Revo Premier

[South FLA]

Got my new Revo Premier, yesterday and couldn't wait to try it out today. First thing I noticed was the weight, or should I say lack of weight.  I was a little hesitant at first to purchase a low profile Abu, since previous Abu offerings had less than tight tolerances when compared to ........hmmmm... SHIMANO.

Since I have been hearing such great things about the Revo series I thought I'd give Abu's flagship low profile offering a try.  Went out to my Peacock Bass spot with it mounted to my custom 6' Med Fast Action G.Loomis Slate since my St. Croix Avid's from Reeds haven't arrived yet :-/.   Started out with the the the magnetic brake set in the middle and the tension knob adjusted just strong enough to barely have the Yo_Zuri live bait minnow hit the ground.  First cast BACKLASH, what the heck I thought I never get a backlash  8-).  Needless to say I blamed it on the wind. After that it was pure fishing ecstasy.  I got use to the adjustments and was soon casting as far or further than my Shimano Scorpion 1000 with a variety of lures, light and heavy.  I liked the positive audible clicks on the drag, magnetic brake, and tension knob.  I thought the handle felt a bit short, but I just might be me since I have larger handles on my Shimanos.  I also wish the reel handles were mounted on bearings and were a bit more grippy, but that's just nitpicking.  The drag is nowhere near 20+ lbs. as the Revo STX, its more like 10 lbs, but for bassing its more than enough.  Lastly, the reel's low profile palmed nicely.  Overall, the reel performed wonderfully and I would bet that the difference between Shimano's Curado or Daiwa's Fuego compared to the Revo Premier is negligible.  Oh, I also caught some scrappy peacocks that tested the smooth drag.  Below are some pictures.  

[Jake.]

I have been very pleased with all my Revos, great reels.

BTW, cool pic. 8-)

[Micro]

SHWEET! Pretty rod, reel and fish!

BTW (don't want to get off topic, but), how are Yo-Zuri lures?  Seen 'em, but never bought one.

[LakeAnnaBasser]

Nice Review

[Jeff H]

Don't own one, but have handled them a few times.  The weight, compared to my SX (or any other reel I own), blows my mind. I'm hoping I'll own one by next spring.  

[South FLA]

SHWEET! Pretty rod, reel and fish!

BTW (don't want to get off topic, but), how are Yo-Zuri lures?  Seen 'em, but never bought one.

Have only tried Yo-Zuri vibes which I love and their live bait series.  One day I was slamming them with the Vibe while my brother had no luck with the traditional rattle trap.  

I really like the live bait series, since they don't chip or  break on the coral rock which is all over the place down here in S. Florida canals.  My favorite is the live minnow series.  Also, I said pictures above and only posted one below is the other.

[shimanogloomis man]

yea ill see what these abus r all about i just bought a stx off someone brand new so i want to see how they do againt my shimanos, btw nice fish....

[Tokyo Tony]

Sweet setup there and sweet fish  8-)

[Guest avid]

Very nice reiview.  thank you.

I like a review that actually tells us something other than SWEEET or AWESOME.

glad you had the courage to list some not so terrific things.

An avid   for this intellegent critique.

[5bass]

I thought the handle felt a bit short, but I just might be me since I have larger handles on my Shimanos.

Thats my biggest gripe about any of the Revo's, the small handles.

[roadwarrior]

Great post!

8-)

[Infidel.]

I also wish the reel handles were mounted on bearings

I thought the same thing but I think they were just doing everything they could to make it as light as possible so the bearings had to go. I think a new 90mm Bassart carbon fiber handle would go great on that reel.

[South FLA]

HOLD THE PRESSES!  

So, I am at Fellsmere today fishing with my new Revo and everything is going great.  The reel cast a country mile, smooth pulls from dinks, oops I mean HOGS.  Anyway, about after 5 hours of fishing a high pitch sound can be heard.  Funny thing is it only happens if I really load the rod , but if I make low rod load cast no sound. So I get on the forum search for "bearings" and find a post on a Steez having a similar problem and that magnesium reels have some weird acoustics.  I know the Revo Premier is no Steez, but that sound KILLS me.  Still cast far, still feels good, but the sound is like meeting a hottie with Fran Dresher's voice.  Anyway, I am going to take the reel apart and clean everything, grease lightly where required, and see if it helps.

On second thought I may just return it to Abu under warranty, sell it and GET A SHIMANO Metanium Mg!!!!!

Am justified here or should I just get use to MG reels being weird?  If so no more Mg for me!

On a good note I love my St. Croix Avid ACMXF  

[Infidel.]

