I feel like I have been offcially initiated My first Sportco purchase.

try it out yet? i've always been curious to how one of those 5600AB reels works

one of these might be my next purchase(when i can find the money), not really common in the US:

5500CS Pro Rocket:


or a 5500CS Mag:


hatteras outfitters sells them, as well as a lot of cool ambassadeur stuff like bearing retrofit kits so you can add an extra bearing to a C3, ceramic rocket bearings, and low and high gears. but for everything else i'll stick to sportco

Save your recipt, Garcia has had allot of problems with the AB models. Take it back and get a Shimano Curado. It has a VBS system and will make you feel like a real pro caster. Garcia's are great reels, This was a flub in thier long line of fine products.

Hey coyote thanks for the headsup...does the reel your talkng about have magnetic and centrifugal..I saw one the Cabelos was selling and I am sure its made by Shimano....have you seen it?
What types of problems should I be looking for?

Thanks Again
Paul

yep tall keep the receipt. my son, nephew , and myself all had those ab fail within the first month a few years ago. traded them in for the regular abu reels 5500 and 6500. if you get them wet, the anti backlash they'll bird nest on worse than any regular baitcaster. watch out for the snap ring that holds the braking mech together, thats what failed on ours

Hey Griz...thanks for the heads up....hows the Cow...have you been lately?

Thanks Again guys I'll keep ya posted
Paul

all ambassadeur fans: if you really want the best reel abu makes, invest in the ambassadeur morrum...i've been using the m5600c for almost a year now and it is hands down the best baitcasting reel i have ever used( and i've tried just about everything out there with the exception of the japanesemodel shimanos)...it is a little spendy retail but i got mine off ebay for under $125, it did take a few months for the bids on them to stay in the range i wanted to pay for it but my persistence paid off big time..

sorry but those antibacklash reels really suck!!

Can't go wrong with a 200/201 or 250/251 Shimano Calcutta. I think the Calcutta TE is my next reel

Thanks for the replys....the longer the thread lives the more the "opinions" come out of the wood work. You know like they say, Opinions are like as*h....oh never mind.

My goal is to master a baitcast reel. I currently have multiple setups and more and more have become discouraged with my spincast setups.

I have a question for such informed guys on what sucks and what doesn't.
Can you explain to me the advantages/disadvantages of magnetic vs centrifugal AB systems? Seems mfg's choose one or the other and there only one I have found that combines both, but it is a small capacity reel.

I look forward to hearing more on this, thanks in advance

Paul

i think mag systems work a bit better. i think most ambassadeurs have a centrifugal brake system, my C4 does(it's on the right side of the spool, 2 little plastic brake pads that move out when it spins)

personally though, i've always done best just using my thumb

Have to agree here..... I have 2 Calcuttas (51 and 201) and they are the best by far, and I have owned alot of different brands....

MC

Thanks guys, I placed an order for a new Shimano AxisV2 ...a little lighter that the Calcutta and half the cost. It is a Japan model. I also am going to try out the Mörrum.
I let ya know how it compares to the new AB.

Paul

Hey Paul, nice reel but your spincasters are just too cool looking to put away!! So, what made you decide to modernize??

Haven't been out much lately until the knee heals up, but I'll ring you when I do. Supposedly there are fish everywhere down here, yet I haven't seen much.

Glad to hear you finally made it to Sportco!

I bought an ambassador 6500 this spring at sportco. hardly used it, but now when I get fish on, the tension makes the spool "squeek" and bind up. I could hardly reel humpies in the other week. I pulled the side off and pulled the spool out, but cannot see anyting wrong. I2 years ago bought a 5500 c3, and the button stuck down all the time for awhile, though now it seems okay.
I wonder if abu has gone downhill in the past few years.

-rbf

I used to fish the ambassador reels also until i picked up a Shimano curado. Every ambassador real that I have ever had has had the barrings starting going out after one season. Besides for casing light weight or spinners they tend to have backlash problems. The shimano curado can cast light weight with out a problem. Pick up a shimano, they're a bit spendy, you will never go back.

Hey Steve left ya message, knee sounds as bad as I thought.

Nope, still have Grandad's reels that I still keep rigged, you know me. Just want to try soemthing different, I tried a 6500 and thought it was a super nice reel. I wanted the control of the AB to develop technique.

I bend a lttile to the pressure to buy the smooooothest, most ball bearingest, stuff just to see, but you know Ill never throw away my Johnsons.

I have caught more damn fish on those reels than can be imagined and light test to boot.

CAll when you can

Paul

Hows this? LOL

is that so you can play tetris when you're fishing?

advantages/disadvantages of magnetic vs centrifugal AB systems.

Magnetic puts the same drag on the spool the duration of the cast, centrifugal winds up to a constant speed during the cast, there is nothing realy wrong with the centrifugal system execpt it has more moving parts, and sounds different when casting. I can tell you when I worked at Ace Hardware fishing section we got lots of returns on the ABU reels and little to none on the shimano's. I have over 20 shimano reels some are 15 years old and still work like they were new...DJ