jigmaster "modern" spacer bars, reel iprovment or cheaper manufacturing?

[Tom McKinney]

At some point in history, Penn started making the jigmaster with 2 "solid" spacers instead of the 4 chrome bars.  I assume they help the reel resist twisting better but it could have been a manufacturing improvement or both.  At what line test do these bar actually help?  By which I really mean, is it worth getting some for an old reel.  They are a lot cheaper than a frame. (and I am aware of the "order of improvement" suggested by Alan on these reels).

Thanks

[Ron Jones]

I have never tried with Penn bars, which I believe are just posts with a cover, but Newell bars do in fact increase free spool and reduce binding at higher drag levels. I Newell stand and bars will make a reel as solid as it needs to be.
Ron

[Keta]

The 501 bars I use on my 349's are solid cast metal.

[doradoben]

I have some Jigmasters with the 501 spacer bars that I fish up to 30 lb. test on and they are no problem.

[Lensters]

I do believe that they work based on basic engineering principles but I've never destroyed a reel on purpose to determine at what point they are needed.  My Jigmasters are all spooled with 50 or 70lb test braid, but then again I try to keep a good engineering margin and very rarely break my main line.

[Ron Jones]

I have had a Jigmaster sized stand pull off a reel without a clamp before and it was twisted enough not to be usable. I believe a clamp helps the rigidity of the stand tremendously, possibly as much as crossbars. But I'll still use bars and a clamp whenever available. I guess I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy.
Ron

[mhc]

Are there any solid stands available for a 349 that can be used with the 501 bars? Thanks.

[Keta]

If there is they are imposable to find.

[Ron Jones]

I am of the opinion (which means absolutly nothing) that the extra fastener and the reduced fastener spacing of the 349 stand increases it's strength over the 49. One day, when I have all the money in the world, I'll start destroying stands to find out. I'd bet a Newell 49 stand is still stronger. Does anyoine know if the outer holes on the 349 line up with a 49?
Ron

[alantani]

it helps a little, but most of the guys that had problems were in reels that had sticky drags.  plain bars still work fine under a reasonble load. 

[foakes]

The post hole patterns will line up the same on the 49 or 349 -- but not the stand holes -- the stands on the 349 are of course 3 holes on each side -- the 49 and 149 have 2 holes for the stand.

There are a lot of variations in these reels over the years -- 49, 149, 349, 349H, 49 Super Mariner -- plus some have the anti reverse disconnect lever, and some don't -- and other variations.  Most have to do with the gearing, frame strength, spool strength, drag size, handles, etc...

Of course the solid 501 double posts will work on all of them. 

While the solid double bars will work -- so far I have not seen too many cases where the frame was tweaked -- due to the number of posts and narrowness of the frame.  The 349 is a very strong and durable reel as is with just the addition of greased HT-100s & SS discs to smooth out the drag -- especially on start up.

Great reels for trolling or deep water rigs -- and there are many ways to improve their performance.

However, with some of the new regs here in California regarding maximum depths that we can fish -- the deep spool Mariner series have become less relevant.  But set up properly, the Master Mariner is in a class of its own for wire or deep trolling outfits.


Best,

Fred

[Alto Mare]

it helps a little, but most of the guys that had problems were in reels that had sticky drags.  plain bars still work fine under a reasonble load. 

Agree! If you fish that reel under 15lbs you will be ok. I've noticed that the jigmaster 501 will start to flex at over 17lbs, and most comes from you when trying to crank the handle.
I've also experienced it on a 9/0, while testing the drags.
Again, those numbers where way above what Penn recommends. Fishing those within specs should do just fine, using frame posts, but that's not good enough for most of us here, we like to push them to their  limits

You have some nice stuff Fred, those 506 spacer bars look sweet, they're not easy to find today. I wonder if I buy the spacers for the standard reel and have someone cut them to size would work.

You know, with a little work you could make that 49 a 349
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=6197.msg52039#msg52039