Bait finesse system, or BFS as it is known

[tincanary]

I snatched this guy off of Facebook marketplace cheap, a TD Sol, which is one of few US market finesse baitcast reels.  These were made from about '04 to '08 or so.  Whoever was in it last probably never bothered to look at the schematic.  One pinion yoke spring was missing and the other was inserted on pinion shaft.  I have a SLP Works spool coming for it and had some Carbontex sitting in my parts bin that fit.  I got on the phone with Daiwa to get new springs all the way around and they didn't even charge me, that's some great service!

[oc1]

The neat thing about the SOL is the tiny size and palming ergonomics.  I love small reels.

[ReelClean]

If you ever see one of these:
https://japantackle.com/daiwa-alphasr.html
grab it!
A beautiful little reel!

[tincanary]

The Alphas platform is my favorite bar none.  It's so versatile with many spool and gear options available.  The Alphas platform ran from '04 to '19 with many different models over the years.  The newer '20+ platform, while nice, doesn't seem to do much for me.  Here's one of my Alphas CT SV reels, bought two of them last year when they the Japanese shops had a fire sale to make room for the '20 model.  I have both a 7.2 and 6.3 ratio, picked them up for something like $140 each.  Prior to the fire sale, they were $300 to $350 depending on where you bought it.

[alantani]

i look at this and think, "welcome to my world...". 

[steelfish]

The neat thing about the SOL is the tiny size and palming ergonomics.  I love small reels.

you're right Steve, Daiwa low profile reels sits pretty low on the reelseats compared to shimano and abu (at least the ones I have held in my hands)
right now I have the Daiwa AirD coastal, its really tiny and as well sits pretty low on the reelseat.

I just put new bearings on it, regular bearings not ceramic or those made specially for BFS, I dont know if its a good candidate to mod as BFS reel.

[tincanary]

you're right Steve, Daiwa low profile reels sits pretty low on the reelseats compared to shimano and abu (at least the ones I have held in my hands)
right now I have the Daiwa AirD coastal, its really tiny and as well sits pretty low on the reelseat.

I just put new bearings on it, regular bearings not ceramic or those made specially for BFS, I dont know if its a good candidate to mod as BFS reel.

It might be a great candidate, but the challenge will be finding a spool that fits.  I looked at the schematic for the AirD Coastal and it doesn't look like it's shared with other platforms.  My first thought was Tatula, but the Tatula spool bearings are located in the side plates.  Your best bets are to take measurements of the spool and see if you can find one that fits.

[tincanary]

Got her all slapped back together yesterday, still waiting on a few parts though.  Alphas SV105 spool should be here soon as should the Roro micro spool bearings.  This baby is smooth.  When I first got it the bearings were dry as a bone, turning the handle or flicking the spool sounded like a train passing by.  Nice and quiet now.

[nelz]

Beautiful Sol, love the color of that series. Just a thought, wouldn't a Daiwa "T-Wing" model work even better BFS?

Btw, I have the spinner version of the Sol, also smooth as butter.  

[tincanary]

Just a thought, wouldn't a Daiwa "T-Wing" model work even better BFS?

Daiwa just recently released T-wing BFS reels; last year with the Alphas Air TW and Steez Air TW, and this year with the Alphas Air TW Gekkabijin (Japanese for queen of the night).  The T-wing should theoretically provide better performance, but I have no direct experience with those models.  The older Alphas platform like I'm using uses a very narrow spool, so not having a T-wing may not be a big deal.  The smallest baits I'm throwing at CD1 Countdowns and the largest are CD5s, so about 2.5g to 5g.  I know with the Shimano low profile BFS reels, the aperture on the line guide is cone shaped to facilitate easier casting.  With the Calcutta Conquest, the aperture is positioned further away from the spool to achieve the same effect. 

[tincanary]

Finally, all parts have arrived and now it's good to go.  I grabbed a used Alphas SV105 spool and an inductor spring for a TD-Z Type R+, going to put a hurting on the steelhead with this one.  She should be plenty good down to 1/8 or better.

[oc1]

Bob, is that spool the lightest one made for the SOL?  14 grams versus 16 grams for the stock spool, right?  Do they make one of those Alphas spools that looks like a bird cage for this reel?

Is that spring going to produce more distance, or just more free spin time?

I don't even understand the brakes on the SOL and this Japan after market stuff is difficult to sort out.

[tincanary]

Bob, is that spool the lightest one made for the SOL?  14 grams versus 16 grams for the stock spool, right?  Do they make one of those Alphas spools that looks like a bird cage for this reel?

Is that spring going to produce more distance, or just more free spin time?

I don't even understand the brakes on the SOL and this Japan after market stuff is difficult to sort out.

The inductor spring will make it better for distance.  It's a stronger than the spring that originally came in the spool, so the spool needs to spin faster in order to get the inductor to move into the magnet assembly to slow it down.  Some of these SV spools are way over braked for my tastes, and the Type R+ inductor spring remedies that.  Ray's Studio sells a honeycomb spool in 33mm that fits the early Alphas platform reels such as this one, but I wasn't looking to cast the absolute lowest I could.  I picked up this spool for less than what I would've paid for a Ray's spool, posted a WTB ad on another forum and a guy happened to have one he wasn't using.  I should be putting it on the water soon, going to go about half a spool of 8lb and see if I can get a steelhead on the line maybe tomorrow.

Here's a great video showing how Daiwa Magforce brakes work. 

[Gfish]

Excellent video. Most I watch, almost skip through important detail, but that guy get's it right.

[oc1]

Yeah, I understamd the brale system now.  I lookd at my SOL and thought about pulling off that c-clip.... but didn't.  Thank you very much.