Daiwa Alphas Finesse Custom or Megabass Zonda68

[the hooligan]

Is that the ktf spool out of the SS Air ?

Couldn't be. The SS is built on the Steez frame. This spool fits only the Alphas/Sol/Zonda frame.

T3 Air Spool.

Built by Ian aka e-bassfisher.

Nice, i thought the SS air and t3 air shared the same spool.

Is that a direct fit or spacers needed ? And, can that spool be purchased seperately ?

[hoohoorjoo]

Nice, i thought the SS air and t3 air shared the same spool.

Is that a direct fit or spacers needed ? And, can that spool be purchased seperately ?

The KTF spools are direct fit, designed specifically for the Alphas platform. They can be had as stand-alone parts. But they go for $250-$300+ on the Japanese auction sites. Same with the Cosugi Works spools.

[Martin Lo]

Nice, i thought the SS air and t3 air shared the same spool.

Is that a direct fit or spacers needed ? And, can that spool be purchased seperately ?

The KTF spools are direct fit, designed specifically for the Alphas platform. They can be had as stand-alone parts. But they go for $250-$300+ on the Japanese auction sites. Same with the Cosugi Works spools.

Ian procured the parts necessary and adapted them to interface.
I intend to do a performance review of it w/o the usual teardown.

[Isaiah20]

Looked all over for the Alphas and cant find it as cheaply as previously stated.

[hoohoorjoo]

Looked all over for the Alphas and cant find it as cheaply as previously stated.

I bought one used in excellent condition for a good bit below that $200 mentioned earlier. My other Alphas 105H is the only reel I have ever bought new and I paid $290 for it right after they came out. Once you get up to 100 posts, post a WTB ad here in the Buy/Sell/Trade forum and see what happens. Plat recently had them on clearance and the guys around here bought them up pretty quickly. I'm betting there's someone that has a NIB one they would sell.

[daiwafan]

Martin

That Alphaas is SICK!!!!

[Martin Lo]

Martin

That Alphaas is SICK!!!!

This one?


Yeah, Ian have really made a beast with this reel, casting gently it's similar to other BFS reels I am well used to...with more refinement. That all changes when I up the ante on a I can literally cast as hard and fast as I wish send tiny baits straight lining to where I want it, no rise, no fall....hydro plane it. Just an insane reel and IMO rendered all my previous attempts to tune irrelevant.

made a little montage from yesterday
[youtube]HJA8jolbfKg[/youtube]
I don't know if these are showing up on your browsers

[IAY]

Link is broken please fix

[Martin Lo]

Link is broken please fix

the youtube function just won't work..

here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJA8jolbfKg

[Thor]

Watched your video, very nice. So, what is you assessment of where the state of bait finesse reels is today? What can be improved and more importantly, the best reel/spool for those wanting to use 4kg line or below?

[Martin Lo]

Watched your video, very nice. So, what is you assessment of where the state of bait finesse reels is today? What can be improved and more importantly, the best reel/spool for those wanting to use 4kg line or below?

With current top level BFS reels, I think has taken a lot of skill out of casting light.

Over 3 years I've seen progress in a rapid succession.
I remember with my first being the CQ50S then the Core 50mg with Avail spool, a gentle cast along with a light thumb was essential in getting the bait there. This was followed by the Alphas + MB finesse spool which required even more care.

Along came the Revo LTZ which had numerous faults but casting ease and ability was not one of them. I found I could reach similar distances slowing backing off the magnetic brakes and casting gently. However dialing up the magnets did allow brainless casting at distances that took a lot of care to reach with the aftermarkets.

Lately I had the fortune of playing with the Brenious ( I still need to write up the results) it too was a very easy and forgiving finesse caster, it also proved to be a very robust and refined reel thanks to design to perform rather than figures for marketting hype.

Then there's this...

Well with ISA (Ian Shields Alphas), conventions have been knock out of the ball park. on minimum braking it's a very fast yet manageable reel, yet I can just dial it up and swing for the fences like I had 1/2 oz on.
It seems the finesse spool combined with AIR brake inductors has the edge right now. Although once casting weight increases, SVS Infinity holds the advantage in distance and ease, for 1/16-3/16 I'd imagine the SS Air would be the factory reel most similar to ISA.

The closest tuned reel to this one would have to be the KTF diawas, however prospective owners face the option of either waiting for a lottery sale, risking auction sales (KTF staff have told me instances where auction sellers took the good bits first) to acquire one. Tuning or building by e_bassfisher should be the most accessible option for now.

Improvements? Sure, I would love it to be faster, much much faster. Pulling finesse baits don't need torque but light lines stretch quite a lot. A 8.0+ ratio would be next best thing.

We're working on it

Here's ISA playing bait skipping limbo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMwrlN5VT7o

BTW the youtbe BB code doesnt seem to be working.
Testing again here.
[html]<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/vMwrlN5VT7o?version=3 ... ram><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/vMwrlN5VT7o?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>[/html]

[daiwafan]

Martin

That Alphaas is SICK!!!!

This one?


Yeah, Ian have really made a beast with this reel, casting gently it's similar to other BFS reels I am well used to...with more refinement. That all changes when I up the ante on a I can literally cast as hard and fast as I wish send tiny baits straight lining to where I want it, no rise, no fall....hydro plane it. Just an insane reel and IMO rendered all my previous attempts to tune irrelevant.

made a little montage from yesterday
[youtube]HJA8jolbfKg[/youtube]
I don't know if these are showing up on your browsers

Yeah buddy that one!!! Talking with the master about building one for me...

[r61]

I haven't read all of the prior posts. Ktf spool ive never used lol but dayum I'd love too!

I had a zonda 68 which I recently upgraded to the zonda hedgehog, as I knew Hedgehog came with that spool as a spare.

I really really like that 68 spool.....it's a gorgeous performing reel in general, super easy caster. I used it for dropshot with 1/8-1/4oz weight and a strike zone slammer or roboworm; never a backlash, into wind, had that puppy dialled in perfect! It was my first "megabass reel" that I used (ito 103m notwithstanding), and I was so excited that all megabass would be over the top like it......lolol

I have a finesse custom spool in my sol....I really really like it also. I honestly don't use it for finesse, but I pound out a backwards fat Ika on a 4/0 gama hook with ease on a 6'8 bcr803 Glx...and it LAUNCHES that setup. I've also cast some smaller 1/4 oz balsa body baits that are tough to cast in general and it performed superb. I don't know why, maybe it's that smaller bearing on the spool, but usually my finesse reels cannot cast 3/8-1/2oz like this, and turn around and cast (1/4oz high wind resistance bait) like this spool can.

Long story short, I like them both lol. I think you should buy a zonda hedgehog and rig up both spools, or sacrifice the ultra finesse and buy a finesse custom. If u buy a zonda 68, you'll b happy. If you buy a finesse custom you'll be happy. Buy a hedghog you'll be happiest.

Lolol that being said I'm always looking for more zonda 68 and alpha finesse custom spools .......................