Well, returned my fifth Ambassadeur today to Fisherman's. What a piece of [Bleeeeep!] reel that is. I swear to god they aren't built for fisherman, well, not us bank fisherman anyways. I could see them holding up for boaters, but get a little sand in them, and BOOM, time to return it. Totally ruined yet another day of fishing because of dealing with that piece of crap!
Anyways, thanks for letting me vent.
Don't buy Abu Garcia! Total crap reels. Spend the extra cash and get a Shimono. Although some of their reels are problematic as well.
jesse ;-)

Big Hint: Don't flop your reel down in the sand, Nimrod.

lol
I hear you man.
[Bleeeeep!] happens though. My Shimono has held up just fine, zero complaints...and it's doing the same fishing that the Abu is.
jesse ;-)

Currently I own 7 Abu's. (5 BC's, 2 Spin). The only one Ive ever had problems with was my C4(spool would not re-engage after casting).
Sounds like you got some bad Abu mojo working against you.
I dont regularly shove them into sand , but Im far from the most careful. Hell, at half the price of most of the shimanos, if one goes teets up, no biggie.
Tight Lines
RL

I've used Abu's for many years and for the money one of the best reels I have used. Just my opinion.

Why would you buy a 5th reel if the other 4 failed??? Seems like a dumb thing to do if you ask me.
As for quality of abu's products mine is going on it's 6th season of heavy bank fishing and hasn't had a problem yet. If you take care of your reel, don' throw it in the sand and maybe clean and oil it once in awhile then it would probably hold up alot better regardless of who makes it.

Just a thought...but how about cleaning the reel after you let your kids play with it in the sand box

Darned Rolex watches are a piece of crap! Got a little sand in the mechanism and the piece of **** now runs slow. Total junk!

isn't that like blaming the manufacturer when your truck breaks down because you never changed the oil???

Living proof that people will come to the defense of any good product, sponsor of the board or not.

Dude, toss some sand into ANY product with a tight metal to metal fit, like roller or ball bearing or even a bushing (never had an Abu so don't know how they're built) and see what happens.

For that matter, put some in your knees and see what happens.

I can think of a quite a few other really BAD places to get sand, but this'll do.

its not the machine but the operator...

I love my ABU 5500C reel. They hold up against Kings and Chums in heavy water. I recommend that after you use your reels that you rinse them off with fresh water and use some WD40 after every use. The only time I had problems was on the Toutle when fine sand got into it and tightened my gears. Cant blame the reel for what the user does or fails to do.

My Abu reels have been great reels. I did have to send my first c4 reel back as I had the same problem as RockLizard. All my Abu reels are baitcasters. I am not sure if yours was a baitcaster or spinning reel. I use Shimano spinning reals but there are certain things that are not good for them. I have learned not to dunk my spinning reels in the water as they start to seize up but are still good after a good cleaning. I have one Shimano Corsair baitcaster. I did some work on friends drift boat trailer and he sold it new to me for $10. I would not pay full price for one. The drag is not good and I have lost fish after tripping the thumb bar when setting the hook.

Own several for many years. Have caught hundreds of fish on them. when they do malfunction it is my fault for poor mantaince (spell check) Gloabou

Own several for many years. Have caught hundreds of fish on them. when they do malfunction it is my fault for poor mantaince (spell check) Gloabou

Ouch!
First of all, I didn't buy a fifth one when all the rest broke on me, I return them and they get replaced.
Second, I take care of my equipment. I clean out my reels after each season unless need be otherwise.
Third, this was just my experience with the 6501C3's guys. I can't say anything about any other model. I probably shouldn't have posted this whole thing to begin with, because most the people I talk to when fishing love their Abu's as well. So most likely it is just me being a jackass with the reel...or something. I posted this because I had just gotten home from a tossed fishing day because the damn thing stopped clicking over again
Anyways, looks like it's just me. I have some kind of bad Abu 'funk' about me I suppose.
jesse ;-)

Good save, jessejlt.

Most of the people I know that have Ambassadeurs
use 'em as plugging reels because they don't like the way they cast BUT they're built like tanks.

Do a search on this board for baitcasters, casting reels, etc. to do some investigation. You'll probably find that most of the positive comments have been made re: Curados, lately the SF models. Anything much better and you'll paying a lot more. Good luck with whatever you decide on.

In light of the comeback, I'll say this though. I've owned ABU's all my life. Have sold off a few (mostly newer ones since my old ones have sentimental value). I have probably 6 that are well over 25 years old. I have not had ONE bit of problem with any of them except routine maintenance. But If I drop in sand/dirt (which happens, we're only human) I stop fishing it and clean it (reason I normally bring two rods, so I have a backup).

Ok, now coming to using them for driftfishing. I've only owned ABU's. Yes, have tried Shimano's and they're awesome. But for money ABU's are damned great reels. And casting wise, the majority of most guys problems is they don't know how to tune them up to cast. They just think they pull them out of the box, put line on them, then cast away. BIG MISTAKE. Learn how to use your reel before you junk them. And if you're gonna junk them (especially pre 90's ABU's) give me a call, I'll take them. Have a few 6001c's and an old 5001c that still work flawless today.

I still have the 5000 that I got my 1st steelhead on it work just fine in fact I had it with in the boat for a back up yesterday. have had a couple of bad ones in 20 years usealy there better ideas but they are work horse take care of them and they are fine. I tried a Callcutta on a guide trip that thing was junk! Oh and that little tool and oil in the box take it with get sand in your rell take vest off lay it down for table strip your rell down clean it out put back togather and quit your *****in takes 10 min.

I own a 6500 C3 and a new 6600 C5, along with a little graphite Ultra-mag, and two small cardinal spinning reels. The C3 I got as a wedding present from the wife 8 years ago, and she still works just great. The reel is okay, too. My Ultra-mag I have never had any issue with and I have had it for over 15 years.

I also own many Fenwick and Berkley (abu, berkley, fenwick, and a few others are all part of the same group) products for one simple fact. If I have ever experienced any issue with any product, I returned them to the manufacturer and have either had it fixed or repaired, less the cost of shipping. Shoot, one time I even bought an old Cardinal spinning reel at a garage sale for 50 cents, called them up to find a reel handle, they had me send it in for them to fit one, and I ended up with a brand new reel. No charge.

Sorry for your woes, but please save the product bashing for companies that do not stand behind their products. If they step up, then hey, they are on the right track.

Andy