The new ones do suck. But I've got a 1979 4500C thats caught more fish than any other reel I own and it still works flawlessly. They don't build-em like they used to.

Thank you Sol. Maybe if I ever run across a pre 1988 ambassedeur I'll pick it up.

BTW Happy BDay.

V
I have been fishing 2500's for over 30 years and they are great. Easy to rebuild and all parts are interchangable. I have 10 of them and rotate them. Use them for every type of fishing from throwing small stuff to big stuff for Chum. All I have to do is change out the counter weights for the fishing I am going to do.

And here I always thought that nice faltering, sticky, herky-jerky ambassadeur drag was built that way on purpose to confuse the fish and tire him out quicker!

zzzziippp-jerk-halt........zzzzzzzipppp-jerk-halt....zzzzzippppp-jerk-halt.....zzzzzzippppp-jerk-halt.....

I wonder if some of the people who are having trouble with the reels are using them like a winch with heavy gear. That is just cranking in against a heavy load, as opposed to pumpimg the gear in like a fish. If you're fishing heavy weight, or big k-fish or divers in heavy current, you can put a lot of wear on a reel pretty quick.

I have about 8 ambassadeurs and have never had a problem with them. I swap out drag washers every few years, and make sure to reduce the drag for storage. I just hose them off, only clean them and lube them about every other year or so. Some of these reels are 25 years old now, and running strong.

Did you get it on your 14th birthday?

or it could be that they are catching fish capable of pulling out line against the REALLY CRAPPY drag... :p

I was gonna keep my nose out of this one but I cant any longer...

AHHHHRRG!!!! THEY DO SUCK... I have quite a few that I inherited from my dad complete with the tool kits and hard leather case. They now sit on a shelf alongside all my other antique fishing gear...

Mingo hit the nail on the head

Wow, I feel much better now....

I've had mixed results with the super smoothies. Replaced 3 sets of drags on 30 yr old ABU 7000's and they are 1000% smoother than the stock washers I replaced.

Swapped out washers on a 6500 C4 and it made almost ZERO differnce. Herky jerky at any setting tight enough to handle real salmon fishing. I resort to keeping them set light so they will pay out line smoothly, put the clicker alarm on for additional drag, and then judiciously applying my thumb as needed during the fight.

Now that I have used Calcutta TE's and Tekota's, I know better. ABU drags really do suck.

Ohhh Mingo you've made poetry out of my despair.

zzzziippp-jerk-halt........
zzzzzzzipppp-jerk-halt....
zzzzzippppp-jerk-halt.....
zzzzzzippppp-jerk-halt.....

The drag is kind of like a narcoleptic trying to masturbate.


Doc, I work the drag on my ambassedeur reels the same way. But my thumb pays the price for it on the big ones. Thanks for posting.

I have never heard anyone speak a bad word about Ambassedeurs until now. I thought I was alone.

Very, very alone.

Sometimes I have thoughts of hurting my reels. I tell them they are adopted.


vince

I've stayed out of it till now, too.

I have two 6500 series (6501 and 6500) that I use on my plug rods. I do like the reels, but the drag performance sucks big time.

Both mine were essentially new in Jan. 2005, and are due for their first service now. I plan to leave the drag washers dry as suggested by a fellow on IFish, and light lube elsewhere.

Thought about trying the high-perf drag washers, but it seems reviews are mixed...not worth the $ if they don't work.

Can't really afford to replace them right now, so they are going to have to perform, like it or not.

I'll be replacing them next Spring, or sooner, but for now they have to do.

Mike

I own 2 6500's, bought 1.5 and 1 year ago. I put aftermarket crank handles on both of them because the cute little paddle handles made me crazy.

1 of them has the sticking release button thing going on -- push the button to release, wind, no cranky, have to flick the metal tab manually with my thunbnail to get the gears to re-engage. This started happening within weeks of purchase, and regrettably very few fish.

The other one doesn't do this. It seems to work fine. I haven't put any big fish on them to really get a fee for the drag, so I'm not going to say anything about that.

I found a kit from a guy in California that uses Penn HT100 drag washers and Shimano drag grease as a replacement, those are some nice drags, smooooth! I also have an unused Calcutta 250 that I might be persuaded to part with.

I'll assist you in parting with that Calcutta. Name your price; money, gallons of cured eggs, or women with questionable morals.

Vince

Love my Ambassaduers!

The new ones don't compare...

...I have a 1957 5000C with a speed conversion and new handle that is one of my primary winter run reels. It is still about my smoothest caster.

As far as the drag not being smooth, isn't that what your thumb is for???

gseigle,

Uhm, are you sure the 5000 series was even manufactured in 1957? I'm thinking they came out in the mid to late 1960s, first the 5000A, with the 5000C some time later. I have a 5000C; it's either a 69 or 70 model.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

Here's the best Abassadeur ever made.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ABU-GARCIA-A...1QQcmdZViewItem

I own two of them. Change the drag washer out with polyethylene and these babies are smooooooth.

They came out in 1954. I have 3 in the collection from the mid 50's

My bad. I never saw them until sometime in the 60s. All I'd seen before that was the 2600, that had free spool, but no star drag. Only drag was the "thumb burner" , but a lot of steelheaders thought it was the greatest reel.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

ABU Garcia was selling a set of 50 year comem. 5000 reels last year for $800 for the pair.

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!