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My Favourites, the  Ambassadeurs  by Jon Furman


Hello fellow ABU enthusiasts! 

It is nice to be able to visit www.realsreels.com  and share our passion for our favorite brand of fishing equipment.  We "get" and enjoy the philosophy, history and satisfaction of owning equipment few other manufacturers have aspired to. We see past the flighty nature of hype driven marketing where quality often takes a back seat to buzz words, and we have the ability to look back with satisfaction at a product lineage that spans generations.
 For some of us, Swedish made ABU reels were our first real taste of an affordable European product, and it drastically changed what we once considered "the good stuff" standard. We also benefit from a strong collectors market, and I could only wish my stock portfolio could do as well!  		  
 
 "Gowge" was THE ambassador of Ambassadeur's for me and many others, and his excitement, willingness to share and help all who asked is greatly missed.  He was instrumental in what we in the US now consider surf fishing, and has done more for the sport than anyone I can mention. George would have loved it at www.realsreels.com , and would have been an exceptional asset. Rest in Peace George.

Tight Lines!

Jon F 
My story is an enigma.  I love to tinker with and improve surf type ABU bait casters, love to distance cast, yet have never lived close to the sea.  I have recently moved back to the Pittsburgh PA area, and hope to meet other ABU enthusiasts from the area.  Before I go, I want to make sure I mention the late George Pope. 
  
A favourite Utility for Calculating Line Capacity.

Thanks to J.Norre , the original contributer of this most useful freeware
  

 

My Favorite Ambassadeur… Classic Reel Review  and The Two Faces of ABU Garcia "Ultracast"
with kind permission from the author Jon Furman who originally submitted the articles to Stripers Online.
There has to be one, and for me the easy choice is my Foran custom classic ABU 6500CT. It does things so well on so many levels its impossible not to love!

To me It’s the epitome of “the good old days”, and I’m glad worn out clichés such as “latest and greatest” can’t be attached to this reel. When that phrase has long since faded from our buzz word du jour vernacular, this reel will continue to be described honestly using words such as quality, elegance, and durability, words that never go out of style, but can rarely be used with a straight face much anymore.

Jerry Foran of Macclenny Florida specializes in the custom building, restoration, and repair of classic Ambassadeur reels. His work delights customers from around the world, who appreciate and demand the fine workings, elegant look, and “old world” quality feel these classic reels exude. His workmanship and innovation equals, and in many cases rivals that of the original Svängsta shop, and he maintains one of the largest stocks of original classic Ambassadeur parts outside of Spirit Lake that I know of.

I’m fortunate to be a field tester for Jerry, and really enjoy the opportunity to “kick the tires” of some really NICE reels, that I never would have had the chance to try otherwise. I Liken it to a gearhead having Carrol Shelby drop by and ask if you might want to evaluate his personal 427 AC Cobra, he gives you the keys……

One reel I was very fond of was a classy looking 6500CT I was sent for pre sale evaluation.

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It’s built on an elegant small bar MK II CT frame w/coaster slots, Beautiful black beveled “ABU” stamped (no Garcia here) side plates, Hi-Speed 4.7:1 gears, small arbor spool, black drag star and power-handle. Aside from a few similar reels offered in the UK many years ago, this reel was never an everyday item anywhere, and would be considered quite rare, especially in the United States.

Having passed all performance tests with flying colors, I cleaned the reel, packed it with care, and returned it with a heavy heart; but pleased knowing it would make some future customer very happy. Well, after a short stay with the builder, It returned to me a few months later for good where I use and enjoy it with great pride and satisfaction!

Why Go Old School…

When there are a ton of modern ABU 6500CT reels out there? Simple, I find this one to be a great match for me, prefer its features, and like the fact that when I want to talk shop about it I pick up the phone and speak directly with its builder and company owner. Real nice change to actually speak with someone who knows what the hell they’re talking about, and more importantly gives a damn!

Current CT reels are nice, very nice, with a lot of eye appeal, but they don’t have that feeling I get from the classic CT. Do they cast further, have IAR, and use a “modern” spool design?... Maybe, yes, and yes, but these classics are far more than just the sum of their parts, a lot more. They have a few tricks up their sleeve, and you may find that you actually prefer them to current offerings once you use them.

On that note, lets have a look inside:

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Notice an amazing lack of something?…. Can’t put your finger on it?…. Could it be… PLASTIC! The reel has exactly two internal plastic parts. One is the pinion collar in the yoke, the other is the plastic spool cog that is actually unneeded when CT configured. Everything else is made of stainless steel, brass or aluminum.

