Decided to give a Black Max another chance...

[SteelHorseCowboy]

But not the synthetic framed low pro version, oh hell no!

Pawn shop find of the day! Ambassadeur Black Max 3600 on a 7' MH Lightning Rod Shock!

The reel has a bent and battered handle and worn paint, the rod is immaculate! Notice it still has the plastic wrapping on the cork.



During negotiations, I pointed out the handle. Dealer said "okay, I'll knock off $5."
Then I pointed out, "Hey, I like it, but I don't know what this reel has been through."
I got a deadpan blank stare. He and I both know it seems mechanically perfect except for that handle.
"Also, several of these line guides are bent."
He looked, and literally rolled his eyes at me as he straightened the two BARELY bent line guides with his thumb and forefinger.

So I accepted the $5 discount and forked over a whopping $35.

It needs a cleaning, but possibly only on the outside, I'll know for sure once I get it open. This thing casts and retrieves so butter smooth it's sick, and I can see some tell tale signs it's been disassembled before and also has fresh line on it so I suspect it's actually been properly cared for. I also happen to have a matching handle at home.

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[LgMouthGambler]

Nice score! Should be a solid reel. Them older Abus are money!

[cport]

But not the synthetic framed low pro version, oh hell no!

Pawn shop find of the day! Ambassadeur Black Max 3600 on a 7' MH Lightning Rod Shock!

The reel has a bent and battered handle and worn paint, the rod is immaculate! Notice it still has the plastic wrapping on the cork.



During negotiations, I pointed out the handle. Dealer said "okay, I'll knock off $5."
Then I pointed out, "Hey, I like it, but I don't know what this reel has been through."
I got a deadpan blank stare. He and I both know it seems mechanically perfect except for that handle.
"Also, several of these line guides are bent."
He looked, and literally rolled his eyes at me as he straightened the two BARELY bent line guides with his thumb and forefinger.

So I accepted the $5 discount and forked over a whopping $35.

It needs a cleaning, but possibly only on the outside, I'll know for sure once I get it open. This thing casts and retrieves so butter smooth it's sick, and I can see some tell tale signs it's been disassembled before and also has fresh line on it so I suspect it's actually been properly cared for. I also happen to have a matching handle at home.

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Nice find, love my lightning rod. What are the details on the rod?

[Lipripper]

Looks like a nice set up SHC and can't wait till you get to try it out and tell us how it did for you.

[Mike Cork]

Loved the smaller 3600, hell of a find 

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Nice find, love my lightning rod. What are the details on the rod?

7 foot medium heavy. Seems like a more moderate tip than what my 6'6" has.

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[SteelHorseCowboy]

Nice score! Should be a solid reel. Them older Abus are money!

I always have an old Ambassadeur nearby. This is my parts built reel on the Pro Cat rod, and a Penn 155 on some old school big game rod. That Penn cost me $10 in an Arkadelphia flea market, the rod was another $10 at a local flea market. The catfish are LOVING these little sausages!

Lip, I've cast around a bit out here on the river bank with the new combo. Haven't caught anything with it yet, and not really expecting to. As y'all can see from the pic, I've got some weather moving in on me. Gonna have to call for an exfil, let the oldest boy drop me off and take my car job hunting.

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[SteelHorseCowboy]

Well I actually did end up catching a bass on the new rod and reel!
Called for a pickup. The son and Connie rolled up in her car right when the "storm" hit. He'd gone home to unload some groceries for her right around the time this storm was coming in and they both came out to get me.
It was a freakish storm, about 15 minutes of extreme winds, thunder and lightning, but no rain.
It cleared up almost as soon as I got loaded into the car, so we all headed out to one of our favorite local spots.

Using a whopper plopper. I got a hit. The plopper was sucked under almost as if by a vacuum. I waited to feel the weight and never did feel it, but I saw my line go straight. I set the hook, or tried to, and the plopper came floating to the surface.
A few casts later, exact same thing.
A few more casts later, and I had one on the hook!
He was jumping like someone had shoved a pogo stick up it's butt and I was wondering how the hell a kangaroo could mate with a bass, when it dawned on me: I had no drag! I'd loosened it when I replaced the handle with the old one from my 6500.
That explained why it felt as if it was retrieving the plopper slower than I felt it should! I was spinning the drag the whole time!
So while trying to keep the line at least somewhat tight, I'm slapping the drag star with my thumb until I was in control. But I wasn't really, it only took me a moment to realize I BARELY had this fish pinned.
Right as I got it out of the water, he flopped and spit the lure right at my face. Vindictive bastage!
But I got it, and a pretty decent little fat dink too!



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[FloridaFishinFool]

Awesome SHC.

I am keeping an eye on some pawn shop finds myself right now. I found a $800 Grumman aluminum canoe originally marked $400. I told the manager I'd buy it when price drops to $250. I checked yesterday and it is down to $300.

I am also keeping an eye on a gLoomis rod until price comes down to where I want it.

Love those pawn shop finds!

