Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Reels are the hottest topic for TackleTour. Everyone wants to know what the latest and greatest is and how they compare to the old guard. What's the best for light stuff, or what's your suggestion for heavy cover. Do we really need different retrieve ratios? It's all in here.
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Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by Houndfish » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:16 pm

Gentleman, I am stuck. This past fall I bought an MBR783c GLX to be my "all purpose" bank-beating rod. I picked up a Steez LTD SV to put on it. Love how the reel preforms, hate how it palms. I fished it for a few dozen hours but it never got comfortable.

I want to replace it with either the Aldebaran or the new Steez, but I cannot decide. I have read a bunch about each, I have handled them both. The Aldebaran was amazing, it felt smaller than an Alphas and was feather light. The SV TW was a Left hand model, so I couldn't get a good sense of how it plams, but it was super smooth and just felt "nice". I can get the Aldebaran for like $150-200 cheaper (eBay) then the Steez, but I am going to sell my current LTD SV to fund it, so the price isn't a huge deciding factor, but two hundred bucks will buy a lot of lures. Both reels should work well with the weights I am throwing and their "stats" at pretty similar.

I think both reels will work on the rod, but I am still stuck. I am leaning towards the Aldebaran as I know it will palm well, it's cheaper, and I have been wanting to try a Shimano reel for a while now. But the Steez is still calling to me. Anyone have time with both of them and have some imput on this?

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by Hobie-Wan Kenobi » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:27 pm

Steez SV TW: feels solid, palms great, casts a wide array of lures, skips well
Aldebaran: lighter, may palm slightly better, thats about it. Feels kinda hollow unlike the Steez SV TW.

I much prefer the Steez but, that's me.
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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by bronzefly » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:56 pm

The Steez SV TW is leaps and bounds a better reel than the Aldebaran in my opinion. It's easily $200 better, and the Aldebaran is a very nice reel overall, but the palming, performance, rigidity in hand, smoothness, really everything is noticeably more refined and precise with the Steez SV TW in my hands. Those "bass or die" LTD Steez the other LTD of the same generation are nice looking but, the SV TW is the real deal, not to mention what one of the new ZPI spools can do in there...
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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by Kschultz76 » Mon Jan 29, 2018 6:20 pm

bronzefly wrote:The Steez SV TW is leaps and bounds a better reel than the Aldebaran in my opinion. It's easily $200 better, and the Aldebaran is a very nice reel overall, but the palming, performance, rigidity in hand, smoothness, really everything is noticeably more refined and precise with the Steez SV TW in my hands. Those "bass or die" LTD Steez the other LTD of the same generation are nice looking but, the SV TW is the real deal, not to mention what one of the new ZPI spools can do in there...
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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by Houndfish » Tue Jan 30, 2018 6:54 am

I suspected the Steez would win out when I posted this :D

I desperately want to get my hands on one (with the handle on the correct side) before I buy, so I guess I will start really hunting around for someone local to me who will let me make a few casts in exchange for a case of beer or whatever. SFT is only like 1.30h from me, so it would just be a day trip to drive up and get my mits on one once they get the RH ones back in stock.

Back to the Aldebaran for a moment, how mechanically robust are they? They seem to come up used on ebay pretty often and ones with a lot of rash go for pretty cheap. Are they tough enough to take a chance on? If it's an obvious lemon I am not worried as Paypal is so weighed in favor of the buyer, but more interested in long term durability. I am still curious about them and want to pick one up and for a kayak/hiking reel I don't care if it isnt perfect in appearance.

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by j2015 » Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:35 pm

I have both, imho the steez wins for overall strength and versatility. The aldebaran is an awesome reel, super smooth and unbelievably light, but it is a bit "finessey"..I'd get both..

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by chreim20 » Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:37 pm

I really like how my Chronarch MGL palms and you can find them for around $210. They also perform great as well. Just something to consider.

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by fffishing » Tue Jan 30, 2018 4:11 pm

Have a both reels too... and for MBR783c both is not really feet,-it's a powerfull rod! Works great with 3/8-1oz...so,need some another staff(Old Zillion,Antares,Abu 4000-5000)
Steez sv tw good 1/4-5/8,and Ald50 1/8-3/8. IMO ;)
Ps. What the lures you're using with 783 ?

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by ScoobyDoo » Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:59 am

Have the steez but only have the alde bfs

Steez is much lighter on the retrieve. Handle turns easier and it's silent. Aldebaren has that metanium raspy sound. And feels just a tad sluggish.