Also, you see springs, nice tight springs attached to cam levers… No big deal right? Well, what this means is it takes two crisp clicks of the handle before the reel trips from free spool to drive. Current ABU CT reels with a power handle, or that have a power handle added, have a greater chance of going into drive during a hard cast because they get one mushy click only. Going into gear during a cast can set you back a new main gear and pinion. Yes, you can mod the free spool plunger by cutting a slot that locks into the side plate to prevent this, but with the classic CT no worries.

As mentioned, the reel does not have Instant Anti Reverse. OK, I do like IAR, but since this reel is primarily used as a light bait reel (with a nice loud clicker), its absence is virtually unnoticed, and could be seen as a benefit in some ways. IAR bearings are finicky, and can malfunction in very cold conditions, because of improper lubing, or by general lack of maintenance. OK smarty I can hear, everything needs maintenance or it will break. True, but let’s look at your options if an IAR bearing goes kaput from one of your lazy days.

You can:
  • Buy a new side plate for about $30 + shipping, as ABU Garcia never offered a separate bearing, and it’s the whole side plate or nothing deal from them.
  • Buy the IAR bearing for about $12 + shipping, then press the old one out, and press the new one in risking permanent damage to the plate. Hmm, sounds charming.
  • Hope to find a used matching side plate, or use a mismatched one.
Your choice, and It pays to keep on top of your maintenance!

For the classic Ambassadeur, if the anti-reverse dog goes out you fork over $2.50+ shipping, or no shipping since it’s a common repair shop part, and spend about 5 minutes of your time for installation.

SPOOL DESIGN

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Current 6500 CT reels use inboard spool bearings, known as “Ultracast” supported by a long spanned thin axle. This system does allow for great casting, but not so great resistance against flex. Even with fairly moderate thumb pressure, you can make the spool edges touch the frame. My 6500C3 and 6501C4 reels that use an ultracast spool design, have multiple rub marks on the spool and frame from fighting fish and casting. Because of this, the protective anodizing treatment is gone, exposing the bare aluminum to corrosive forces. The biggest problem from flex happens while fighting large fish with moderate drag pressure, where grinding and binding contact between parts really screws things up, and feels like the drag is going from full on, to off.

The fixed axle spool from the classic has bearings on the shaft ends, and is much more resistant to flex, and stronger. For this very reason, if I am targeting fish larger than Bluefish, I won’t use any 6500 sized reel with an ultracast spool.

Lastly there is ease of service. None of these reels is particularly difficult to service, but with the classic CT if you need to oil the bearings, it’s a simple matter of removing a side plate knob, oiling the easily accessible bearing and moving on. Think of it as a mini 7500CT.

The others at a minimum need removal of the right side plate to oil the right side bearing, and depending on which model you have, may require removal of a plastic spool gear to service the left bearing. Nothing ground shaking here, just something to note.

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Casting the Classic CT


One of the great joys of this reel is its ability to cast very far, yet be so docile going about it. I was reacquainted with this fact today, and am still amazed by its almost magical ways.

There are no surprises with this reel, and its tune is linear and easy. Do X, it does Y just as expected. The fixed axle spool turns with turbine like smoothness on ABEC 5, 3x10x4 bearings, and braking is achieved by a two pin centrifugal system. The brake blocks used are the older fiber type, and ones from your 7000 work just fine, albeit most are pretty large. A medium viscosity oil seems to be ideal for the bearings, with Yellow Rocket Fuel, black or blue label 3-in-one, and Hoppe’s gun oil, being good starting points. Spool tension adds pressure on the spool ends not the bearings as with the modern CT’s, so if inclined you can add a touch of tension w/o worry. The spool is low slung in the frame, and allows for a very firm “around the spool” thumb grip for most people, which adds confidence and safety to your casts.

Yellow rocket fuel is what the reel comes lubed with, so that’s what I used, along with my choice of 2 small blocks, and spool tension set to a loose knock running totally free. A drastic change in temps, some wind, and casting large baits would pretty well require some changes to remain controlled. Remember, you do not have to use brake blocks in pairs, or have the same size on both pins! Experiment a little; who knows what you might discover to really make the reel your own.

Initially I was going to dig up and use the test report casting distances I submitted after field evaluation, and remembered they seemed long, but could not recall the exact distances recorded in the log. Wanting to be absolutely sure of the reels capabilities, and accurately report them to you, I went out today and re-cast using exactly the same line, rod and weight as I had the first time.

