Fishreed

Sir, I don't know who you got your ceramic bearings, but there should NEVER be a whine. NEVER. I repeat NEVER should there be any noise from ceramic spool bearing whether they are full ceramic or just ceramic balls and stainless races. I suggest you change your reel upgrade guy. I have just upgraded the new Shimano DC and the Lews' Super Duty with ceramic "red seal" bearings and there is no whine, scream, hum or whatever term you chose to call it. What you probably had was CHEAP China made ceramic bearings. They have way less spin than a good American made ABEC-7 stainless bearings. I have a bearing spinner I check all my ceramic bearings and if they don't spin for a least 5 seconds after being put in motion...they go back to my bearing supplier. Most of these ceramic bearings come pre lubed with oil and that is a big-time No-N0...I clean them up with alcohol and just dry lube them. Works every time. The best factory bearings I have ever seen on any bait-casting reel to date are the ones Diawa puts in their Tatula line of bait casters and they re NOT ceramic. I can spin that spool on the reel without any spool tension and that spool spins forever a day. Cabelas used to sell that same reel as they called it a Arachnid and it came factory with 4 bearings in the paddle handle. Cabelas cleared them out CHEAP when Bass PRO bought out Cabelas and I bought 2 of them with 6.4 and 8.1 ratios at the Hammond store for $100. For craps and giggles , I put ceramic spool bearings in a cheap $50 Black MAX Abu reel ....and that lil guy is Rock Star performer.

ZEKE"S in Orange Beach put me on a 38 pound redfish a few years back as we limited out for 8 guys for Red Snapper.

Junk you say about an Abu Silver Max...LMAO..compared to what? Upgrade that reel with Ceramic spool bearings and it will kick crap out of anything you own. I have been in the reel repair business for 50 years now and have torn inside just about every bait-casting reel known to mankind since 1968. Not one bait-casting reel mentioned here is top quality BECAUSE NONE ARE EQUIPPED WITH CERAMIC spool, drive, crank or knob bearings. Most still have nylon bushing or even brass bushings where a ceramic bearing should have been. The reel manufacturer screwed you and you don't even know it! Few guys even know dog squat about ceramic bearings and what they do! I have been going ape crap up-grading high end expensive reels to ceramic spool bearings which add a instant 20% increase in casting distance. Since the Reagan Administration, I have used a tricked out Abu Garcia XLT Plus reels with upgraded ceramic spool bearings, replaced the handle nylon bushing with a bearing, upgraded the crappy greased cardboard 2 drag washers with carbontex graphite drag washers with sythetic Super Lube grease and added a 4 bearing paddle handle with the ability to switch to a Shimano Single knob power handle. THIS REEL HAS MAGNETIC CAST CONTROL, and quick change spool ability AND a "FLIPPING SWITCH" which is a godsend for vertical jogging walleye on the Detroit River without turning the handle to engage the spool. Class dismissed. P.S. The new LEW's XH reel has a flipping switch and with the ceramic spool bearings I added, these reels will replace my old "tricked" out Abu xlts.