a lot of niches from hill country headwaters to inshore and surf.  

That includes stream, bass, bass finesse, inshore, inshore finesse, surf and shore finesse.  

 

My Japan shopping goes back 20 years to fly tackle for those hill country headwaters, and also inshore.   

 

Ambassadeur and I go back to 1977, inshore, surf and reservoir bass, though I became a Lew's Speed Spool junkie in the mid-80s, and that lasted 30 years.   

[Eric 26]

And because of my current financial situation this is why I’m not looking at getting into round reels? But in all seriousness I’m truly grateful for all of you guys that keep posts like this one active as I truly love seeing all of ?….this?

[redmeansdistortion]

Some Ambassadeurs are still in fact made in Sweden; the 4000 through 6000 sizes bearing the C, C3, C4, and CS nomenclature are manufactured in Svangsta.  The S, SX, and BCX variants are made in China and are very much inferior to what's made in Sweden.  While they appear similar to the Swedish reels on the outside, they are far different under the hood.  The 7000 reels with the exception of the 7000C Compact are now made in Taiwan and are just as reliable as their former Swedish made counterparts from what I've seen thus far.  They still put out a lot of true gems but we simply don't get them here due to market demands on our side of the world.

[optimator]

I still have my first baitcaster. A 4600cb that I bought in 85 or 86. It’s well worn but still keeps chugging along.

[bulldog1935]

21 hours ago, Stale KracKer said:

Niceee i love that short straight handle ..thks for this epic eyecandy now to find and see how deep my pockets can get lol

In addition to Avail, AMO makes their version of the 1500C and 2500C stamped alloy sheet frames that lower the spool 7 mm closer to the rod.  The AMO version is about $75 cheaper, unless you find a sale price on the Avail JDM version.  

Replacing the stock plated-brass frames, these drop an instant ounce from the reel.  With the other brass-to-alloy-swap parts Avail offers, you can get a 2500C down to 6 oz, and a 1500C to just under.  

[TnRiver46]

I want all of this 

[bowhunter63]

Love these Round Reels. Have a few but not like those 

[redmeansdistortion]

On 7/16/2023 at 10:56 AM, bulldog1935 said:

With the other brass-to-alloy-swap parts Avail offers, you can get a 2500C down to 6 oz, and a 1500C to just under.  

This guy weighs a whole 6.2 oz.  I'm sure I could get to that 6 oz mark using an Avail handle and knobs, but I much prefer the classic looks of the Haneda Craft handle.  This is my main creek fishing reel, running one 3mm magnet and a pair of 2mm.  It matches up well with the Graywolf 4'11" it's sitting on.  The whole combo comes in at 8.8 oz.

 

[Mobasser]

I'm an ABU fan. I still use a 4600c that's over 20 yrs old.