The rod used was an 11’ Daiwa Sealine-X rated for 4-7 oz, and the line was .35mm mono, with a .73mm “50 lb” shock leader. A four oz bank sinker was attached, and casts were twist and sweep over the shoulder “thumps”, with the weight hanging (aerialized cast?). Conditions were 74 degrees, almost calm winds with an intermittent breeze and cloudy. I made three casts from the same spot, and measured all three on the way out to the weight, and on the way back to be certain reported distances were accurate.

Longest measured cast was #3, and measured 483 feet/161 yards, without a hint of fluff or impending doom.

I can’t adequately describe how much I enjoy casting this reel. As tuned it’s utterly tame, extremely forgiving and has a refined banshee wail when slung with authority that’s absolutely intoxicating, and smooth as silk. Even if you never fish this reel, simply casting it is a joy. Amazing, simply amazing and I know if I put more work into it bigger distances await.


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I can’t imagine what this reel could do in the hands of an accomplished caster using a tournament rod, a non-fishing tune, and advanced casting techniques.


Lightweight Street Fighter

I love conventional tackle for its fantastic weight-to-fish fighting ratio. Small conventional reels paired with high quality graphite rods = some serious fighting ability in a light package you can literally cast all day without fatigue. How light? Spooled up and mounted to an 11’ Sealine-X, you end up with a total weight of only 26 oz’s. By comparison, an empty Penn 560 Slammer spinning reel with very similar line capacity and metal body, weighs 20 oz’s by itself.

Simple Without The Hype

I’m not against change. I understand, and respect change and genuine innovation as long as it sticks to the principals of improved quality, actual performance gains, and not done for the hell of it sake. Too many fishing products today are produced with bad quality, but great marketing and It’s embarrassing at times to see what once great companies allow into the hands of their loyal customers. At the same time, it’s refreshing to see upstart companies flourish because they have not lost touch with what folks want.

In that spirit of better performance/better quality, this reel too benefits from this idea, and has a few features never seen from the original maker. Some examples:
  • Instead of a bushing to support the drive shaft, a large bearing does the job. This adds great rigidity to this high stress area, and makes the reel feel very smooth and solid.
  • The modern power handle fitted to the reel had the mounting area custom countersunk to allow for proper attachment. The job was expertly done, is completely seamless in appearance, and improves upon the capabilities of the reel very, very well.
  • Lastly, the drag system. The original design uses a single small drag washer, resulting in OK drag power, but could be better. To better it, a smooth drag brand smoothie washer made of better friction material was installed, and now the drag is both smooth and surprisingly strong with a wide range of adjustment.
There ya go. A little mix of old and new, innovatively applied to improve the product. Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!


Final Thoughts…


Easy, I love it! It does everything it was designed to do, and do it very well. There is no pretense, no drama, nothing but honest solid quality that is nice to look at and a pleasure to use.

What can I say, if you have the itch for something like I have described, or for another kind or size of classic Ambassadeur reel, you might Google Foran Reel Service, have a look, and take stroll down Ambassadeur memory lane…

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The Two Faces of ABU Garcia "Ultracast"
“Ultracast”, If you have been around ABU Garcia bait casters for any amount of time, it’s likely you have seen the word "Ultracast" used in conjunction with them; but what exactly does Ultracast mean? For ABU Garcia, it means two entirely different things, and is confusing until the differences are known. Lets see how well I can explain this….


The first use of Ultracast, was to described a new spool and bearing system used on the first generation of black and silver C3 reels. The word Ultra Cast was printed on the side-plate edge decal, and was an easy way to determine this new series of reels from old. Later, ABU introduced a new series of reels with an entirely different spool design, and they named this series “Ultracast”. These reels used a UC prefix, and were stamped with “Ultra cast” on the side-plate.

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Let me try to go a little deeper with this…

In the 1980's, ABU Garcia went away from fixed axle spools they had been using for years in their small bait-casters, i.e. 6000/6500C, and started using spools that had inboard 4x10x4mm bearings. They called this new system "Ultra Cast", and its design can be seen in this drawing:


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The benefits of this system is a much lighter spool, that helped with casting lighter baits with better control and distance. But, because of the long unsupported span (especially in the 6500 size) of the rather small diameter fixed axle, flex became a problem and spools were rubbing frames. This was especially true when used in conjunction with the then new no stretch super lines, and stronger aftermarket drag components.

ABU Garcia's answer to this was to come out with a new line of Reels called "UltraCast", with "Anti-distortion" spools... confusing huh?

