Shakespeare spinning reels from the '70s.....

Started by Flounder Boy 3, May 09, 2016, 11:46:37 PM

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Flounder Boy 3

I'm a bit curious as to why Shakespeare never seems to get much mention here.

I have several of their Ambidex 2400 series reels from the '70s and to my eye, they seem to be pretty decent reels.

Not top of the line, but not junk either. The little 2400 seems to draw some interest on Ebay from time to time.

I believe that particular set of reels, the 2400, 2410, 2430, and 2450, were made by Omori from Japan, which from my limited research had a decent reputation.

Anybody have experience with vintage Shakespeares, particularly the series I mention?

Am I missing something? I'm certainly not anywhere the expert some of you fellows are.

handi2

There were some great spinning reels built by Shakespeare before the Japan reels. The Shakespeare Sea Wonders were made for saltwater fishing.

Many came factory with a manual bail system.

I had a collection of them but sold them all.
OCD Reel Service & Repair
Gulf Breeze, FL

foakes

Good reels FB3 --

As a rule, any of the metal aluminum spinners from the golden age of spinners -- manufactured by good companies like Shakespeare, Daiwa, Penn, DAM Quick, Ryobi, Zebco, ABU Cardinal, and others...are good quality reels.

Characteristics to look for are metal body, good chrome, simple action, crisp bail snap, solid AR clicker, good strong crank handle, decent drag for the day -- and a main bearing under the rotating head.

The Shakes also had good paint.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

fisher480

Late reply

Shakespeare made some excellent spinners in the 70's and early 80's

The 2400 series were amazing. I owned and still have a 2410, my father had the big 2450 and my brother in law had the 2430. All were excellent.

My reel could be spooled up tomorrow and used easily.

They had smooth drags and a bail roller that actually rolled. The 2410 was about a 2500 size reel but I fished it with 3 Kg mono and caught a lot of mackerel on it.

Other similar reels were the Sigma. My fishing mate had one and it was also a great reel.
Shakespeare lost the plot when they went to rear drags. I stopped buying them and went to the SS series Penn's

The Fishing Hobby

I have a few Shakespeare light spinning reels that I thought I would post some pics of in case others were interested in looking into them.




2400 made in Japan
Nice reel. Lots of modern features (2 ball bearings, skirted spool, and a bail that can be easily closed manually), aluminum body and good paint. Drawback is a poorly balanced rotor. This one may be my next rotor balancing candidate.






2200 (not Sigma) made in Japan
These reels are a sleeper and often overlooked and underappreciated. This reel is pretty smooth cranking, you can feel a little bit of vibration from gear meshing that could possibly be eliminated with some strategic shimming. There is very little friction when cranking, it feels like a good quality 3 ball bearing reel but there is just one (pinion bearing). Good looking little reel. I checked the rotor balance on this one and it is very well balanced without any modifications.





2052 made in USA
These are a real beauty. This one I have polished, they usually come with maroon colored paint. These used a worm gear drive so they should be a work horse. This one has a lot of steel parts so keep them away from saltwater.
Poorly balanced rotor, but once you balance the rotor they are silky smooth with zero vibration from the gears (one of the benefits of a worm gear drive). There is more friction when cranking than the previously listed reels so the handle doesn't spin quite as easily but the smooth cranking makes up for it. Polishing out the main drive gear shaft and oilite bushing may free it up a bit but I don't think I will bother with it. It isn't tight by any means. It may also be due to the fact that a worm gear drive isn't as efficient as the other gear setups...but again the gears are smooth as silk and it is a more robust gearing system due to the fact that there is more contact area of the teeth.




foakes

Thanks!

Those old Shakes, Sigmas, Zebco OF spinners, and Daiwas from the mid 60's through early 90's -- if made of metal, and having no more than 1 to 3 bearings -- are quality reels.

Sleepers -- most folks pass them by because they are "old school"...

However, that school will still be in session long after the new plastic reels have been tossed in the trash.

Cheaply obtained and very good...

