This 5600AL was given me to me a couple years ago.  It had sat in somebody's garage and was maybe used a few times.  It is in excellent cosmetic condition and I opened it up today and gave it a good clean and grease service.  It works great.  Seems like very simple reel, no bells and whistles etc.  Can anyone here date this reel and let me know approximate value.  I'm guessing the AL must refer to the aluminum drive gear it has??
 

Before this gets lost, maybe one of you can refer me to the ABU round reel experts here.  I know there are a few but I don't recall their names.  If I can find them maybe I can get some input on this reel.  Thanks guys!

That model came out in the early 1980s. There's one on eBay right now with the current bid at $44 with 5 days left. Searching the sold listings shows winning bids between the $25 to $85 range.

reel foot number on the bottom will tell you more info if you go to abu's site. you got a good reel there.

Thanks guys!  Much appreciated! 

You have a fine reel there. I do not have this particular model, but I do have 4 Ambassadeurs in regular use now. One from the early 70's. They work equally as well as any of the higher end reels in my opinion. At least, anyone I've fished with that uses a much more expensive reel, can do nothing that I can't do.

The plus side too is that you will be able to pass it down to your grandkids. They're that tough. Again though, I am not familiar with the "AL" series.

 

Great reel,it will last forever. I have the narrow spool 4600AL,and my biggest bass was caught using it. Very simple design,easy to work on. It's good for heavier baits like jigs,and blades. I use mine for shakey head jigs. If you want to upgrade the reel,there's a lot of options available. 

oldschoolbasser,

Would you share with me the upgrade options?  I think this reel would benefit greatly from a slightly longer, modern handle for starters. Beyond that I have little experience with upgrades to these ABU rounds.  All I have done is service/clean them.

You can add a duel bearing cog wheel,and worm gear,Carbontex drag washers,and Boca Bearings to replace the bushings. Polishing all the friction points is also good to do. As for handles,there are many options like Hawgtech.

On 7/5/2016 at 6:39 PM, crypt said:

reel foot number on the bottom will tell you more info if you go to abu's site. you got a good reel there.

Couldn't find where to plug that number in on the ABU website.  Will look again.  My number looks to be 810300, it is difficult to make out that first digit but I believe it is an 8.

On 7/9/2016 at 9:01 AM, oldschoolbasser said:

You can add a duel bearing cog wheel,and worm gear,Carbontex drag washers,and Boca Bearings to replace the bushings. Polishing all the friction points is also good to do. As for handles,there are many options like Hawgtech.

Thank you for sharing that information!  I have thought it over and this reel belongs in the hands of a true Garcia round enthusiast.  I'm just going to sell it bone stock, as is, instead of keeping it.  Somebody out there will appreciate it more than I will.

Your reel was made in March of 1981,and was the 1st production of that month.

If I'm not mistaken (a strong possibility) that foot number indicates that the reel was manufactured in 1981, the third month, and is the original design (no revisions). 

On 7/9/2016 at 9:01 AM, oldschoolbasser said:

You can add a duel bearing cog wheel,and worm gear,Carbontex drag washers,and Boca Bearings to replace the bushings. Polishing all the friction points is also good to do. As for handles,there are many options like Hawgtech.

II've done these upgrades on a couple of Abu round reels. They're easy to work on and parts are readily available. 

get in touch with Jerry Foran at http://www.hookless.com/ . He can steer you in the right direction and provide the patrs you'll need at a very good price.

Tom

 

On the side plate it says "High Speed" but I can't find anything online that tells me the actual gear ratio.  I do know that back in 1981 high speed gearing was often somewhere around 5:1, usually less, like 4.7: or so.  Do any of you guys know what gearing is in this reel?

It's a 4.7:1 gear ratio.

2 hours ago, tholmes said:

If I'm not mistaken (a strong possibility) that foot number indicates that the reel was manufactured in 1981, the third month, and is the original design (no revisions). 

II've done these upgrades on a couple of Abu round reels. They're easy to work on and parts are readily available. 

get in touch with Jerry Foran at http://www.hookless.com/ . He can steer you in the right direction and provide the patrs you'll need at a very good price.

Tom

 

Jerry's a great guy to do business with.