😱 A 45 YEAR OLD BFS REEL that BOMBS??? ABU GARCIA 2500C First Look: Part 1

Hey guys!
In this video I’ll be sharing and talking about a BFS reel that is 45 years old. Technically, it wasn’t made as a BFS reel but it can be converted to one thanks to some really ingenious Japanese companies. The ABU/Garcia 2500C Ambassadeur is a reel that has a long history and has a steadily growing cult following world wide. With the fast growing BFS niche, in America, it stands to grow more in popularity as well.
If you noticed any errors please please please leave a comment below with a correction and I’ll be sure to add it to the description. Thank you so much as always and cheers!
#bfsfishing #ambassadeur2500c #abugarcia #baitfinessesystem #fishing #kastking #shimano #soloking #tsurinoya #fishinggear #bfs #daiwa #fishingvideo #bass #bassfishing #troutfishing #trout #2500C #アンバサダー2500c #渓流 #渓流釣り #渓流ベイトフィネス ネス

[@TheConstantAngler]

Fantastic video. Can’t wait to see the rest

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Thanks adrian! I’ve definitely got some editing to do and this might stretch into a longer series than I thought… lol… 😅

[@draidt]

Looking forward to the video's!

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Appreciate it Daniel! I’ve fallen in love with this reel even though it’s got some downsides in that it’s heavy, it’s a RH…, and it doesn’t have modern things like an anti reverse roller bearing but there’s something really nostalgic and romantic about it. I think the biggest thing for me is that it’s really fun to cast. Cheers Daniel!

[@japinoybettajapan]

That is a bad ass reel in kago style (long cast basket fishing) here in Japan most of inshore pro caster here can cast 100-120mtrs using that reel ❤

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey japinoy! That’s super cool to hear of how versatile the reel is! It’s funny as the 2500c started out as a bass reel, if I’m not mistaken, and is being adapted for BFS use but can also be tuned for long distance casting as well! Thanks for sharing the bit of info! Cheers my friend!

[@rawrfishing]

This is gonna be a nice series :)

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey Jimmy! Thanks man. I’ve been really blown away by this reel and amazed at how simple, bullet proof, and good it is(once updated)(probably good un-modded but not really as BFS-y). It’s not cheap by a long shot but I’m hoping to pass it on to my daughter when she learns how to fish and if she develops a passion for it. Keepin the dream alive haha! Cheers buddy!

[@yep.fishing]

Hey brother, I was given an ambassaduer six by my dad recently as it wasnt working. Its from 89, im really keen to get it working, just need a replacement cog.

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey yep! That’s so cool to hear! Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about Ambassadeur six reels but my good friend Robert has tons of experience. You can email him at [e-mail]. I hope he can help you get your reel up and running again and cheers my friend!

[@TRW674]

I have a 3600c which is a smaller profile and I’ve been looking for BFS spool and parts. As a stock reel , it doesn’t cast a 4gram lure very well.

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hi there! I’m unfortunately not very well versed in that reel. I’m sure Robert would know more about it. You might try giving him a call at the number in the description or sending him a text message?

[@MrNoMDI]

Very interesting ! Can’t wait to watch the next videos with tear down and upgrades ! 👍

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey! I was just looking at the install video and it comes in at a whopping 1 hour!!! Hahaha I think I have to either split it into 2 videos or do a lot of speeding up of footage and editing out… not really what I want to do but not many people will want to sit around and watch a 1 hour long video understandably. I can say that the reel is amazing after all the mods and that this is now my no 1 favorite reel to cast. It’s probably not the furthest casting and definitely not the lightest or most ergonomic but, right now, it’s the one that brings the biggest smile to my face. Anywho, cheers as always and thanks so much for the support H!

[@mojondro]

I have a 4601 and is a tank of a reel but is so easy to maintain and to fish with that i love it for that,the 2500c is an an jem of a reel i still looking for the 2501 to sink my teeth in,i know they make it on left hand i saw a couple on ebay but the price is off the scale

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Finding a good 2501C is like winning the lottery it seems. That being said, it was suggested to me to learn how to LH cast. Haha I imagined limp arm casting because it’s so awkward but actually it was bad at all with the glassfin. Maybe the rod is just really forgiving with casting but I think it’s a skill worth learning. Why not as I’m able to LH and RH retrieve so why would I never LH cast haha. Anywho I wish you much luck with you search and that’s so awesome you’ve got a 4601! Gotta love these ambassadeur reels. They’re amazing. Cheers Victor!