Thanks for sharing some of your techniques and findings.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

The Fishing Hobby

No problem, and I agree 100%. I really love some of the old Daiwa reels. Their C and BG series get a lot of attention and hold a good resell value but for my personal taste the X and D series is the real bargain that is out there. They can be had cheap and can be modified to 3 bearing reels (like the BG) by replacing the drive gear bushings with ball bearings. I love the internal bail trip and the easy conversion to silent anti-reverse on the 1000x as opposed to the external bail trip and being stuck with a clicker without engineering your own silent anti-reverse system on the C series (some of the 1000x reels came with it from the factory, the parts are still available last time I checked). The 1000x is a great little spinner. I will do a modification/upgrade post about that particular reel at some point in the future. It is one of my favorites.

thorhammer

I have quite a few of the old MIJ reels from these manufacturers. If you're gonna chunk a bait on the bottom for a decent fish, hard to beat. Also would include the old mint green Heddon's in this group.

foakes

I think I still have a bin of the old Heddon spinner bodies and rotors -- still new and in oil paper.

Never used more than 1 or 2 over the years.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

smnaguwa

Where were my Shakespeare 2062 and 2052 made? I still use them, the 2062 for Sac river stripers and the 2052 for trout. The one thing I don't like is the 2052 plastic spool. I posted elsewhere on the Reel Rebuild Tutorial that my 2062 drag is jerky when loose but is smooth when tight. Can I fix it? It happened when I put in CF drag with Cal's grease. Thanks for any info.

thorhammer

AND Zebco, believe it or not....my first saltwater spinner given by my late father was a gold bodied 6040 I believe; it got run over by a fishing buddy  and sat in a drawer for 20 years until I found AT and bought new shaft and spool. My man Fred finished it off with new Fred handle and some other bits, along with a couple of DAM's and a 712 for me. I have some of these Shakespeares somewhere.....and I have a Sigma with box that i think I used about twice....

The Fishing Hobby

Quote from: smnaguwa on April 26, 2017, 03:20:16 PM
Where were my Shakespeare 2062 and 2052 made? I still use them, the 2062 for Sac river stripers and the 2052 for trout. The one thing I don't like is the 2052 plastic spool. I posted elsewhere on the Reel Rebuild Tutorial that my 2062 drag is jerky when loose but is smooth when tight. Can I fix it? It happened when I put in CF drag with Cal's grease. Thanks for any info.
They were made in the USA. These had leather drag washers, they can be dry and stiff. A little light oil (just enough to darken it and soften it a bit) will probably help you out. CF drag washers will help you out. I cut mine from sheet I ordered from eBay.

The Fishing Hobby

All this Heddon talk reminded me I have a nice little Japanese made Heddon 290 skirted spool spinner I need to take another look at. Nice little reel but the drag knob tightens as line is pulled out against the drag tension. I need to see what is going on there.




foakes

#13
Nice Heddon, Kevin --

And John is right about the Zebco's -- they are a smooth running and quality spinner.

Any of these metal guys are basically rebuildable, strong, simple, and capable.

Some more than others -- but they are all very decent reels.

I have a few of the gold 6000 series Zebcos, in various sizes -- and they are a pleasure to fish with.  Solid metal bail snap, skirted spool, spool shaft additionally supported by body about mid-frame to keep pinion aligned.

Here is a NOS Shakes Sea-Wonder, and a JC Higgins badged Sea-Wonder.  The "FB" indicates it was manufactured in 1959 -- it has never had line on it, or been mounted on a rod.  Plus a few others.

These will do a great job.  However, for the best strength, longevity, and a near "0" failure rate -- always look for a spinner made of aluminum, steel worm drive pinion supported front and rear with a bearing and a frame bushing, brass or steel main, A/R mechanism at drive train, minimum of plastic, 1 to 3 oversize bearings (most manufacturers place copious amounts of bearings in a reel to impress the buyer -- but primarily because the plastic or graphite frames need additional bearings for support on weaker frames -- and the feel of smoothness.

These would include Penn, Cardinal, DAM Quick, Shakespeare, Alcedo, some Mitchell's, and a few others.

Old spinners from the 50's through the early 90's -- can be very enjoyable to work on, use, and collect.

John -- sent out your Mitchell special forked wrench yesterday -- should get it tomorrow.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

mo65

   OK...you fellers reminded me I have a Heddon I've never posted pics of here. I might as well bust it out here...as I don't see a Heddon category. Most of these old spinning reels never raised much interest in the past, but all that may change...especially at the rate folks are chopping and drilling old Penn Spinfishers...gonna run out of those some day. 8)
~YOU CAN TUNA GEETAR...BUT YOU CAN'T TUNA FEESH~