Hey guys!
I wasn't going to post about this just yet, but in light of Fred's Challenge, I decided to go ahead and post this.
I've learned a LOT in the last 2+ years that I've been a member here! I've learned a ton about reel service and repair, upgrade parts and modifications, new skills and lots of great ideas. More than that I've learned a lot about myself and gained friendships with people that I've never met in person. I've experienced generosity, been given great advice, and received may prayers from so many of you! I'm so thankful to you all!
In light of all that, I've been trying to decide how to best use what I have learned, how to learn more, and how to best use that to help others.
As much as I love custom modifications and building one-offs, I'm realizing that the market for that as well as general interest is pretty small. Seeing what many of you here have done as far as specializing in a certain brand(s) of reel, I think that that would be the best way to go. I've considered a few options and with the help and advice of one of our greats here, I've settled on the Garcia/Mitchell line.
I realize that I have years to go before I get anywhere near the amount of knowledge that most of you have in regards to reel history, service and repairs. I know that this is a big endeavor and will not happen over night. I know that I have a lot of hard work ahead of me, but I think it will be worth it down the road. I've been advised to start small, and stay measured and focused. That is my plan in hopes of seeing it through for the long run.
Over the last week or so, I've read every post that I could find on this site regarding Garcia/Mitchell reels. I've started reading what I can on the Mitchell Reel Museum site, but it looks like it's floundering a bit. My next endeavor will be to search for more literature to read and educate myself more on these reels and their history.
What I'd like to humbly ask of you all is for help. I will gladly accept help or advice in any form. Mainly I'm looking for knowledge that anyone is willing to share to help me learn more about these great reels and build my skills and abilities to help others with them.
Thank you all for all that you've shared with me so far, and thank you Alan for providing this great venue for us to share with each other in so many ways!
If I've ever met anybody who's up to the challenge it's Chad, I got nothing but encouragement for you,I'm sure you got this
I encourage you to jump right in, Chad! You shoildn't have problems locating Garcia/Mitchells,seems to be an endless supply, although some are rare.
Are you leaning towards spinning reels or baitcasters (i.e., Ambassadeurs)?
Somebody square me away on this (I have been known to be wrong!), but if Chad is into Garcia Mitchells, that doesn't include Ambassadeurs, does it? I mean, we had Garcia Mitchell, and Mitchell, and ABU, and ABU Garcia, but other than for maybe a very short period, there was never an ABU Mitchell or an ABU Garcia Mitchell as far as I know. ABU built the Ambassadeurs, and I don't think Mitchell had much if anything to do with that. Of course, if Chad wants to get fired up about Mitchell reels AND Garcia reels, I suppose that includes ABU Garcia Ambassadeurs, even though Garcia in the old prebankruptcy days was a reel distributor, and not a manufacturer from what I've been told.
Help me out on this, please.
Frank
Probably my mistake. I noticed the forum title "Abu Garcia/Garcia/Mithchel" next to the "Seeking Knowledge" topic title and somehow mistakenly thought it was part of the topic. Sorry.
Quote from: Swami805 on October 23, 2019, 10:42:09 PM
If I've ever met anybody who's up to the challenge it's Chad, I got nothing but encouragement for you,I'm sure you got this
Thank you Sheridan! :)
Quote from: festus on October 23, 2019, 11:32:27 PM
I encourage you to jump right in, Chad! You shoildn't have problems locating Garcia/Mitchells,seems to be an endless supply, although some are rare.
Will do, Thanks Chester!
Quote from: wfjord on October 23, 2019, 11:38:54 PM
Are you leaning towards spinning reels or baitcasters (i.e., Ambassadeurs)?
Quote from: happyhooker on October 24, 2019, 01:13:15 AM
Somebody square me away on this (I have been known to be wrong!), but if Chad is into Garcia Mitchells, that doesn't include Ambassadeurs, does it? I mean, we had Garcia Mitchell, and Mitchell, and ABU, and ABU Garcia, but other than for maybe a very short period, there was never an ABU Mitchell or an ABU Garcia Mitchell as far as I know. ABU built the Ambassadeurs, and I don't think Mitchell had much if anything to do with that. Of course, if Chad wants to get fired up about Mitchell reels AND Garcia reels, I suppose that includes ABU Garcia Ambassadeurs, even though Garcia in the old prebankruptcy days was a reel distributor, and not a manufacturer from what I've been told.
Help me out on this, please.
Frank
Quote from: wfjord on October 24, 2019, 02:13:18 AM
Probably my mistake. I noticed the forum title "Abu Garcia/Garcia/Mithchel" next to the "Seeking Knowledge" topic title and somehow mistakenly thought it was part of the topic. Sorry.
