Abu Garcia WTF's

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.
Dalleinf
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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by Dalleinf » Sat May 12, 2018 10:39 pm

SSS wrote:
Dalleinf wrote:SSS, no, the 2016 Steez is fine. Expensive, but fine. Do you own all three reels?

As noted, and painstakingly obvious, I exaggerated a bit. Hope you did too.
I currently own 2 original mgx's, 1 lt6 and an ltz. Other than the LTZ, i bought them used for cheap, and for the price i paid, they're worth it. For what Abu tries/tried to sell em, its beyond ridiculous. They don't even use any tech, its just linear magnets in most reels, and they're made in Korea. I don't believe its expensive for Abu to make these reels, but their MSRP is as high as what you'd get from a piece of art such as a Conquest, metanium, ryoga, steez, etc. People say Megabass is overpriced. No, its Abu that's overpriced. Overpriced as hell for what they offer.
Sorry, I meant the Steez, SV103, PX68.

I do not dispute that some of ABUs high-end are too expensive at list price on the US market.
In Denmark, where I live, nearly all pieces of fishing equipment are sold for less than list price in every shop. As an example, look at the multiplier reels in this shop:
https://www.lystfisk.dk/fiskegrej/fiske ... ihjul.html
I often wonder why we even have a list price...
Because of this oddity, I never ever pay list price for any rod or reel.
When I buy stuff in Japan I most often buy from Digitaka - they also sell their reels below list price (and with shipping included).
When I buy reels in the US, I wait/look for sales in tackle shops or get things on Ebay.
Do you - or anybody on this site - buy reels at list price?

At the moment I am eyeballing an ABU Revo ALC IB7L on amazon.co.jp. I do not like to take my best reels when I go fishing along the coast (saltwater), so I look for “bargain” reels that I can use and abuse. The Revo ALC has a list price of 36000 JPY but amazon will ship it me incl customs/tax for 19000 JPY, which tempts me. If I had to pay list price then I would forget all about it and go for a Metanium or Aldebaran or Zillion any day of the week. For 19000 JPY I feel confident that the ABU is worth it...

Edit: I actually quite like ABUs linear brakes :shock:

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by DirtyD64 » Sat May 12, 2018 11:23 pm

runmax08 wrote:Hmm......What a powerful life lesson when comparing Abu Garcia with other reels. "The MGXTREME2 for a good price would be fun, but stock versus stock price the Steez hands down wins. Think a copycat site youtube test had the MGXTREME2 out casting the Steez and a high end Shimano though....." Sound familiar?
I don't understand what you are getting at, all I meant was that for $500 you get more overall with a Steez SV TW. Casting distance in one scenario by one person doesn't mean everything. I just meant it was still a capable reel to hang with other heavy hitters.
But again I don't understand what you are getting at, did I say something wrong or did you think my comment contradicted itself just because the Abu cast further?

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by SSS » Sun May 13, 2018 5:31 am

Dalleinf wrote:
SSS wrote:
Dalleinf wrote:SSS, no, the 2016 Steez is fine. Expensive, but fine. Do you own all three reels?

As noted, and painstakingly obvious, I exaggerated a bit. Hope you did too.
I currently own 2 original mgx's, 1 lt6 and an ltz. Other than the LTZ, i bought them used for cheap, and for the price i paid, they're worth it. For what Abu tries/tried to sell em, its beyond ridiculous. They don't even use any tech, its just linear magnets in most reels, and they're made in Korea. I don't believe its expensive for Abu to make these reels, but their MSRP is as high as what you'd get from a piece of art such as a Conquest, metanium, ryoga, steez, etc. People say Megabass is overpriced. No, its Abu that's overpriced. Overpriced as hell for what they offer.
Sorry, I meant the Steez, SV103, PX68.

I do not dispute that some of ABUs high-end are too expensive at list price on the US market.
In Denmark, where I live, nearly all pieces of fishing equipment are sold for less than list price in every shop. As an example, look at the multiplier reels in this shop:
https://www.lystfisk.dk/fiskegrej/fiske ... ihjul.html
I often wonder why we even have a list price...
Because of this oddity, I never ever pay list price for any rod or reel.
When I buy stuff in Japan I most often buy from Digitaka - they also sell their reels below list price (and with shipping included).
When I buy reels in the US, I wait/look for sales in tackle shops or get things on Ebay.
Do you - or anybody on this site - buy reels at list price?

