Bass Fishing - UltimateBass.com

Conclusion and Tips  - 1. It takes me approximately 3 hours of steady labor to "SUPER TUNE" a reel. This includes a full tear down to the frame, cleaning of the reel and flushing of the ball bearings which is essential for this process to work. It will probably take you longer if you are not experienced in servicing reels so be ready to invest a little time in this, the results are worth the effort though, many satisfied customers have attested to this with what they say and where they put their money (read Super Tuning the rest of their reels!)!

2. One way I get an idea about how smooth a surface has become after I have "SUPER TUNED" it is wet a wood handled cotton swab with alcohol and rub it across the polished surface. This transmits the relative roughness or smoothness of a surface right to you finger tips you should try this on pre and post polished surfaces , this works really well inside the pinion gear after you have "SUPER TUNED" it! You can really get an idea of the effect you are having by checking your surfaces this way.

3. You can expend all your time and labor on doing this process and it all be for naught if you don't service your ball bearings! I clean mine by soaking them in kerosene. I drip them in the kerosene and spin them with my finger letting the kerosene do its stuff inside the bearing. Then I place them on a paper towel to "suck" the kerosene out of the bearing. I may repeat this step several times. Once I am confident that the bearing is as free running as possible I place it in some paint thinner to remove the kerosene residue. Obviously you will need to let the bearing dry for a while after all this before re-lubing it!

4. Don't use too much grease inside of your reel when reassembling it. Grease can get in the wrong spot (usually on the spool shaft) and be a great hindrance to the castability of the reel.

5. Re-lube the little brown spacer that contacts the spool shaft end by the friction ring with grease not oil. Make sure to lube this spacer sparingly with the grease and also make sure that the ball bearing that is placed in the housing with it isn't dripping with oil as it will leak onto the friction ring and cause the centrifugal brakes to lose their control on the spool during casting

6. Note: Many ABU GARCIA baitcasters have more spool mass than the Shimano's I have tested when filled with line, But even with this weight advantage, in distance casting the ABU's just cant keep up! Their control surfaces and tension adjustments are too outdated and course to compete with the present generation Daiwa's and Shimano's as far as the freshwater size baitcasting reels are concerned! ABU's respond to "SUPER TUNING" very well however, and I have many satisfied ABU customers as great improvements can be made to their castability with this process. The best ABU's to have this done too are the older style reels which have spool shafts which rotate inside a pinion gear like these Shimano's, instead of the newer ABU designs which have ball bearings in the spool which rotate on a fixed shaft. So if you have one of these older style ABU'S "SUPER TUNE" it and you will love the results

7. I have been asked about casting distances with heavier plugs and longer rods and why I haven't conducted tests with these components. Sure I could put on a 3/4 oz. casting plug and use a 7 ft. rod to "sling to the moon" but using heavier casting weights would mask the results of "SUPER TUNING" a reel. The increased mass of the larger casting plug would tend to overcome any friction in the reel and throw as far as the reel is capable of irregardless if it is "SUPER TUNED" or not (I'll bet casting a 2 oz. plug we can take all the line off a Calcutta 200 spool SUPER TUNED" or not). By using shorter stiffer rods (which don't cast as far as longer rods!) and the 1/4 oz. casting plug, the reduced friction this process creates in a reel becomes evident. This translates into effortless long casts with heavier lures and longer rods as well.

8. You may not feel that you are able to perform a SUPER TUNE on your reels yourself, but would like to have it done. I would be glad to SUPER TUNE your reel for you. I normally charge $40.00 to do this which includes a full tear down to the frame clean and service of the reel (most shops charge at least $20.00 for this type of service alone). A complete bearing flush and relube (a lot of shops don't do this at all, but only add oil to your bearings) plus all the "SUPER TUNING" steps described in these pages. I will also inspect your reel parts for damage and wear and inform you of my findings by e-mail before replacing anything. The cost of replaced parts will be added to your service charge. Worn or damaged parts will be returned with the reel so you know they were replaced. My parts prices for Shimano are less than most shops. Please E-mail me at JDNTACKLE@mindspring.com for the mailing address to send your reels too and to get a current status from me as to if I will be able to service your reels and about how long it is going to take. Please keep in mind I do this on the side because I enjoy it. It takes a lot of time to service a reel properly and I am certainly not getting rich doing this. I guarantee all my work is Top Notch and if you are not happy with anything I do for you, your money will be refunded!!