Am justified here or should I just get use to MG reels being weird?  If so no more Mg for me!

I don't know what to tell you because the Revo Premier has an aluminum frame.

[Chris at Tech]

On second thought I may just return it to Abu under warranty, sell it and GET A SHIMANO Metanium Mg!!!!!

I think this can happen to any reel that may have been boxed up at the company a while ago...

I'll bet a good cleaning and relubing will resolve it.

[Redlinerobert]

Great pics, let us know what you ended up doing with the reel.

[Micro]

Someone said on this forum that Abu Garcia seems to under-lubricate their reels and I agree.  My Revos have come almost dry.  I've had to oil every one of mine right out of the box.  

[fisherdave]

Thats a good looking fish. Thats the first time I have ever seen a peacock bass.

[Bassn Blvd]

HOLD THE PRESSES!  

So, I am at Fellsmere today fishing with my new Revo and everything is going great.  The reel cast a country mile, smooth pulls from dinks, oops I mean HOGS.  Anyway, about after 5 hours of fishing a high pitch sound can be heard.  Funny thing is it only happens if I really load the rod , but if I make low rod load cast no sound. So I get on the forum search for "bearings" and find a post on a Steez having a similar problem and that magnesium reels have some weird acoustics.  I know the Revo Premier is no Steez, but that sound KILLS me.  Still cast far, still feels good, but the sound is like meeting a hottie with Fran Dresher's voice.  Anyway, I am going to take the reel apart and clean everything, grease lightly where required, and see if it helps.

On second thought I may just return it to Abu under warranty, sell it and GET A SHIMANO Metanium Mg!!!!!

Am justified here or should I just get use to MG reels being weird?  If so no more Mg for me!

On a good note I love my St. Croix Avid ACMXF  

Ditto.  I have about 6 hours into my Premier and on my last trip it starting making this awful high pitch sound.  I cringe when I cast it.  It doesn't seem to do it if I very gently cast it but as soon as I cast it normal it's like  EEEEEEEEEEEk..

[The_Natural]

I'm a Daiwa guy, but a I've found the factory will under or overload the bearings with grease or oil.  If you clean the bearings and lube them, I bet the sound goes away.

[Bassn Blvd]

I took it apart and my reel was bone dessert dry.  Oiled it and now it works fine.  No more eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek.  Why don't the stupid manufacturer oil these reels before sending them out?

[lubina]

Very good report. I was playing with one at BPS and I can feel the lack of the 4 knobs bearings....compare with the STX, obvious.

[Micro]

I took it apart and my reel was bone dessert dry. Oiled it and now it works fine. No more eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek. Why don't the stupid manufacturer oil these reels before sending them out?

I've got 5 Revos and they were all dry.  So were my Cardinal spinning reels.  

[South FLA]

Took the Revo Premier apart dipped all the bearings in acetone to get the factory oil out, sun dried bearings and relubed with Quantum's Hot Sauce (I know some of you on the forum may not like it, but it works well for me especially on some of my old "supertuned" calcuttas, get plenty of distance and seems to stay put on areas where I apply it).  Went to a local canal to try out it out and had the same annoying noise, so I started thinking it wasn't the bearings.  I noticed if the tension control knob pressure was very lose (where the lure free falls quickly) no annoying noise, also notice if I over tensioned the knob I'd also not get the noise.  If the tension control knob was adjusted correctly (correctly, defined as the lure slowly falls to the ground) it makes the annoying sound on the cast.  So took the knob off, added some gear grease to the outside edges and a drop of Hot Sauce at friction point and get no noise  ;D.  

So my best guess it was not the bearings, but the actually friction point where the pinion shaft touches the carbon (?) plate on inside of the tension control knob.  

Continued fishing and caught a little peacock and had a couple of follow-ups, BUT as I casted the rattle trap the revo's line guide insert shot out of the level wind  >.  Tried snapping it back in and it shoots out every cast, doesn't appear as if the plastic on the level wind is cracked, so I just got home added E6000 craft glue to the outside edge of the metal insert and inserted it back into the plastic line guide.  Needless, to say I think I either got a lemon here, or Abu's low profile reels are still plagued by their lack of refinement.  Not to confidence inspiring having to deal with "issues" on a brand new "flagship' reel after only 3 outings.

On a good note, I ordered a Shimano Metanium MG (Japanese version of the Shimano Core). I'm sure I'll have better luck.

Has anyone on the forum ever had a line guide insert pop out of their Revo?  If so, tell me if you sent it back under warranty or tried to fix it

Tight Lines

[Micro]

You just got it 6 days ago.  Why are you gluing things back together?  Why don't you return it for a refund?