ID Assistance Needed

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m3040c
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ID Assistance Needed

Post by m3040c »

Here I am, al ready to list a reel I got with a bunch of others. Except I know nothing about the reel. Usually I am able to, at least ID the reel well enough to list it on the Bay, but I am at a loss. Probably because I do not and never have fished with a Garcia Bait Casting reel.

I kind of like it. The reel has a great feel, operates fine but has a bunch of boat rash. Anyways, I feel there is an expert among us that can give me a model number and vintage for this reel. Possibly even a starting point to get the bidding going.

The diameter of the body is just shy of 2 3/4 inches and the spool diameter 1 inch. It is a very comfortable reel to handle being completely round, it fits the palm really nice.

But I still do not know what model it is.

Thanks in advance for any help here.




mike cass,,, if you can't collect it, it must be food
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Ron Mc
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by Ron Mc »

I believe you have an Abmbassadeur ProMax 1600 - it's in pretty tough condition.
I think I can read a remnant of 8 ball bearings on the face plate.
Manufactured in 1992 and '93
http://www.realsreels.com/servicing/ser ... ckMax.html
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m3040c
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by m3040c »

I believe you have an Abmbassadeur ProMax 1600 - it's in pretty tough condition.
I think I can read a remnant of 8 ball bearings on the face plate.
Manufactured in 1992 and '93
Thank you Ron, that is an absolutely great servicing tutorial. I thought I had a better photo of the face plate, but I guess I missed that one. I will update.




These are better. I was not sure what the print on the face plate meant.
Last edited by m3040c on Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
mike cass,,, if you can't collect it, it must be food
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Ron Mc
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by Ron Mc »

Actually, that says 3 BB- it's a Black Max missing the black paint.

I'll add if you clean and tune that reel to cast, you'll be starting at the top of old Ambassadeurs.

Ambassadeurs come up frequently on Bass Resource forum, and the original Black Max gets lauded (so do the new ones for price point).
40 years ago, I was fishing a Daiwa Millionaire 6H inshore, surf, and moved it to a Fenglas Lunkerstik for bass fishing.
Fishing free shrimp - a live shrimp and a bare hook - I used to out distance guides throwing spinning tackle by using a spiral cast.
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m3040c
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by m3040c »

Thank you again for the assistance.

I was wondering if the Black Max was sold with a black frame and a silver head plate? This reel's head plate was never painted black. I will re-paint the reel's frame black when I take it down, if that is a feasible alternative. I feel much more confident about breaking the reel down, now that I have that great tutorial.
mike cass,,, if you can't collect it, it must be food
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Ron Mc
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by Ron Mc »

cool - give us a show-and-tell on it.
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m3040c
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by m3040c »

Sure will, but will not submit it until it works out good....<:O)
mike cass,,, if you can't collect it, it must be food
Dr. Rob
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by Dr. Rob »

Not a Black Max, as they were just that: black.
There was however the Silver Max as well as the sameish reels in subsequent years, the SM (and BM) series. This one looks wider than a 1600; might be a 3600, but essentially the same thing anyway.
I have a couple myself. Indeed, a nice solid little unit. Iirc one of the first mainstream reels to incorporate an IAR bearing, thereby causing a little sensation when they hit the market.

(Funny anecdote for a reel collectors forum, btw… the father of a friend of mine owned Abu for a short time, back around then. So one day they went down to the factory, and dad said, sure… take anything you want. So he took a Black Max.)

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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by Ron Mc »

you're right Doc, I also finally found photos of a SM3600C that has similar rim markings
https://www.thehulltruth.com/sportfishi ... reels.html
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by Dr. Rob »

The brake knob is not original though. Seems to be taken from another Ambassadeur.
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m3040c
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by m3040c »

OK, now I am confused again. I thought we were done. Seems we are not. I guess the variations in the Abu world are endless. the spool on my reel is only one inch wide. I would think that is small and the 1600 model number makes sense to me. But, I know nothing I am a Penn guy.
mike cass,,, if you can't collect it, it must be food
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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by Dr. Rob »

Oh sure, maybe you are right. I just kinda winged it, by looking at your pics. Looked sorta 3600ish, but sure, only an inch wide.. maybe it is a 1600. I have a 3600 i might have a chance to look at tomorrow to compare with.

Added: just had a look at the old catalogs. Yes, the line capacity stickers indicate it is a 3600.
But the ones pictured in the Swedish catalogs have slightly different rim stickers, stainless knobs and sideplate thumbscrews, and 6 bearings. The foot number indicates 1995, but they didn’t have any rim stickers at all then, so maybe ’96 . Or the USA version was just a bit different. Who knows.

In any case, have fun with it. Enjoy.

Added, even later, after some googling: S3600C. Not SM.

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Re: ID Assistance Needed

Post by Ron Mc »

Mike, don't be too confused.
We're on the correct series of reel. When I first looked at your photos, I began searching Morrum, which was the cadillac version of Abu's barstock frame with mag brake.

The Black Max, Silver Max, and Pro Max were the manstream Ambassadeurs from the '90s (die-cast frame), made to compete with Shimano Calcutta, and bridged the gap before low profile reels arrived.
Their big attribute was improving frame stiffness and lowering frame weight over pillared-brass frames.
There were enough traditionalists to keep the Ambassadeur C3s and C4s going, but serious bass fishermen locked onto the new reels and, again, they were all replaced and their names taken by later low profile reels.

From a distance, it's tough to identify the spool size, because these reels were made from 1600 to 6600 sizes.
You can tell that better than we can.

For comparison, here's the forged frame on a new top-line Abu Revo. Of course what you gain with LP reels is getting the spool and your thumb closer to the rod. They still make round reels from BFS to offshore sizes, and Shimano pretty much dominates that market.
Image
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