Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

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.
tincanary
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Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by tincanary » Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:37 am

I scored this guy off of Facebook marketplace for a fraction of what they sell for elsewhere. It had no box and didn't have the original handle, but for what I paid, no complaints at all.

I outfitted this guy with all Avail parts. 1520R spool, ported double bearing idler, double bearing worm, lightweight line guide, 6.1:1 gears, pinion bearing, carbon drag, and topped it off with Hedgehog Air spool bearings. Even after all of that, I'm still a few hundred away from what these typically sell for.

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dragon1
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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by dragon1 » Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:56 am

LOVE IT!!! BADASS AND BULLETPROOF.

That's a legacy reel for generations to come, and aside the weight and taller profile, it competes very well with today's offerings and is very effective for casting mag-finesse and in some cases BFS techs.

What rod, line, lures, techs are you planning for it?

Excellent work and congrats on your acquisition.
"It is like a finger pointing away to the Moon...don't concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all of that heavenly glory."

tincanary
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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by tincanary » Thu Jul 14, 2022 8:15 am

dragon1 wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:56 am
LOVE IT!!! BADASS AND BULLETPROOF.

That's a legacy reel for generations to come, and aside the weight and taller profile, it competes very well with today's offerings and is very effective for casting mag-finesse and in some cases BFS techs.

What rod, line, lures, techs are you planning for it?

Excellent work and congrats on your acquisition.
Thanks! As of now, my plan is to spool it with some 8lb Berkley X9 I have lying around. The thing that surprises me the most about this reel is the brake plate shares more with the Morrum than it does your typical 1500C/2500C. The entire pinion disengagement works on a cam action like a low profile reel, and it uses a kick lever to re-engage the spool instead of the 1 or 2 posts at the base of the driveshaft like its predecessors. The thumb bar is super crisp and a pleasure to actuate. With the new gears and pinion bearing, it's every bit as smooth as my Calcutta Conquest BFS and Millionaire CT, but it is more on the noisy side.

As for uses, it'll be throwing minnows on the creeks for trout, and come the cooler weather, I'll swap back to the factory spool and use it for spinner/spoon/plug fishing for steelhead.

Not many of these reels were made, this is 1 of 470 manufactured in 1999.

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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by dragon1 » Thu Jul 14, 2022 8:59 am

tincanary wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 8:15 am
dragon1 wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:56 am
LOVE IT!!! BADASS AND BULLETPROOF.

That's a legacy reel for generations to come, and aside the weight and taller profile, it competes very well with today's offerings and is very effective for casting mag-finesse and in some cases BFS techs.

What rod, line, lures, techs are you planning for it?

Excellent work and congrats on your acquisition.
Thanks! As of now, my plan is to spool it with some 8lb Berkley X9 I have lying around. The thing that surprises me the most about this reel is the brake plate shares more with the Morrum than it does your typical 1500C/2500C. The entire pinion disengagement works on a cam action like a low profile reel, and it uses a kick lever to re-engage the spool instead of the 1 or 2 posts at the base of the driveshaft like its predecessors. The thumb bar is super crisp and a pleasure to actuate. With the new gears and pinion bearing, it's every bit as smooth as my Calcutta Conquest BFS and Millionaire CT, but it is more on the noisy side.

As for uses, it'll be throwing minnows on the creeks for trout, and come the cooler weather, I'll swap back to the factory spool and use it for spinner/spoon/plug fishing for steelhead.

Not many of these reels were made, this is 1 of 470 manufactured in 1999.
WOW, incredible what happens when a top tier Abu is essentially fully designed, engineered, and manufactured in Sweden, eh?

Also did you install an IAR bearing conversion, or is that mod available?
"It is like a finger pointing away to the Moon...don't concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all of that heavenly glory."

tincanary
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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by tincanary » Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:20 am

dragon1 wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 8:59 am
tincanary wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 8:15 am
dragon1 wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:56 am
LOVE IT!!! BADASS AND BULLETPROOF.