[@TheAccidentalDweeb]

Great vid mate! Would love me one of these but they cost a bomb here in Australia. Cheers!

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Don’t give up! They’re costly here too but they do randomly pop up for cheap. The other thing is maybe look at “undesirable” versions that you can repair and upgrade. Those may be a bit cheaper.

[@zhelsel]

Love the video, can’t wait for part 3! How much oil/grease did you use? I’m not sure how much to add to mine Thanks!

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey Zachary! Thanks for the kind words! Editing of the third part kinda stopped because the video clocks in at around an hour haha. I may someday get to editing it to share but just am not sure if people want to see it. What part are you trying to lube? Might be able to give some advice on that but typically less is more when it comes to grease. You’ll just need enough to get a thin coating on gears. Oils follow the same mentality. If you over lubricate your parts they tend to get bogged down and not rotate as freely. Hopefully that helps and cheers my friend!

[@zhelsel]

I bought a heavily used 2500C and I plan on degreasing and cleaning all the parts. I’ve seen some people grease the entire side plate and I wasn’t sure if that’s the right way to do it. Thanks for the advice 👍🏻

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

@@zhelsel hey Zach! Ahhhh I see ok so yea you don’t have to grease the inside of the side plate at all. I didn’t haha. I’m fairly sure that they’re doing it as a way to protect the sideplate from corrosion. If you plan on using your reel in the salt then it’s a decent precaution to take but if you’re using mainly for fresh I don’t think it’s needed. Entirely up to you! Just remember most greases start to liquify in hotter temps and guess where that grease all ends up lol. Hope that helps and cheers my friend!

[@Swimbait_fishing]

I was planning on doing a video like this too. The 1500 reel itself is more narrow, not just the spool. The frame of the reel is more narrow. Also the avail main gear bushing with the extra teeth on the bottom doesn’t stop a reverse turn of the handle anymore than the original really. But it does engage the spool faster because it has 4 pins on the bottom instead of 1 or 2. So it only take a quarter turn to engage the spool.

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey! Thanks for the correction! So the 1500C spool is narrower and also the frame. I guess that makes sense as I recall seeing different aftermarket 1500C frames. As far as the antireverse distance I feel like the bushing did shorten the reverse slop. I could be wrong though but it does have a lot more teeth and so I feel like the distance would be reduced? I do really appreciate the 4 pin clutch engagement though. I get a bit less than a 1/4 turn of the handle before the clutch renegades which is a huge change over the 1 full handle rotation that I had prior. I hope you still make your video on the ambassadeur! I couldn’t find many in English and so wanted to put these out there but the more content we have the more knowledge everyone can share. Cheers and thanks for sharing!

[@Swimbait_fishing]

@@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL that’s exactly why I wanted to make the video too, is cause there is no English version of doing this. I also expected the anti reverse to act sooner since it made sense that it should because there are way more teeth. But when I actually tested it , it ddnt seem any faster. BUT!! , my anti reverse dog I opened it up a lot, to reduce the resistance when retrieving. So the anti reverse dog is so lose over the teeth of the main gear bushing that maybe that is causing it lock up slower than if I would of just left the anti reverse dog stock. But I am way more happy with how light the rotation of the handle is than having the anti reverse instantly act, which it still doesn’t stock. I’m still going to make the video. I just bought a brand new in box Red 1500c. And it’s in shipment now. Also I’m pretty sure the C on the end of the models of the Ambassadeurs means that the reel has ball bearing. I think I read that some where’s, can’t remember where though.