At the moment I am eyeballing an ABU Revo ALC IB7L on amazon.co.jp. I do not like to take my best reels when I go fishing along the coast (saltwater), so I look for “bargain” reels that I can use and abuse. The Revo ALC has a list price of 36000 JPY but amazon will ship it me incl customs/tax for 19000 JPY, which tempts me. If I had to pay list price then I would forget all about it and go for a Metanium or Aldebaran or Zillion any day of the week. For 19000 JPY I feel confident that the ABU is worth it...

Edit: I actually quite like ABUs linear brakes :shock:
I have 1 OG steez (and looking for a 2nd one), an SPR and the PX68. The SPR is the smoothest of the three. I find these two platforms to be the most comfy of any reels, so i will always have these.

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by runmax08 » Sun May 13, 2018 4:02 pm

Here we go again............."They don't even use any tech, its just linear magnets in most reels, and they're made in Korea."
You must be talking about Daiwa or Shimano. Its just more fake news.........from the left.
.

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by DaisyZillion » Mon May 21, 2018 4:04 am

I’m confused :-k are we talking about the likes of the Abu magnesium pro speed spool or the Lews gen 4 Premier baitcasters :lol:

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by KP Duty » Mon May 21, 2018 1:07 pm

I know you aren't ripping on the company that brought us the lightning rod and power worm :mrgreen: . Seriously though...pure fishing and their on-staff scientists have the money and resources to dominate a reel or rod market if they chose to do so. No? They just need to mail out some dvd's in lieu of the old VHS tapes they used to 8-)

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by LgMouthGambler » Mon May 21, 2018 2:03 pm

runmax08 wrote:Here we go again............."They don't even use any tech, its just linear magnets in most reels, and they're made in Korea."
You must be talking about Daiwa or Shimano. Its just more fake news.........from the left.
.
You mean like the linear magnets that Shimano uses in some of their BFS reels?
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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by DaisyZillion » Tue May 22, 2018 5:22 pm

KP Duty wrote:I know you aren't ripping on the company that brought us the lightning rod and power worm :mrgreen: . Seriously though...pure fishing and their on-staff scientists have the money and resources to dominate a reel or rod market if they chose to do so. No? They just need to mail out some dvd's in lieu of the old VHS tapes they used to 8-)

Completely agree there, the company is huge and able to do just that, they are just doing what large conglomerate companies do by producing a well designed product the cheapest possible way but don’t pass on that saving to the consumer. The Revos I’ve owned, three generations of LP Premiers and the LP Revo3 Beast, have been great, their IVCB braking on the Prems and the Infinimax on the beast were solid performers in my uses. The Prems performance degraded after a couple of years of heavy use Barra fishing and that’s where their cheaper build showed through, they still went through the same maintenance regime as all my other reels inc strip down and bearing change/relube each year but fine tolerances were eventually lost. The Beast however is still going strong today. The reason I bought up the Abu/Lews issue is that it is very hard to make breakthroughs in baitcasting technology when you don’t even make the reels, are these just an OEM reel (albeit a very nice one) or are they just being super nice to Lews? I still stand by the fact that the Revo lineup is not a bad one, the Prems durability simply suffered from pushing the envelope on a sub 6oz Ali build without decent R & D I reckon.

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by SSS » Tue May 22, 2018 5:50 pm

Also, their chrome parts, such as the clutch, losing its chrome after a season or less is just :laugh1:

That's what i get on reels from aliexpress sold for $25. Too hard for abu to do proper chrome pieces? Never have i ever seen a Daiwa reel with erased/chipped chrome on the clutch, but on abu, its like a "feature" that you get on every reel

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by runmax08 » Wed May 23, 2018 2:41 am

SSS wrote:Also, their chrome parts, such as the clutch, losing its chrome after a season or less is just :laugh1:

That's what i get on reels from aliexpress sold for $25. Too hard for abu to do proper chrome pieces? Never have i ever seen a Daiwa reel with erased/chipped chrome on the clutch, but on abu, its like a "feature" that you get on every reel

Well here we go again.....I sound like Ronald Reagan.....

This "chrome" front plate can easily be scratched from normal use. This plate will fit.......

My grandpa had a station wagon that looked like this reel. It had been hit and parts of it had had been painted a shade of red that did not match the rest of the vehicle. Not even close. That is what that Z looks like.....

The pic is not clear enough but looks like someone painted in their basement......


... being fished the reel performed flawlessly and i really didnt want to swap for a conquest as i have a bunch of te's and gt's but the paint on the z2020 is so bad i could never keep it and fish with it as i strictly fish saltwater where i am and couldnt risk corrosion issues. hopefully people have ........