9. If you are interested in a Calcutta 200, 250 or 251 6.2 to 1 gear ratio change, which as far as I know I invented and perform exclusively, the cost will be $60.00 which includes everything listed in note #8 plus the new main gear, new modified pinion gear, drag washer, metal pawl cap and exclusive star drag shim washer. I love doing this one! It turns a common Calcutta into a line burning machine capable of taking up over 28" of line per handle turn. This is a real winner of a reel upgrade, everyone that has had this one done to their Calcutta's loves it! Great for rattle traps and buzz baits! . I have received many inquiries about the 6.2 to 1 conversion. To answer the questions just click on this link to see the detailed changes this will make in your reel Calcutta gear change document. I use the gearing out of a Curado or Chronarch the difference being the Curado pinion has two engagement slots for the spool drive pin and the Chronarch pinion has 4 slots like the Calcutta. This however is not as easy as a drop in replacement! You can place the main gear and pinion from a Curado or Chronarch into a Calcutta and it will fit and work some of the time, but there is a mechanical problem with doing this. The Curado/Chronarch pinion is taller than the Calcutta pinion so the problem with this is that when you depress the thumb bar and pinion yoke pulls the pinion gear away from the spool to its outcast position resting place, that the taller pinion gear now knocks against the ball bearing in the tension control knob housing (go ahead and install this mod in your Calcutta remove the tension control knob with the handle side of the reel facing up then depress the thumb bar while watching the bearing, see it move?) and this then can cause the ball bearing inner race to move off the small shoulder it rests upon on the spool shaft which keeps everything aligned properly. Now once the spool is out of alignment because of this and the spool is turning during an outcast the reel makes this terrible squealing noise. The other problem with this is the the top of the pinion gear is always rubbing against the ball bearing inner race during a cast, creating unwanted friction and limiting casting distances! What has to be done to make this mod work is to cut the upper part of the pinion gear down so it is the same size as the Calcutta pinion. I use either a lathe or a belt sander to do this and dremel to remove all the ruff edges after I am done. That fixes the problem and the reel won't squeal or be subject to long term damage anymore. Check out gear and pinion prices for yourself and then compare that to what I am charging to do this correctly and I am sure you will agree that I am more than reasonable in price on this service! E-mail me to get the ball rolling on this!

10. I have a new 3.8 to 1 gear change ratio that is also available for Calcutta 250, 251 or 200 reels. This modification has the same clearance problems stated above in the 6.2 to 1 gear change along with needing several extra parts to make it work! A new key washer, drag washer, and modified pinion yoke are required to do this besides the new main gear and pinion gear! This one will set you back $70 dollars as significant parts cost increases and labor are encountered doing this one, but if you want a power reel that retrieves baits tantalizingly slow this one is for you. Again e-mail me to get the ball rolling here.

11. I also specialize in rebuilding damaged or worn reels. I have to rebuild at least 6 Calcutta's every year that have sustained heavy damage from salt water exposure or being submerged for a period of time in fresh water. The good news is current production Shimano reels are totally rebuildable, provided that their frames have not been damaged (Calcutta frames are extremely expensive!). Prices for this vary as to the amount of damage but standard labor fee for this is $50.00 plus parts. The labor includes a full "SUPER TUNE" plus some extra sanding and polishing I like to do on rebuilds along the worm gear shaft, main gear, drive shaft, and thumb bar which produces a reel that is exceptionally smooth all around. This service is well worth it if you have a reel you want restored to better than ever working condition.

12. You can get the sandpaper you need to SUPER TUNE your reels in the automotive section of Wal-Mart. It is 3M brand sandpaper labeled "Imperial Wetordry", and it works great. They stock 800, 1000, 1500, AND 2000 grit paper. I would just use the 800 grit instead of the 600 I talked about in the article, probably a safe move to do this for first time SUPER TUNERS anyway! You can also wet sand with this paper which works great inside the pinion gear! THE SIMICHROME POLISH YOU CAN GET AT MOST ANTIQUE STORES OR MOTORCYCLE SHOPS!

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have. Comments (positive and negative) and suggestions are welcome as well. I will try to update these pages as I see the need too. God Bless you and happy casting!

Email: Jeff Nielsen
super-tuning@mindspring.com