That's a legacy reel for generations to come, and aside the weight and taller profile, it competes very well with today's offerings and is very effective for casting mag-finesse and in some cases BFS techs.

What rod, line, lures, techs are you planning for it?

Excellent work and congrats on your acquisition.
Thanks! As of now, my plan is to spool it with some 8lb Berkley X9 I have lying around. The thing that surprises me the most about this reel is the brake plate shares more with the Morrum than it does your typical 1500C/2500C. The entire pinion disengagement works on a cam action like a low profile reel, and it uses a kick lever to re-engage the spool instead of the 1 or 2 posts at the base of the driveshaft like its predecessors. The thumb bar is super crisp and a pleasure to actuate. With the new gears and pinion bearing, it's every bit as smooth as my Calcutta Conquest BFS and Millionaire CT, but it is more on the noisy side.

As for uses, it'll be throwing minnows on the creeks for trout, and come the cooler weather, I'll swap back to the factory spool and use it for spinner/spoon/plug fishing for steelhead.

Not many of these reels were made, this is 1 of 470 manufactured in 1999.
WOW, incredible what happens when a top tier Abu is essentially fully designed, engineered, and manufactured in Sweden, eh?

Also did you install an IAR bearing conversion, or is that mod available?
Nope, this reel is factory IAR. It's cut from a different loaf of bread than the others. Here's the schematic.

Image

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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by Johnny A » Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:31 am

Abu ≠ Dangerfield

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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by SSS » Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:37 am

When i look at an Abu round reel, i am seeing a fishing reel from the 1930's :oops: Can't tell if its supposed to be good or not.

dragon1
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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by dragon1 » Thu Jul 14, 2022 10:55 am

tincanary wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:20 am
dragon1 wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 8:59 am
tincanary wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 8:15 am
dragon1 wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:56 am
LOVE IT!!! BADASS AND BULLETPROOF.

That's a legacy reel for generations to come, and aside the weight and taller profile, it competes very well with today's offerings and is very effective for casting mag-finesse and in some cases BFS techs.

What rod, line, lures, techs are you planning for it?

Excellent work and congrats on your acquisition.
Thanks! As of now, my plan is to spool it with some 8lb Berkley X9 I have lying around. The thing that surprises me the most about this reel is the brake plate shares more with the Morrum than it does your typical 1500C/2500C. The entire pinion disengagement works on a cam action like a low profile reel, and it uses a kick lever to re-engage the spool instead of the 1 or 2 posts at the base of the driveshaft like its predecessors. The thumb bar is super crisp and a pleasure to actuate. With the new gears and pinion bearing, it's every bit as smooth as my Calcutta Conquest BFS and Millionaire CT, but it is more on the noisy side.

As for uses, it'll be throwing minnows on the creeks for trout, and come the cooler weather, I'll swap back to the factory spool and use it for spinner/spoon/plug fishing for steelhead.

Not many of these reels were made, this is 1 of 470 manufactured in 1999.
WOW, incredible what happens when a top tier Abu is essentially fully designed, engineered, and manufactured in Sweden, eh?

Also did you install an IAR bearing conversion, or is that mod available?
Nope, this reel is factory IAR. It's cut from a different loaf of bread than the others. Here's the schematic.

Image
Friggin' NOICE!

Yeah I suppose I should have read your post title that indicated "1600 C IAR". LOL
Last edited by dragon1 on Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"It is like a finger pointing away to the Moon...don't concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all of that heavenly glory."