This is good news..........Its only a 500 dollar reel! Maybe we need another special counsel to investigate this matter !!!

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by SSS » Wed May 23, 2018 7:05 am

runmax08 wrote:
SSS wrote:Also, their chrome parts, such as the clutch, losing its chrome after a season or less is just :laugh1:

That's what i get on reels from aliexpress sold for $25. Too hard for abu to do proper chrome pieces? Never have i ever seen a Daiwa reel with erased/chipped chrome on the clutch, but on abu, its like a "feature" that you get on every reel

Well here we go again.....I sound like Ronald Reagan.....

This "chrome" front plate can easily be scratched from normal use. This plate will fit.......

My grandpa had a station wagon that looked like this reel. It had been hit and parts of it had had been painted a shade of red that did not match the rest of the vehicle. Not even close. That is what that Z looks like.....

The pic is not clear enough but looks like someone painted in their basement......


... being fished the reel performed flawlessly and i really didnt want to swap for a conquest as i have a bunch of te's and gt's but the paint on the z2020 is so bad i could never keep it and fish with it as i strictly fish saltwater where i am and couldnt risk corrosion issues. hopefully people have ........


This is good news..........Its only a 500 dollar reel! Maybe we need another special counsel to investigate this matter !!!
Not talking about the front plate. Even tdz and og zillions suffered from the chrome chipping away. I'm talking about the clutch. You will never find a daiwa with the chrome on the clutch all chipped away or simply erased from your thumb rubbing when engaging the clutch.

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by LgMouthGambler » Wed May 23, 2018 7:29 am

SSS wrote:
runmax08 wrote:
SSS wrote:Also, their chrome parts, such as the clutch, losing its chrome after a season or less is just :laugh1:

That's what i get on reels from aliexpress sold for $25. Too hard for abu to do proper chrome pieces? Never have i ever seen a Daiwa reel with erased/chipped chrome on the clutch, but on abu, its like a "feature" that you get on every reel

Well here we go again.....I sound like Ronald Reagan.....

This "chrome" front plate can easily be scratched from normal use. This plate will fit.......

My grandpa had a station wagon that looked like this reel. It had been hit and parts of it had had been painted a shade of red that did not match the rest of the vehicle. Not even close. That is what that Z looks like.....

The pic is not clear enough but looks like someone painted in their basement......


... being fished the reel performed flawlessly and i really didnt want to swap for a conquest as i have a bunch of te's and gt's but the paint on the z2020 is so bad i could never keep it and fish with it as i strictly fish saltwater where i am and couldnt risk corrosion issues. hopefully people have ........


This is good news..........Its only a 500 dollar reel! Maybe we need another special counsel to investigate this matter !!!
Not talking about the front plate. Even tdz and og zillions suffered from the chrome chipping away. I'm talking about the clutch. You will never find a daiwa with the chrome on the clutch all chipped away or simply erased from your thumb rubbing when engaging the clutch.
Whats the difference in what part it is? The thumb bar at least has an excuse to be worn, as its always being pushed and used, the front plate on a Daiwa?.... Well....?
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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by SSS » Wed May 23, 2018 10:58 am

LgMouthGambler wrote:
SSS wrote:
runmax08 wrote:
SSS wrote:Also, their chrome parts, such as the clutch, losing its chrome after a season or less is just :laugh1:

That's what i get on reels from aliexpress sold for $25. Too hard for abu to do proper chrome pieces? Never have i ever seen a Daiwa reel with erased/chipped chrome on the clutch, but on abu, its like a "feature" that you get on every reel

Well here we go again.....I sound like Ronald Reagan.....

This "chrome" front plate can easily be scratched from normal use. This plate will fit.......

My grandpa had a station wagon that looked like this reel. It had been hit and parts of it had had been painted a shade of red that did not match the rest of the vehicle. Not even close. That is what that Z looks like.....

The pic is not clear enough but looks like someone painted in their basement......


... being fished the reel performed flawlessly and i really didnt want to swap for a conquest as i have a bunch of te's and gt's but the paint on the z2020 is so bad i could never keep it and fish with it as i strictly fish saltwater where i am and couldnt risk corrosion issues. hopefully people have ........


