i have three of the balancers out.  it came with 4 out.   i think i always use 3 on my Curado 150mgl reels.  (dunno).  i have the brake set right at 50%.  (3)

 

i still need to spool it up later when my line gets here,..oh, i am also waiting for my rod.    just looking for a starting point.  i have backlashed brandnew line before.  not proud.

sorry off topic from your question, do the bantam and the curado 150 mgl palm the same? or does one feel smaller than the other?

48 minutes ago, badfish79 said:

sorry off topic from your question, do the bantam and the curado 150 mgl palm the same? or does one feel smaller than the other?

I don't have the Curado 151 MGL anymore, but I do remember it palms a little bit better than the Bantam IMO.

1 hour ago, Darth-Baiter said:

i have three of the balancers out.  it came with 4 out.   i think i always use 3 on my Curado 150mgl reels.  (dunno).  i have the brake set right at 50%.  (3)

 

i still need to spool it up later when my line gets here,..oh, i am also waiting for my rod.    just looking for a starting point.  i have backlashed brandnew line before.  not proud.

Since your reel is brand new, I would wipe the brass cone where the brake blocks make contact in the side plate clean, turn on all the brake blocks, eliminate spool side to side play, then start on 3 for the outside dial then go down from there otherwise it would go backlash o' rama at least in my experience specially when using brand new flouro. the brass cone needs some mileage with the brake blocks first I guess?

I've got the 18 Bantam MGL in a 6spd and currently have it on a Mag Heavy frog rod throwing a Spro paddle frog.

 

I just went and checked and have 2 brakes on with dial set between 2-3.

 

I also grabbed one of my Curado 151 MGLs and held both of them. Curado is a slightly more rounded shape and palms just a BIT smaller, but both fit comfortably into the hand.

2 brakes on

Generically I'm 2 on 2 off for my shimano MGLs, but for any new reel that I don't already have one I give it a good clean of heavy grease first (shimano doesn't usually have much), turn all of the brakes on, dial (if there is one) to the middle setting, and loosen the spool tension to a bit tighter than no side to side play.  That's all really tight for actual usage, but its going to change in a couple minutes anyway.  From there, I'll start casting around the yard and slowly loosen things up, first spool tension and then brakes.  For the most part, the final solution is brakes about half way to 3/4 and spool tension negligible.  If I know a given system then I might go straight there.  Also, on my shimanos I tend to run with 3 on but then back the dial down to 1-2 (out of 6 I think).  That's usually about right but lets me turn it up if its windy.  At 2/2 I'm usually around a 4 out of 6 and sometimes I want to crank it up a little more.

I've been experimenting (happily) with all brake blocks engaged on my Shimano reels, with the external dial between 2 and 3. Spool tension set right about that point to either eliminate or have just a bit of play.

3 hours ago, jimanchower said:

I've been experimenting (happily) with all brake blocks engaged on my Shimano reels, with the external dial between 2 and 3. Spool tension set right about that point to either eliminate or have just a bit of play.

interesting!!

 

 

thanks everyone!!  thanks for fielding some of my rookie and mundane questions.  i'll take it from here. 

11 hours ago, jimanchower said:

I've been experimenting (happily) with all brake blocks engaged on my Shimano reels, with the external dial between 2 and 3. Spool tension set right about that point to either eliminate or have just a bit of play.

I do the exact same thing on all of my Shimano reels, plus I want those brake blocks to wear out evenly! ?