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

@@Swimbait_fishing hey! Holy a brand new in box 1500c??? Gotta be one of the rarer instances of the ambassadeurs out there now. I do think you are right in that the C denotes ball bearings. I had two in mine that were almost fully seized up. I had to do a simple green aircraft cleaner sonicated bath, followed by an acetone bath, followed by isopropyl lol. Finally I removed the stamped seals and then did one more acetone bath and then all the crap in the outer housing came out. They don’t spin very well so I just replaced them with roro sic bfs st bearings and it’s a night and day difference. Iirc my antireverse dog has its two tabs kind of angled in so maybe I’ll try opening them up a tad. Yesterday was the first time I cast the reel and wow… I totally understand why people love these reels so much now. What a dream… and I look forwards to your video!

[@Swimbait_fishing]

@@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL haha yeah you don’t come across many new in box ones anymore, especially the color reels. All the collectors have them and refuse to give them up haha. Yeah they really do cast bfs lures surprising well considering it’s a non disengage level wind. I have a red 2500c and a black 1500c bfs tune and I’ve casted 1.85 grams really well with both reels.

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

@@Swimbait_fishing dude… please show your reels in your video. This is my first and most likely will be my only amba because of the price but it’s definitely going to be one of my prized possessions. I actually quite love the disengaging level wind haha. Something really soothing watching it go back and forth 😅 and the sound and feeling it gives mid cast is pretty awesome imho. Hey if you wanna chat more about ambas hit me up on IG @bfsfishingchannel !

[@harjula911]

My dad has a champagne gold ambassadeur 2500c from late 90s I think. I really wanna buy it from him and convert it into a bfs reel but he doesn’t wanna sell it to me😂. Too much sentimental value.

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey Harjula! That’s awesome! I wouldn’t want to part with it if I were your dad either haha. Maybe you can get him avail parts as a gift and you guys can have an upgrade project to work on together =). Would be cool to show him the potential the reel has! 🙌🙌🙌 cheers my friend!

[@The_Multi-species_Angler]

Out of the box 📦 how much did it weigh. Just as I typed this you say it heavy. What reel do you think 🤔 is close in weight you own? Nice project reel as well been thinking about it. I want to see it beside a Conquest and a millionaire. For comparison purposes. Good start up video!!

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey! Tbh I tried taking a weight of the reel but my scale maxed out haha so I was unable to get a weight. The internet gives varying weights but I do recall Robert saying that these little guys are around 9 oz.. I just put up a short that shows me casting the reel. I get a small blowup at the end because I wasn’t really paying attention to the reel while trying to film lol. Of all the reels I own I can confidently say that this one is the most enjoyable to cast. I normally use a LH but these are RH with LH models being very rare and very expensive but I think this reel is the one I enjoy the most now. If you’re thinking about one I suggest you pick one up if budget isn’t an issue. It’s definitely not a modern reel but it’s a beauty and a beast of a reel. Cheers!

[@The_Multi-species_Angler]

@@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL Gawd!! 9 oz my goal is to stay under 200 grams mainly because of the rods I'm building.

[@The_Multi-species_Angler]

Actually that's not bad now I think about it my scorpion DC 222 grams

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

@@The_Multi-species_Angler she’s one heavy reel. Primarily made of brass and aluminum so probably not a tell I’d use all day haha. The mods you add to shed some weight but I gotta ask Robert what kind of total weight savings you get after fully modding out one of these. You can replace more than what I did; clicker plate, brake plates, and frame. Still aside from the weight I still love this reel.

[@berniepechlaner5809]

My experiences with a "super-tuned" 2500c: above 2g - and with a single brake block - I can outcast my Daiwa Gekkabijin Air TW & the Kastking Valiant Eagle II quite easily (at least with a single-hand overhead cast). I've been told that I'm obviously not unlocking the full potential of the Gekka...that might be true, lol. But that doesn't take away from the fact that a modified 1500c or 2500c can hang with modern BFS reels - as long as the casting weight is above 2g and the conditions are good.

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey Bernie! You’re definitely right imho as I was actually using both my modified 2500c, from this video, and a lightly modified valiant eagle 2, Roro sic bfs st bearings, and I feel like my 2500c edged out the ve2 combo in the 2-5g lure weight range. The different rods may have well added or detracted from overall distance for sure but I felt the modded abu was easier to control and more consistent. I had the abu on my glassfin 4.7ft and the ve2 on my fishman beams 4.8ft. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of distances the 2500c can get in a head to head with other reels. That being said, there are downsides that most can’t really ignore being the cost to play. Anywho, I’m just glad that there are all these different perspectives to the BFS game and that we’re able to explore them. Cheers!