This is good news..........Its only a 500 dollar reel! Maybe we need another special counsel to investigate this matter !!!
Not talking about the front plate. Even tdz and og zillions suffered from the chrome chipping away. I'm talking about the clutch. You will never find a daiwa with the chrome on the clutch all chipped away or simply erased from your thumb rubbing when engaging the clutch.
Whats the difference in what part it is? The thumb bar at least has an excuse to be worn, as its always being pushed and used, the front plate on a Daiwa?.... Well....?
Your fingers are always rubbing the front plate, so its all the same. Thing is, the chrome front plate is only chipping on the TDZ series and OG Zillions. It doesn't happen on newer reels that have the chrome piece such as the SS SV. On abu, it happens on every single reel since they began making low profile baitcaster reels. Not only does it chip, erases, but also darkens. That's Made in Korea for you, with poor quality control.

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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by LgMouthGambler » Wed May 23, 2018 11:36 am

SSS wrote:
LgMouthGambler wrote:
SSS wrote:
runmax08 wrote:
SSS wrote:Also, their chrome parts, such as the clutch, losing its chrome after a season or less is just :laugh1:

That's what i get on reels from aliexpress sold for $25. Too hard for abu to do proper chrome pieces? Never have i ever seen a Daiwa reel with erased/chipped chrome on the clutch, but on abu, its like a "feature" that you get on every reel

Well here we go again.....I sound like Ronald Reagan.....

This "chrome" front plate can easily be scratched from normal use. This plate will fit.......

My grandpa had a station wagon that looked like this reel. It had been hit and parts of it had had been painted a shade of red that did not match the rest of the vehicle. Not even close. That is what that Z looks like.....

The pic is not clear enough but looks like someone painted in their basement......


... being fished the reel performed flawlessly and i really didnt want to swap for a conquest as i have a bunch of te's and gt's but the paint on the z2020 is so bad i could never keep it and fish with it as i strictly fish saltwater where i am and couldnt risk corrosion issues. hopefully people have ........


This is good news..........Its only a 500 dollar reel! Maybe we need another special counsel to investigate this matter !!!
Not talking about the front plate. Even tdz and og zillions suffered from the chrome chipping away. I'm talking about the clutch. You will never find a daiwa with the chrome on the clutch all chipped away or simply erased from your thumb rubbing when engaging the clutch.
Whats the difference in what part it is? The thumb bar at least has an excuse to be worn, as its always being pushed and used, the front plate on a Daiwa?.... Well....?
Your fingers are always rubbing the front plate, so its all the same. Thing is, the chrome front plate is only chipping on the TDZ series and OG Zillions. It doesn't happen on newer reels that have the chrome piece such as the SS SV. On abu, it happens on every single reel since they began making low profile baitcaster reels. Not only does it chip, erases, but also darkens. That's Made in Korea for you, with poor quality control.
Not everyone holds the reel the same. I have seen Daiwas bubble, chip, lose color, etc. Most these reel parts are made in the same factories anyways. Some of the Korean reels are getting better, and parts same quality too. Again, most reel parts are all made in the same places.
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Re: Abu Garcia WTF's

Post by runmax08 » Wed May 23, 2018 12:14 pm

SSS wrote:
runmax08 wrote:
SSS wrote:Also, their chrome parts, such as the clutch, losing its chrome after a season or less is just :laugh1:

That's what i get on reels from aliexpress sold for $25. Too hard for abu to do proper chrome pieces? Never have i ever seen a Daiwa reel with erased/chipped chrome on the clutch, but on abu, its like a "feature" that you get on every reel

Not talking about the front plate. Even tdz and og zillions suffered from the chrome chipping away. I'm talking about the clutch. You will never find a daiwa with the chrome on the clutch all chipped away or simply erased from your thumb rubbing when engaging the clutch.
Ok the president has tweeted again:

"Unfortunately the micro gear set on my 2018 Ryoga HG Left squeals like a pig and there's a noticeable tick on every turn of the handle now after using it once to catch a beautiful 25lb Red. Kazu at Japan Angler said maybe the reel isn't up to the task of a 25# Redfish. I said bull crap if I can fight a fish within the reels drag capabilities it shouldn't matter the size of the fish. I sent the reel off to a world class tuner whom tried and tried but couldn't get the squeal nor the tick to go away, I'm told I need a new gear set but Kazu claims the gears sets will not be available for sale, I must return the reel to him to have it sent back to Daiwa for repairs. I was so high on the reel when it first arrived, the gears were sooo smooth honestly a hole new level of smoothness over any of my 2016 CQ 101 HG and 201 HG reels which I love and use regularly on big Reds and not one issue. Unless my reel is defective and I don't believe it is, I have lost all hope and faith in Daiwa as of late! I own and use many Daiwa Millionaire model reels which also perform flawlessly battling big reds and Jacks. Just my reel world experience no exaggeration, it is what it is.

Great quality control from Daiwa, btw i own the 2018 Ryoga cc model.

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