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I have a dozen 8A’s and a dozen 12A’s along with a couple of 16A’s, and picked up my first new Fin Nor 12ABS (12 ABS being the new designation) at the MSBA show. For what I want out of a reel they rule. I use power pro15# and 20# and get wind knots like every other reel I have. The drag is the best, the quick-change spool allows for flexibility and the ability to have spools loaded with shock leaders etc for those times when a blue cuts you when fish are everywhere. I completely concur with Bassturbed’s four points, and add one more – the bail trips over during casts too frequently. I do not use them at night when I’m walking a beach because they are too heavy – that’s when I grab my Van Staal.
When I got the 12ABS home I broke it down. The reel is almost identical to the old ones and the parts are interchangeable – I spent a few hours switching most of them back + forth between old + new models - but there are a few important distinctions. The old pot metal parts, of special concern the oscillator slider (which governs the main shaft going up and down to lay line on the spool properly and was prone to breakage) are now made of solid metal (I am not sure if they are stainless, but certainly are no longer pot metal), and a number of the gears etc are also made of different metals, but seem to be stainless or some type of composite. The body of the reel is made of some type of composite and the reel is drastically lighter than the old models (20 oz vs. 26? (I think) for the old ones) – a major bitch about the old reel was it being too heavy. I believe that my comparable Van Staal (150) is 12 oz. They are made in China, which in my opinion is not necessarily a bad thing. One very important difference in the reels is the antireverse clutch assembly, which on the old ones was open and prone to water infiltration, causing rust and corrosion in the heart of the reel. The new ones have been altered in an attempt to cease that, and there is a spring retaining ring around the washer over the clutch for a tighter seal. This alteration was the only physical difference / part change I found (disclaimer - I did not open the retaining ring and look at the clutch assembly but from the schematics it appeared to be the same as the old model). One other alteration was the bail spring trip assembly. The parts seem to be the same, but the bail seemed to come over/not come over better than the old model – not that I would care, because I remove it and go bailless anyways. But I know that would be a concern to many. I just hope it would not come over as you cast, sending that plug to Portugal (why I go bailless…). On the old Ahabs I found the parts most likely to fail was the handle (made of Bakelite or something similar) and the aforementioned oscillator slider, and both have been changed (and hopefully improved).
Parts were difficult to obtain after the old owners of Fin Nor went out of biz 5 years ago, and I have bought a few on Ebay just for parts. But, as I have found, the parts to the new reels (at least in the case of the 12’s) are interchangeable. On top of that, Fin Nor is now owned by the same company that owns Van Staal (Zebco). I spoke with the service guy at Van Staal and asked about parts, and they are available.
I believe that the new reel is superior in many ways to the old model. Hope this is not too much information and helps you.
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