[@berniepechlaner5809]

@@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL Here's what I got with a 6' 3" rod: 3.7g -- 36m / 118 ft 3.0g -- 31m / 102 ft 2.0g -- 21m / 70 ft I didn't measure the other reels - but they didn't cast as far. You are right about the cost to play lol...and then there's the fact that the ABUs don't adjust to changing conditions (well...not easily) Edit: I should add that I'm not great at casting 😊

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

@@berniepechlaner5809 hey Bernie! Thanks for the info! Out of curiosity what rod were you using for those distances? Also, the 2500 doesn’t like wind eh? I mean… most baitcasters don’t. At all… haha so… doesn’t seem like that big a minus for the abus to me 😆. I need to do some testing with my “standardized” setup and crank a video out on that sometime…

[@berniepechlaner5809]

@@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL Well...I fish with a single (and the smallest) bakelite brake block available. That works well in calm conditions, but as soon as there's head wind, I need to add the other block...and sometimes the 2 heaviest ones would be appropriate. Not flexible...any modern reel adjust with a few clicks on the dial. The rod is a NS Kalamus C-632UL from Dankung (absolutely great IMO and I'm surprised there aren't more people using it)

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

@@berniepechlaner5809 hm interesting I was wondering if it’s worth to consider the other brake shoe sizes. I picked up the extra small size from avail and have both installed. Never though to go down to one shoe. Might see what that does now that you brought that up haha. Also, I’ve never heard of that rod… carbon? Gonna look it up lol.

[@Baitfinessefishing]

You should make a casting video of the reel or fishing with it would be cool.

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey tj! I need more time!!! Haha the one thing everyone could definitely use more of 😆. Would love to be up in the Sierra right now but just not in the books atm… In the meantime, there’s always your videos! Cheers my friend!

[@kabanchan5768]

can this be done to ?AMBASSADEUR 5001C bait reel ? not to many left and real s from that era

[@vin18m]

I bought two immaculate 1500C IAR reels in the box with all paperwork and oil a few years back for cheap purely for nostalgia and thinking they would go up in price. Ended up selling them both, prices are eye watering now 😢

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Ah man… yea… if only hindsight were 20/20… do you have any other ambassadeurs to use?

[@vin18m]

@@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL I have a 5500 C3, but it’s a beast of a reel

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

@@vin18m I bet! I’m learning that ABU really knows a thing or two about round reels haha 🙌🙌🙌

[@robertveith2571]

I have a ABU. It's red it may need some parts the outside is clean I just want to have it fix it makes a clicking sound when you reel in so I know theirs a problem also too it's missing a knob on one side I will send it to him see what he think if it's worth fixing or maybe it can't be fixed

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey Robert! That’s awesome to hear that you have an abu! I’m sure Robert can help you out with the maintenance and fix!

[@nickolashogan4992]

What website can I get the avail parts on?

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

@@nickolashogan4992hey nickolas! I list all of the parts in this video in the follow up part 2 in the video description. Here’s the link to that video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4a0dayce5WLqas If you have any questions let me know! Cheers!

[@timevans6815]

Can a guy convert a 4500cs abu to bfs?

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey timevans! I thought I had responded to your comment but I guess it maybe didn’t go through. I do believe avail sells spools for the 4500c I am not sure how different the CS model is from the C though and I am also not quite sure if the spool upgrade is technically a BFS tune as the 4500 reels a bit larger than the 1500 and 2500 reels. Sorry I don’t have a definitive answer for you but I hope that helps! Cheers my friend!

[@stevepiacenza2426]

Avail is way to expensive

[@BFSFISHINGCHANNEL]

Hey Steve! First off, thanks for sharing your thoughts with the channel! I do agree that avail products are quite expensive for what they are. I did learn that there are a few other brands that do similar, if not the same thing, that avail does such as AMO, Valley Hill, and Simon Shimomura. I’d love to see a more value minded product in this space to help more people build out reels like this for sure. What do you think? Would you consider buying upgrade parts for ambassadeurs if their prices were lower? Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and cheers my friend!