The steez in terms of out of the box all around spool up and fish. Is one of the best ever made.

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by Houndfish » Sat Feb 17, 2018 3:19 pm

I gotta stop reading TT;
Image

I decided to get the Steez but for some reason threw a lowball bid on a NIB Aldebaran, fully expecting to get sniped at the last second. But nope, I won it and got the reel for $250.

I only have an hour or so on each, the Alde feels like it is loaded with grease and I think it will benefit from a cleaning. Also, 99% of my casting reel experience is on mag brake Daiwa's, so I have no idea how to get the brakes dialed in. I am sure I can figure it out though. It is amazingly light and as much as I hate to say it, it palms better than my Alphases.

The Steez is a really nice reel, but honestly I does not feel any "nicer" than my sv103. It also feels really choked down on casting, I have the brakes at like 6 to get any distance with ~.40-.60oz lures and going down to 5 gives me loose coils. I am going to flush the bearings and see what that does. It does palm comfortably, far better then the Steez LTD it is replacing. I am happy enough with it to keep it, but for the price I would rather have an other sv103 or buy a used Alphas and get it tuned.

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by DirtyD64 » Sat Feb 17, 2018 4:09 pm

Houndfish wrote:I gotta stop reading TT;
Image

I decided to get the Steez but for some reason threw a lowball bid on a NIB Aldebaran, fully expecting to get sniped at the last second. But nope, I won it and got the reel for $250.

I only have an hour or so on each, the Alde feels like it is loaded with grease and I think it will benefit from a cleaning. Also, 99% of my casting reel experience is on mag brake Daiwa's, so I have no idea how to get the brakes dialed in. I am sure I can figure it out though. It is amazingly light and as much as I hate to say it, it palms better than my Alphases.

The Steez is a really nice reel, but honestly I does not feel any "nicer" than my sv103. It also feels really choked down on casting, I have the brakes at like 6 to get any distance with ~.40-.60oz lures and going down to 5 gives me loose coils. I am going to flush the bearings and see what that does. It does palm comfortably, far better then the Steez LTD it is replacing. I am happy enough with it to keep it, but for the price I would rather have an other sv103 or buy a used Alphas and get it tuned.
Maybe eventually invest in a spool??? I don't know for sure, but some act like the Zillion SV TW spool isn't as choked off... I have been impressed with the reel I placed it in, but it was by no means a Steez SV TW.

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by Houndfish » Sat Feb 17, 2018 6:33 pm

I have a RCS 1012 I am going to try in it, but I was hoping to not need to. At this point I cant tell if I feel like the Steez SV TW is over valued or if the sv103 is undervalued. Other then weight, the reels have a near identical feel to me in terms of smoothness and general "damn this thing is nice". I am extremely fond of the sv103 though, it was the first reel that really wowed me and it's what I judge ever other one since against.

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by iabass8 » Sat Feb 17, 2018 6:56 pm

Strange. I love the Steez SV TW. Love the spool a lot too. I put another g1 SV steez 1016 in my Steez A. Really transformed the reel. Possibly the bearings in your case. My Steez SV TW was perfect out of the box but cleaning the bearings made it even better and putting ZPI's in it was better as well. The stock bearing that came on my G1 SV 1016 steez spool I ordered for my Steez A from JapanTackle was pretty piss poor to be honest. I put ZPI's in the Steez A and it really woke it up. It took a looooooooong time of different baths to get that stock bearing clean. No idea what was in it initially. You might have the same bearing issue I had. Once mine were clean, the reels, in my opinion, Both my Steez SV Tw and Steez A TW, are flawless.

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by Houndfish » Sat Feb 17, 2018 7:10 pm

Yea, I don't mind having to flush bearings, I have an untrasonic cleaner and was going to run them in there with some acetone, then blow them out with compressed air.

I am not even really upset it didnt blow my things off, its still a great feeling reel, I just was shocked how much it feels like the sv103.

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Re: Steel SV TW vs Aldebaran 50 HG for a MBR783c?

Post by mark poulson » Sat Feb 17, 2018 7:25 pm

Houndfish wrote:Yea, I don't mind having to flush bearings, I have an untrasonic cleaner and was going to run them in there with some acetone, then blow them out with compressed air.

I am not even really upset it didnt blow my things off, its still a great feeling reel, I just was shocked how much it feels like the sv103.
How long do you run them in the ultrasound cleaner?

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