Orvis 50A Mystery

[kevinhaney1]

I just got a very clean Orvis 50A. The bail has been soldered next to the bearing (see picture). At first I thought this was a repair, but a good number of otherwise pristine 50As on eBay have the exact same configuration, so it looks to me like it is a variant and not a repair. There appear to be at least two other variants. If it isn't a repair, I'm surprised that Orvis would do this since it is not up to the quality standard that they tried to present. Does anyone know the story on this?

Kevin

[john elder]

No factoids to add, Kevin, but i’m betting thats a post-production modification to add Some strength to an area that would be easily bent during use.

[Midway Tommy D]

The 50A had multiple bail variations throughout its evolution. That may have happened during the change over from Zangi to Coptes, but I'm not sure. I would guess Sergio should have some insight on how and when those variations took place.

One type is a straight wire attached to the bail arm line guide bracket. Another is a two piece taper to the bail arm line guide bracket. A third is conical cover on the end of the bail wire that attaches separately to the bail arm.

Here's my straight wire 50A:


Here's one that I heisted from JE's P Bucket account that is just like yours:


Here's one with the conical cover:

[jorgen56]

Greetings to everyone. Rest assured it is not a modification but completely normal in the first versions, it is a normal reinforcement also present in the other Zangi models. Renzo Di Paolo ANTIPES

[kevinhaney1]

Thanks for all of the information everyone! I'm glad it is not a repair but like I said in my original posting, I'm surprised that Orvis would have visible welds on a high end reel.

Kevin

[Jim Schottenham]

The reinforced bail is shown on the paper instructions/manual included with the Orvis reels of that era:

[john elder]

Ha! I’m glad somebody can get pics off my old PB account, Tommy! They spammed me to death and I finally stalked off! Sorry for the misleading comment, Kevin. I was thinking that it was a Mitchell modification “post-production”, not by some garage hack like me...ie, they made without it and quickly realized the reinforcement was needed. Obviously, this was an issue that required yet further consideration over time. Nice newsy post, Folks!