In 1921, by the river of Mörrum in Svängsta, Sweden, Carl August Borgström founded AB Urfabriken. The company manufactured pocket watches, telephone timers, and taxi meters. During WWII his son began to focus on fishing reels and introduced the ABU Record®.
ABU Record® first made the stores in 1941. Baitcasters had been around since the late 1800s but things were about to get better. The reel touts that it has features never seen before for reels in its price range. Easily detachable, 3 pieces, construction. The reel has a nickel-plated frame and spool caps with spiral-cut gears. It features a level wind and adjustable screw caps which can be used as drag.
Abu Garcia’s most famous fishing reel, the Record Ambassadeur Model SG, arrived in 1952. From the beginning, the reel was hugely popular, quickly gaining a worldwide following. They made the reels in red, green, black, and even gold.
The Ambassadeur Model SG was an engineering marvel of its time, with many patented features, one being the use of a spherical bearing[1]; the first of its kind. Next, would be the most popular reel of all time, introduced in 1956 the Ambassadeur 5000.
My dad’s first baitcaster was a lefthanded Ambassadeur 5000. When I purchased one, it was the
the 5600C that I still use on every fishing trip.
- Weight 257g
- Retrieve Ratio 3.75:1
- Bronze bearing
- Clicker (5000B)
- Centrifugal brake
- Capacity 12 lb / 165m (5000)
- Capacity 12lb / 195m (5000A, 5000B))
The 5000 has two medium fiber brake blocks and 3-in-1 oil in the bushings. These old styles of Ambassadeurs benefit the most from a polish simply because there are more distance robbing friction surfaces that can be cleaned up. Parts to polish include:
- Ends of the spool shaft on the copper shims in the side plate caps
- Spool shaft on the bushings
- Spool shaft on the inside of the pinion gear
- Idler gear on the idler gear post
- Worm gear
- Centrifugal brakes on the brake drum
Footnotes
- A spherical bearing is a bearing that permits angular rotation about a central point in two orthogonal directions (usually within a specified angular limit based on the bearing geometry). Typically these bearings support a rotating shaft in the bore of the inner ring that must move not only rotationally, but also at an angle.
Sources
Abu Garcia
Fin & Flame
Outdoor News
Collectors Weekly
Reel Tuning
