conventional reels : I'm confused
 

Penn Mag or an Abu Mag ?
If Abu Mag , which one ? Mag , sport or others ? Upgrades ?

rod : gsb 1201L
use : mostly 1.5-3 oz plugs, maybe small to medium eels

I'd like to try something without a levelwind , thinking the mag control will give me more distance and keep it from backlashing .
Also does one of the Ron Arra books or videos show how to tear apart a 7000c3 ?

Good news here, I don't really think you could go wrong with either.

Penn reel has a better drag and is a little heavier duty

Levelwind its Abu. Non levelwind it doesn't matter. See which handle you like. they are a little different on the Abu's and Penn.

I would recommend levelwind.

Abu
 

I'd go with the Abu because of It's Metal frame and quality ball bearings and while Mike is right about the drag things get dropped in the surf and the Abu's are reel easy to maintain
But I'd get them now while they are still made in Sweden

Personally, I'm a wuss and like the levelwind... Especially for eeling but that's just my opinion - the Calcutta is nice too

Calcuttas are nice but
 

I have to replace the bearings some times because they tend to bind after a fight or high tension so I switched from stock to custom bearings i had made.

Calcutta's rule!!! i've been using them for 3 years now, never any probs. I've used Fin-Nor, Abu's, Quantums, Mitchels,,,, for casting quality, my opinion is Calcutta's can't be beat

Too many plastics pieces in a Calcutta for me, I'll take an ABU anyday.

The only problem in 6 years and 2 Calcuttas has been both have suffered from was a worn Clutch Pawl. That would cause the reel to not engage AFTER a cast (and it was not an issue of too much grease :eek5: )... Never had a bearing problem on a Calcutta ...

All reels have plastic pieces in them now-a-days, that is why they are sooo light. Try the calcutta te models, they are pricey, but they use alloys in most of the high wear area's like clutch pawls,engage and dis-engage area's