does anyone else still use...

[drew03cmc]

Does anyone on here still use their old round reels? I have fallen for the Ambassadeurs. My oldest is currently a 1989 4600C that is going to get probably 8 more bearings this winter, but I am currently using my 4600 Royal Expresses for my everyday fishing mounted on an early Berkley Tactics 6' pistol grip and a 5 year old Garcia Conolon Premier 6' M. They're nice, what with their 6.3 ratios compared to the older model's 5.x ratio. I'm hoping to acquire a couple older models like the 1500C or 2500C soon and do a little work on them. I'm curious if anyone has and uses these reels and what rods you toss them on. if you have them and wanted to post pictures or just chat about them, let's do it.

[fishinwrench]

Yep,  I have a whole fleet of them.  3.8:1 Winch's,  4.7:1 old schools,  5.3:1 standards, and 6.3:1 Royals.      I just like the feel of them.  I can't stand low profile baitcaster, plus I can completely overhaul those round reels in about 15 minutes in the dark.  

Hands down the best designed reel ever made IMO.   The only downside is they aren't that good for long-distance casting, but I don't do much of that so it seldom bothers me.    I've never found the need to replace bearings in any of mine.  Have yours been in saltwater or something?

The old Ambassador XLT's with disengaging/self centering level wind are nice for distance casting.  I'd like to find a couple more of those.  

[Old plug]

i sure do. I have a friend that owns a repair shop I often go in there to just yak with him. Rarely do you see a old round rel back on his repair table ,but you sure see a lot of the new ones. I have seen the insides of many of the new ones and they certainly look to me like a complicated mass of tiny mostly plastic parts. I have two new style though. They cast like a dream and weigh nothing. They are good for people who cannot or do not want to take time to master them. I bet they will never last like the old round ones. The round ones were simple and sturdy. And mostly metal gears etc. 

[drew03cmc]

No salt, just wanting to add some smoothness to the oldest. It'll likely get a dual bearing level wind, a dual bearing supported idler cog and possibly Abec 5 spool bearings in the end plates. It should cast much further and retrieve smoother. It's quite geary right now when retrieving. I tried grease on the drive gear, level wind gear, idler gear and oil in the two ball bearings and a drop to the level wind. Better, but not quite like the Royals. If I come across the right deal on a better reel, I'll just strip this one down and clean it, lube it and toss it on a rod.

[Mitch f]

I've still got a few but I don't use them anymore. If I fished for stripers, that's all I would use, because of the line capacity.

[bfishn]

Many moons ago there was an article in In-Fisherman detailing a procedure to smooth out the gear/bearing feel on the older Abus. Basically it involved using toothpaste as a mild abrasive along with some high speed drive time on a cordless drill. I never had the guts to try it... like Mr B says, I just ain't that mad at them.

[Old plug]

Since  were on the subject of round reels. I have a picture here of one of the fastest and smoothest I have owned. I do not know what model it is other than a Garcia. It is not much larger or heavier than modern reels. It's about 15 -18 yrs old. Never seen another one like it. 

I was in pro bass shop in Springfield one day and seen it was on the rack for about $30 bucks. I looked it over and could see it sure  did looked like something worth more than $30 with the fancy  gold leaf and all.  When I bought it there were no others.  I had to buy it just as it was in the display rack. I ask them are you going to get more. They told me that was it. That little devil has served me flawlessly for all these years. I showed  it to my repair friend I mentioned in a upper post. He looked it up and sent pictures and called Garcia and otherwise pretty much research it. Still to this day we do not know what model it is. It is more than likely some spcial run of a few of these reels for some special purposes or occasion. Only thing he says about it now is that he wants me too will it to him when I die. He collects both baits and reels. Has something like 3-4 thousand in the reel collection. He is not getting it after I am gone it will go up on my daughters wall on a rod with my old fishing hat. 

[fishinwrench]

2 hours ago, bfishn said:

Many moons ago there was an article in In-Fisherman detailing a procedure to smooth out the gear/bearing feel on the older Abus. Basically it involved using toothpaste as a mild abrasive along with some high speed drive time on a cordless drill. I never had the guts to try it... like Mr B says, I just ain't that mad at them.

I've done it. You fill the reel with Arm&Hammer toothpaste and use a high-speed air wrench to spin it for about 5 minutes.  The cleaning afterwards is a major process and the difference was hardly noticable.  

I also did it on an old 300 spinning reel and it jumped out of my hand and exploded when it hit the floor.   Trust me...you DO NOT want a spinning reel in your hand when it is spinning at 5000 rpm.    That was pretty stupid.  

[drew03cmc]

OP, that looks like a Morrum 3600, they are fantastic! The 1600 size is on my short list of reels to acquire.

 

Fish 24/7, I'm looking for a few projects if you wanted to free up some space. 

 

Wrench, I have two 300 and one 301. I can't imagine spinning them that fast.

[Bushbeater]

I too love and use the old Garcias and have about 15. I find them at the garage sales and flea markets, give them a good cleaning and they are ready to go. As Wrench stated the XLTs are also a great reel, I have 3 I still use regularly. There is a wealth of online info on the Garcia round reels, try Mikes Reel Repair for schematics and parts as well as Boca Bearings and Alan Tani reels. My favorite upgrade is to a ceramic line guide pawl and perhaps new style handles. The carbon fiber drag washers can also really improve an older reel.