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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by jvelth74 » Thu Jul 14, 2022 10:58 am

tincanary wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:37 am
I outfitted this guy with all Avail parts. 1520R spool, ported double bearing idler, double bearing worm, lightweight line guide, 6.1:1 gears, pinion bearing, carbon drag, and topped it off with Hedgehog Air spool bearings. Even after all of that, I'm still a few hundred away from what these typically sell for.
Nice!! =D>
SSS wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:37 am
When i look at an Abu round reel, i am seeing a fishing reel from the 1930's :oops: Can't tell if its supposed to be good or not.
And if I would own fully customized perfect 2500 and hopefully Anglo&co custom rod for it, I would see myself as Angler Saito in a third person view :big grin:


tincanary
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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by tincanary » Thu Jul 14, 2022 5:32 pm

jvelth74 wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 10:58 am
tincanary wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:37 am
I outfitted this guy with all Avail parts. 1520R spool, ported double bearing idler, double bearing worm, lightweight line guide, 6.1:1 gears, pinion bearing, carbon drag, and topped it off with Hedgehog Air spool bearings. Even after all of that, I'm still a few hundred away from what these typically sell for.
Nice!! =D>
SSS wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 9:37 am
When i look at an Abu round reel, i am seeing a fishing reel from the 1930's :oops: Can't tell if its supposed to be good or not.
And if I would own fully customized perfect 2500 and hopefully Anglo&co custom rod for it, I would see myself as Angler Saito in a third person view :big grin:

A guy I talk to on another forum got an Anglo last year, he says they're built to order and the lead time is over a year. They either have high demand and/or impeccable craftsmanship with that kind of wait. I wouldn't mind having one myself.

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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by AlgonquinFan » Thu Jul 14, 2022 6:41 pm

Very nice. I wish Abu would make a new batch of the 1500/2500 round reels.

tincanary
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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by tincanary » Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:12 pm

AlgonquinFan wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 6:41 pm
Very nice. I wish Abu would make a new batch of the 1500/2500 round reels.
Same here. The last time they were made was 2011 and 2012, just 100 runs each of the 2500CDL. Abu wants to put out more of the small Ambassadeurs but Pure Fishing feels that the Revo is the future. It's pretty obvious looking at sale prices of the 1500/2500 reels that there is a very high demand for them, but Pure Fishing is standing in the way. The last truly noteworthy reel Abu produced was the 2600C Elite, which was released in 2009 in a run of about 1500 units between right and left retrieve. Those go for well over $1000 mint with the box and all literature. When they were actually available to buy from tackle stores, they were $350.

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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by mylobass » Fri Jul 15, 2022 4:08 pm

Beautiful. I have 4 2500CIAR's in as new condition that Jerry Foran super tuned for me. They are my most prized possessions.

tincanary
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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by tincanary » Fri Jul 15, 2022 4:53 pm

mylobass wrote:
Fri Jul 15, 2022 4:08 pm
Beautiful. I have 4 2500CIAR's in as new condition that Jerry Foran super tuned for me. They are my most prized possessions.
Jerry is a hell of a guy! Sadly, he closed up shop earlier this year. According to him, the reel service just got to be too much for him to take on at his age. He's a standup guy and always had the parts you needed regardless if it was listed on his site or not.

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Re: Not much love for Abu around here, but here's my latest. 1600C IAR

Post by Shadowcaster1969 » Fri Jul 15, 2022 9:56 pm

tincanary wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 7:12 pm
AlgonquinFan wrote:
Thu Jul 14, 2022 6:41 pm
Very nice. I wish Abu would make a new batch of the 1500/2500 round reels.
Same here. The last time they were made was 2011 and 2012, just 100 runs each of the 2500CDL. Abu wants to put out more of the small Ambassadeurs but Pure Fishing feels that the Revo is the future. It's pretty obvious looking at sale prices of the 1500/2500 reels that there is a very high demand for them, but Pure Fishing is standing in the way. The last truly noteworthy reel Abu produced was the 2600C Elite, which was released in 2009 in a run of about 1500 units between right and left retrieve. Those go for well over $1000 mint with the box and all literature. When they were actually available to buy from tackle stores, they were $350.
I was given the impression that many of the molds and stamping machines for the small 1500 and 2500 size Abu parts had been scraped after the 2011 production run, so that was the reason that they were not able to restart the production line. Building new molds and new stamping machines would just not produce a small Abu with the same feel...

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