This new series of UCxxxxC reels in 4-6000 sizes used fixed axle spools, but instead of the bearings being located on the traditional spool shaft ends, they were placed on arbors near the spool edge, and retained by a new beefed-up frame. Also, where ABU Garcia had used either 3x10x4 or 4x10x4 bearings for their small bait-casters, they now used MASSIVE (for small reels at least), dissimilar sized bearings… See below for comparison, with a UC spool on the right, inboard bearing C3 spool to the left.

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A 10x15x4 sized bearing was put on the handle side of the spool, an 8x13x4 bearing on the other. What this allowed was very great strength, extremely fine spool-to-frame tolerances, and absolutely no spool flex. This same set-up is used in the 3-6600 Morrum series, and because of their all aluminum one piece frame, the strength achieved is unrivaled.

Shown is my 6600 Morrum and UC5601C to highlight similarities between the two:

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Strength was improved immensely with this UC series, but it also added a lot of rotational mass. The large bearings, although very smooth, do not allow as fast a spool speed as the much smaller 4x10x4 bearings.


Make no mistake, the UC reels cast fine, but not as well/far (especially with lighter baits) as the inboard bearing type spools, and because the spools are much heavier, they start and stop more slowly. In my experience, a change in casting timing is needed when switching from one to another because of the start-up speed differences.

I have written a tuning guide for these UC reels, and found that if you experiment a little with them, they become very good, controlled casters undeserving of there short range casting reputation. The UC series of reels was discontinued a few years back, and when you can find a new one at a shop the price is usually high. If you do find a UC reel, ones with round knob handles and grooved "full spool" lines are older, the dual soft paddle grip/no groove spools are newer.

Pictured is my older version UC6501C:

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Cant find a new UC reel... Well, to improve your chances look for the discontinued Big Game 6500 HCL. It’s nothing more than a black UC6500C with SS, 6.3:1 gears. Need a smaller size, then the red side plated BTC UC series is the ticket.

As with everything else tackle related, the US never gets the widest breadth of a companies offerings, and this series was no exception. Japan got some really neat looking ones that never made it to our shores, and they had a “Winch” designation:

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Finally, I really like my UC5601C with a non-stock handle, that I mount on a 9' Shimano Clarus Steelhead rod.

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This combo works well for casting metal to Bluefish, Spanish Macs, Ladyfish... The reel has Smooth drag "Carbontex" drag washers, and they really make for a much improved drag over stock, and compliment the reels strength well. It’s compact size and very solid feel is nice, and you can load it with a lot of hi-test braid without fear of being spooled. I kinda liken it to a poor man’s Morrum.


 Jon has asked me to post his opinions on the Modern Taiwanese ABU's
For many years, when you bought a new 7000/7000C you expected to see "Made in Sweden" stamped on the reel... It was a given, stamped prominently and proudly on the reel.

Then a few years back, we started seeing reels with "Assembled in Sweden" stamped with less prominent lettering,




and that great reel foot sticker stating "Designed inspected and assembled in Sweden from components made in Taiwan to ABU Garcia's specifications".



The next version of 7000's has/had no side-plate stamping of where it was made or assembled, and we are left with just "AMBASSADEUR", and the reel foot sticker.




Finally, as best I can tell, it's a box that has a "Made in Taiwan" sticker (stealthily placed on the bottom of the box), and "AMBASSADEUR" stamped on the side-plate.

Some sure bet clues of Taiwanese manufacture are shiny silver spools with a pin, and drag stars with points. Also look at the graphics. Old black Big Game reels had the "C" in the word "Collection" never intersect with the "G" of Game. Of course it was also stamped with "Made in Sweden" as well.



The newer Taiwanese BG's have an intersecting "C", smaller font, and only "AMBASSADEUR" on the side-plate.



I'm not commenting here on the overall quality per se, as I have not handled enough of the Taiwanese made reels to be able to come to a definitive quality conclusion. I have read of folks having pinion problems with the newer 5.3:1 reels, and others say level wind pawls wear more rapidly. I did have defective spool bearings in one of my Asian 7000's that ABU took care of very promptly.

Overall, my 3 Asian 7000's cast just fine, seem to have good machining, and nice finish. Omoto Taiwan, the parts supplier/builder of these Asian reels, seems to do OK by me so far. If interested

SS

Also for those who want to get the best out of their 7000 sized Ambassadeurs

Link here
 
Thanks for reading,
Jon Furman

 

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Last Updated: 01/12/2008