[SteelHorseCowboy]

There are some great finds out there at pawn shops, estate sales, flea markets and other second hand sales. It's trickier finding the really great deals online, because people who know how to post sales online also usually know how to research the value of what they're selling. You gotta hit the streets to find treasures for pennies.
My youngest boy collects Pokèmon cards. The same flea market I bought that Penn at, there was a collection on sale. Mint condition, each card in it's own separate sleeve, $1 each, and some were printed in Japanese. So we bought a bunch for him, 20 I think. No idea of the value, just knew they looked cool and he'd love them. We did some research later, none of them were those super valuable ones that were worth thousands. The most valuable one was selling for $150 on a collectors site, most were only worth about $5, and a few were selling for $50-$60 online. It would have cost around $500 to get all those cards from the collector's sites.

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[1ReelFanatik]

Don't know about the 3600, but the 1600s do a very good job of not only handling some light weights, but behave very well in strong winds.  Would like to do some upgrades on mine if I ever get to where I can retire and enjoy a new hobby....learning to work on my own reels.

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Don't know about the 3600, but the 1600s do a very good job of not only handling some light weights, but behave very well in strong winds.  Would like to do some upgrades on mine if I ever get to where I can retire and enjoy a new hobby....learning to work on my own reels.

This one did very well at tossing light weights and handling wind. That rainless storm that rolled in on me was pushing white caps upriver, and you can see in the pic that it was dead calm before that. The pic was taken maybe 5 minutes before the wind hit. I didn't cast directly into it, but made a few across the wind before packing up and hightailing it towards the road.
It doesn't toss them very far, and does NOT seem to appreciate loading the rod to rocket a heavy lure as far as possible.
BUT...
It also hasn't been serviced yet, not by me at least, and I have no idea when the last service may have been.
That's coming next, because I also found a bit of a design flaw. Remember I mentioned it doesn't like to launch heavy lures hard? Yeah, if there's a bad backlash, good luck picking it out! Lol, there's a space about the size of a half dollar available to pluck and pick at the knots. I had a backlash that I'd consider relatively minor on any of my other reels, but on this one I had to just hack all the line off the spool with an Xacto knife.
That was a bummer, because the line was fresh and seemed to be decent quality mono.
It's already pretty well behaved, but may behave a little better with a good scrubbing, bearing flush, and relube.

By the way, I haven't been inside this one yet, but if it's at least almost as simple as a regular Ambassadeur it probably wouldn't take much for you to learn it. Regular Ambassadeurs aren't much more complex than tying your shoes, and upgrading them is about as hard as changing your socks. That's just part of why I love 'em.
Guess I'll see what this one's all about this evening.

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[SteelHorseCowboy]

It had no brake blocks! As well as this reel behaved and was easy to control, I was amazed to discover that.
I've got a handful in a pill bottle, so that was no biggie. Then I proceeded to clean and relube. It's about what I suspected, this reel is well used and well cared for. The guts were in perfect condition and it had what looked like Quantum Hot Sauce grease in it. I didn't feel the need to really do more than replace the brake blocks and flush the bearings, but since it was my first time seeing the insides I decided to go ahead and do the whole thing just to get familiar with it, and now I know for sure it's fresh.

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[topdsm0138]

Sweet find. I have three of those rods myself. You pretty much bought the rod and got a reel for free. Lol

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[SteelHorseCowboy]

Sweet find. I have three of those rods myself. You pretty much bought the rod and got a reel for free. Lol

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Yep, that's the way I feel about it! That rod alone is $40 at Walmart.

I have decided I do really really like this reel!
But there is that issue I mentioned. If you get a backlash, just about your only choice is to start cutting line, IF you can get your pocketknife in there. I've had to respool this reel twice already, and going to start carrying toothpicks with me.

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[the_huber_show]

Solid find my man and I applaud the trying to a deeper discount

[Bankbeater56]

But not the synthetic framed low pro version, oh hell no!

Pawn shop find of the day! Ambassadeur Black Max 3600 on a 7' MH Lightning Rod Shock!

The reel has a bent and battered handle and worn paint, the rod is immaculate! Notice it still has the plastic wrapping on the cork.



During negotiations, I pointed out the handle. Dealer said "okay, I'll knock off $5."
Then I pointed out, "Hey, I like it, but I don't know what this reel has been through."
I got a deadpan blank stare. He and I both know it seems mechanically perfect except for that handle.
"Also, several of these line guides are bent."
He looked, and literally rolled his eyes at me as he straightened the two BARELY bent line guides with his thumb and forefinger.

So I accepted the $5 discount and forked over a whopping $35.

It needs a cleaning, but possibly only on the outside, I'll know for sure once I get it open. This thing casts and retrieves so butter smooth it's sick, and I can see some tell tale signs it's been disassembled before and also has fresh line on it so I suspect it's actually been properly cared for. I also happen to have a matching handle at home.

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How do you like the Shock Rod? I'm thinking of picking one up.


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[SteelHorseCowboy]

This one in particular has proven to be a great budget cranking rod. I have several Lightning Rods and they're all exceptional for their price. I don't hesitate to recommend them to anyone on a budget.

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[Donald Garner]

Congrats on that find there.  I like those Berkley Lighting Shock Rods.  Carl and I found one last Spring on Belton Lake.  I cleaned it up and stuck a ABU Black Max Low Profile reel on it.  I used it for a few months.  I gave it to a soldier I met and took fishing.

[Smallie_Stalker]

How do you like the Shock Rod? I'm thinking of picking one up.


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I have quite a few of the Shock rods. IMO they are good rods and can usually be found really cheap.

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