My little Swedish army, taking these to the grave

[tincanary]

Top left, scratch built 2500C IAR from aftermarket and new old stock parts. The only stock parts are the pinion yoke, return spring, clutch button, and side plates. Everything else is straight from the Avail catalog with the exception of the spool bearings and handle. This one is using the AMB2520R spool. The lightest round reel I own coming in at 6.0 oz.

Top right, 2500C. B-Trap worm, B-Trap 7.0:1 gears, Avail driveshaft and click wheel, Avail idler gear, Avail pinion bearing, Avail line guide, Avail AMB2540R spool. It's not light, but not heavy either at 8.4 oz.

Bottom, 1600C IAR. AMB1520R spool, Avail worm, line guide, and idler, 6.1:1 gears. My heaviest round reel at 9.3 oz.

[Aaronb]

I love those little reels. I have a 1500c and 2 2500c reels. I’m in the process of doing some upgrades on them but you know it gets pricey quickly. I have some other round reels including a Lin 10 mars, monoblock, conquest, and a couple millionaires. I still enjoy the nostalgia of the little ambassadeurs. Especially since there’s a lot of upgrades for them. Kind of like working on an old car.

[toddmc]

Western finesse legend Don Iovino would be proud of you. He loves those reels and has sold parts over the years. They feel really smooth and solid, but my small hands love a lower profile reel.

[tincanary]

They feel really smooth and solid, but my small hands love a lower profile reel.

The one with the white knobs is a low profile, it has the offset frame that sits 7.5mm less than stock. It palms a lot like a Calcutta Conquest BFS now.

[dragon1]

They feel really smooth and solid, but my small hands love a lower profile reel.

The one with the white knobs is a low profile, it has the offset frame that sits 7.5mm less than stock. It palms a lot like a Calcutta Conquest BFS now.

That build at 6 oz is just friggin' SICK.

[cam1223]

Ive been looking at getting one or two of these off eBay and doing the same. How do you reckon the 2500's would hold up to inshore fishing along the gulf coast? normally i catch redfish, specks, flounder etc. Would you recommend getting the 4500 for drags sake?

[tincanary]

Ive been looking at getting one or two of these off eBay and doing the same. How do you reckon the 2500's would hold up to inshore fishing along the gulf coast? normally i catch redfish, specks, flounder etc. Would you recommend getting the 4500 for drags sake?

It'll be fine, there's a guy that posts to other forums that does exactly that. He's using a 1500C with the full suite of Avail parts. He is running the factory 4.7 gear set though.

[Shadowcaster1969]

In my personal humble opinion, if there is an all time champion award for fishing reel design, these small Abu Ambassadeurs should win the award every day of the week and twice on weekends!!

[Bronzeye]

Top left, scratch built 2500C IAR from aftermarket and new old stock parts.... The lightest round reel I own coming in at 6.0 oz.

Shazam! I would never have dreamed that possible in the classic Ambassadeur format. I can see why you are so attached to these reels.

[tincanary]

Shazam! I would never have dreamed that possible in the classic Ambassadeur format. I can see why you are so attached to these reels.

They're a lot of fun. You can get every single part for them aftermarket with the exception of the side plates. Hopefully more parts become available for the thumb bar models. Here's my latest, a 2600C I snatched off of Yahoo Auctions for way less than eBay money. This one has a Valleyhill idler and worm, Avail pinion bearing, line guide, and 2540R spool, full silicon nitride spool bearings, Avail mag brake, carbon drag, and a 60mm Haneda Craft handle. I kept the factory 5.3 gears in this one since it'll be my reel of choice for fishing the Detroit River. I can't wait for the white bass run in May, they get absolutely huge here. I've caught many master angler fish which are 16" and above. They're scrappier than smallies of equivalent size. I've even had them straighten hooks on me lol