Newell Reels : The History of Newell Reels

[Tunacious]

Someone please enlighten me.  If Mr. Newell had such severe problems with quality control why are these reels so sought after.

I can enlighten you.

This is the first time I've had a negative comment about my article. First off, I believe Carl Newell was a genius. At one time, I wanted to write a book about him. He's still missed. He was a self made man who was always thinking outside the box. He was also a character who talked my head off! After seeing some of his ideas (a bait caster) in person that never came to fruition, I've got nothing but respect for the man.

Don't shoot the messenger...I'm not knocking Newell reels...just pointing out the historical facts...with personal examples and first hand antidotes from the factory. You took a quality control fact (inferior ss batches; downsizing experienced staff) and attempt to equate "Quality control issues does not equal popularity of product"; therefore, there were no quality control issues. This is faulty logic and inaccurate. 

It's natural to want to defend our reels of choice. I use to be very defensive about my Newell's...but for many years now I just don't care what someone else thinks. In recent years, most every trip I go on, someone is asking me if I'd like to sell any of my Newell's. 

I've owned and fished many Newell's over the years: Blackies, P's, G's, C's and NL series. I'm now down to about 20 Newell's. I now own and fish the P's and NL series; wish I didn't sell my G's. The blackies are not used.

I've only had 2 issues with a Newell - a broken thin belville (on a C series) from the factory and a broken graphite clamp that I over tightened on a jig stick. Besides the one broken part from the factory, I've never had any other issues with Newell's. They will continue to be my reel of choice for the type of fishing I do. I'm not knocking Newell's...only pointing out historical facts. Every reel manufacturer goes through good and not so good periods in their reel development. You and I may have never experienced reel failures or defective parts...but that doesn't mean it's never happened.

After the belville issue, I began to take apart each reel after purchasing to insure that there weren't any issues. What I found on other C series that I purchased was corrosion on the main gear...these were brand new, unused reels, purchased at a fishing shop. I replaced them. I also know that this happened quite a bit for the C series and early S series. I knew people that did reel repair at the factory and they told me the stories. They say it was due to batches of inferior ss. Thankfully, Newell did address the issues. They hired a first rate shop manager who was also a great ocean fisherman. Again, you may have gotten a good batch of ss on your C series. If you did...great...but that doesn't mean there weren't issues with some batches of ss and didn't affect other folks.

Out here in so cal we did have quite a few broken graphite handles, broken graphite left bearing cups and some blown out side plates due to frame flexing. Many of the broken handle issues happened while grinding away on wahoo. The frame flexing came on larger tuna, which in all fairness the reels were never designed for. Many (most?) failures occurred on long range trips where larger tuna (over 100 lbs) and wahoo were encountered. I do know that this same shop manager at Newell was able to strengthen the graphite handles since he was an avid long range fisherman and knew of the breakage. He strengthened the graphite handle, tested it with the long range fleet and put it in production. He told me of the problem and replaced all of my NL and C series handles at no cost. This says a lot about a company when they discover a problem. It's how a company addresses a problem that separates the good ones from everyone else.

I love my Newell's and Penn's and Daiwa's and Pro Gears and Shimano's. Since 1984 I've only experienced one defective belville from the Newell factory as well as a couple main gears from corrosion. I know what the historical facts are for each series based on first hand info from those in the know. These facts represent the big picture....all reels from all series from across the country. While my experiences are overall very positive and so are others on this board, that doesn't discount the facts of others experiences. Maybe this has to do with the type of fishing the long range fleet gets into.

[alantani]

there are some things that i would have done differently if i were president of newell, but carl was boss, not me.  he did it the way he wanted.  it's the market that determines a man's success or failure, not any one individual.  if he were still around today, i think he would be please by the premium price that his reel still command.  that is certainly no small measure of success. 

[Tunacious]

Very true...

[jdimig]

Please accept my most humble and profound apologies.  I none of my comments were meant to be critical of you, Carl, your article or Newell reels.

[vilters]

tunacious pretty much nailed it. and thanks for the history/model info. very useful. I regretfully sold all my newels about 5 yrs ago, and have been replacing them as I find them. I've got a pretty good set now, and they are great for the local offshore and inshore fishing I do. they are very simple and easy to service, and with the frame and drag mods, are very light, strong reels that cast as well as anything, better than most. 

[ez2cdave]

stickied!  many thanks!!!!!

AND, in keeping with my new "personal procedures" . . . Here it is as a Downloadable PDF file !

Tight Lines !!!

[foakes]

Nice, Dave!

Best,

Fred

[Tightlines667]

 

I like it.

[russ1962]

It's been a while since I first read this thread and I enjoyed reading it again.
Tunacious did a very nice job on the Newell History article.
I have several of the P220's G220's, P229's P322's, and P332's. And one S229.
My sons have learned to appreciate them too, and have borrowed some of them many times. I have also gifted them a few.

I started with the P220's, and still like the P series. But after getting a few of the G220's, I think I like the G220's just a little bit better.
What's your preference?  Blackie, P, G, NL, S ?

[MarkT]

Personally, I think the G's were the best series! However, at this point my only Newell is a P229. I had G 220, 229, 332 and NL 220.

[Newell Nut]

I am about even on the Gs and no letter ones. I like the earliest Gs the best with the SS jack and clicker. The slight negative is the 8 tooth dog sprocket and I have upgraded mine with Tom's 10 tooth sprockets.

I am not a big fan of Cs and long body bolts but my first Newell 540 3.2 was C and it now sports a tib frame. That reel has caught thousands of fish and still runs like a new reel. It is a workhorse that I have fished since 1992. My other most used Newell is the first year G338 with the red labels. That one has hauled in a mess fish too and is my flatline (drift line) reel. They never fail me.

[Swami805]

I took my p220 and p332 fishing yesterday. I bought them when they first came out and they still are my favorite reels. I have s g nl's but I just like the aluminum better, they just seem smother and quieter. The cast very well and the drags are  smooth, better than before with the upgrade kit.
I also have all the different variations of the s332-5 and don't really notice any difference in performance between them. The thru screws are a PIA and it would be nice to be able to adjust both bearings but other than that they seem about the same. Thankfully I've never had any corrosion issues except with an s except s533-5 someone gave me that sat for years with salt water intrusion.
I've wondered why there are so many variations of the s series, bearing caps and cups, thru screws, phillips head and slotted screws.
I also have g and nl 332's and can't tell any difference between in the way they perform and the s series.
If I could change one thing it would be that wacky screw size. I'm not an engineer so maybe that's the only size that works but it would be nice to get screws at the hardware store.
 

[Tightlines667]

I have only owned S-series reels.  They seem to be a bit easier to find.  It is easy enough to upgrade most parts to your liking, and mine have served me well.  I imagine I might like the P-series more, and feel like I would like the Blackies the least.

[reel man]

The 5-40 thread pattern came from Penn reels, and the only exception is Penn used chrome plated brass screws where Carl opted for the stainless.  I agree that it would have been better if he had used 6-32 assembly screws, but the only area that would be different is the bridge plate only has about 2 1/2 threads for the 6-40 screws, so I can see the need for the finer threads.

On the Cortez Conversions I found a supplier that has 5-40 Fillister head screws 1/2" in length, and that really helps speed up the assembly of these reels.

[ez2cdave]

Thanks for this, Dave --

And, great information -- and as far as I can tell -- very accurate.

Great reels, great man, great organization, great concepts based on actual usage --

Best,

Fred

Fred & All,

I added a downloadable PDF file to the original message in this thread. Also, for convenience, I have added it here, as well !

Tight Lines !