Used in 1976 for certain models.I will attempt to clarify some of the mystery surrounding the Ambassadeur 6000 without foot numbers. "C" denotes the use of ball bearings; however, the 5000C was not the very first model to use them. This one is chocolate in color.
S/N 96601 (above) has it and I have recorded several other 5000s up to S/N 107927 with this spool.
An unknown number of them were manufactured sometime between 1956 and very early 1958. They were made for the 5000 model.
This can be noted by opening the cover page of a Garcia Fishing Annual.
All cases below appear in chronological order and their dates should be considered very close for the time period offered.The black synthetic leather cases came in three styles.
Note the poor attempt at gold plating a common 5500C frame with lot number 7609Record Ambassadeur 5000 MOD SG was the first Ambassadeur bait cast reel made.
ABU also did this with their Ambassadeur 5000X series in the 1960's. In the late 1970s, ABU introduced its high speed model with the Thumbar. This example has a tear drop shaped star drag and later style counter weight. They were used from mid 1964 into the 1980s. This is a Vintage Garcia Abu 3000 Reeel. Lot number 751100 is the earliest production date found for this model.
very early ABU and non-ABU 5000ca. It should be noted that the correct 5500 handle for this case is the 80mm power handle with twin flat knobs. That's the day I knew if I wanted to collect them, I had to learn about them. It's also the only model that used ball bearings and was never engraved with "C" beside its model number. I quickly grabbed Simon's book and checked to see if this reel was listed and as I thought, it was not. If there was a mechanical or parts design change, the version number would reflect that change with "01" "02" and so on. Garcia's fishing season begins in July and ends in June the following year.
It is my hope that this information can be used as a tool to avoid some of the pitfalls associated with collecting.I have also included some cleaning tips that I've learned over the years which I believe are helpful to know. By tightening the knob to a desired tension, you could apply drag washer pressure against the drive gear assembly which is similar to the conventional star drag wheel. Record parts were exhausted as ABU used them to assemble "ABU" marked reels as Record Ambassadeur was phased out by the end of 1957. One likely reason is that ABU wanted to maintain the harmony of their first gold presentation model. If you live in a very low humidity environment such as Arizona, you may have to apply this product sooner.
The box was marked "5000B" with matching serial number on the box bottom.
About two years later a clicker was added.
This was ABU's only left-handed model made during the classic years of 1952~1979. "X" stood for "extra" spool filled with line.A reproduction part is best described as an ABU manufactured part made after the classic era ended which is generally accepted as 1979. This is not necessarily the case with all ABU original or reproduction plates.
Models listed here can be read by the third type: 1500C, 2500C, 4000D, 4500(C), 4600C, 5000 (A B Asterisk * denotes the 5000C as starting out with serial numbers in 1966 when production started. ABU saw this as an opportunity to cut cost by using the same left side plate for both models.
We have become good friends through time and he will always be close to my heart.Below can be found information, but not limited to, dating reels, reel cases, model number and letter designations, warning signs of altered reels, version numbers and their meaning.