Woody and Frank,
The relationship between Garcia | Mitchell | Abu Garcia is something I know nothing about yet, but will definitely be studying up on!
Right now I'm focusing on the Garcia Mitchell reels only, not Abu Garcia. I've serviced a few of my own Ambassadeurs, and they are definitely great reels, but not my main focus for now. I will also say that Garcia Mitchell are not limited to spinning reels, there are conventionals and baitcasters as well.
Also, while focusing most of my efforts on the Garcia Mitchell line, I will not limit myself to only those. I still love Penns, and fishing reels in general, so I will still be working with other stuff at times, as well as building customs.
Thank you all for your support in this!
I'll keep my eye out for you. Are you looking to be a scholar or collector / restorer, both or what?
Quote from: thorhammer on October 24, 2019, 11:16:43 PM
I'll keep my eye out for you. Are you looking to be a scholar or collector / restorer, both or what?
Thank John, I'm sure you'll be a great resource with your collection!
I don't have room to be much of a collector. Mainly wanting to learn as much as I can about them and specialize in service/repair/restoration.
Quote from: wfjord on October 24, 2019, 02:13:18 AM
Probably my mistake. I noticed the forum title "Abu Garcia/Garcia/Mithchel" next to the "Seeking Knowledge" topic title and somehow mistakenly thought it was part of the topic. Sorry.
No sweat; I like to learn & I'm sure others do too, and that can only happen if all of us feel free to say what we think might be pertinent.
Frank
Chad,
I anxiously wait for what you start posting ;D I know you will have a great support team here to help you... many here have forgot more than most (ME) will ever know...go for it bud!!!!
Brett
First off Garcia did not manufacture any reels. They started out as the Charles Garcia Corporation and only imported and distributed reels made by other manufacturers. Early on they distributed reels from multiple manufacturers, Plate of Germany and others. There biggest spinning reel manufacturer ended up being Mitchell. European distributed Mitchell reels were not tied to Garcia and did not have Garcia etched on their side plates. Only those that came to America had Garcia on them. Mitchell reels were the main Garcia spinning line, although they did offer a few early pre Cardinal ABUs. Garcia was also the US distributor for ABU's bait casting/Ambassadeur reels.
Garcia sold a lot of Mitchell reels in the US. A great reference for the numerous models and collectible values, if you can fine a used copy, would be Dennis Roberts' Mitchell Collector's Reference Guide. (https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780615113128-us.jpg) They are hard to come by and expensive if you can find one, but they contain the most complete and comprehensive historical information available.
I always thought of Garcia as a leech of sorts; profiting from the skill of others. But, then again, he could have been the salvation for Mitchell and ABU. I wonder where we would be today if Garcia never existed? Would Mitchell and ABU have finally come around to servicing the American market themselves? Would Mitchell and/or ABU have become more prosperous without Garcia? Or, would we have never heard of Mitchell and/or ABU without Garcia?
-steve
Good informative points about Garcia, Mitchell & ABU. My first spinning reel back around the mid '60s was a Mitchell 300. My first baitcaster was an Ambassadeur.
Another note of interest is that in 1965 ABU came out with the fulcrum brake Cardinal. Garcia had been the sole distributor of the Ambassedeur baitcasting line since 1956. ABU offered Garcia sole distributorship of their new Cardinal line but the then president of Garcia declined the offer because it would be in direct competition with the Garcia Mitchell line. ABU then offered it to Zebco and they readily accepted. They started out as ABU Zebco Cardinals but Garcia biatched about the use of ABU in the name because of the ABU Ambassedeur distributorship so Zebco/ABU was forced to drop ABU from the advertising and stickers. History now suggests that it was a pretty dumb decision on Garcia's part because in 1978 ABU bought the Garcia Corp. through bankruptcy, hence ABU Garcia. ABU Garcia is still in business today. ;D
Quote from: oc1 on October 25, 2019, 08:52:25 AM
... I wonder where we would be today if Garcia never existed? Would Mitchell and ABU have finally come around to servicing the American market themselves? Would Mitchell and/or ABU have become more prosperous without Garcia? Or, would we have never heard of Mitchell and/or ABU without Garcia?
-steve
"What ifs" are a lot of fun to banter about because nobody can be totally wrong by speculating about something where there is no known correct answer.
So, for my two cents worth, I don't think Mitchell and ABU, by themselves, would have done anything in the US. After all, a Swedish company and a French one with minimal/no ties to the US; no foot in the US door at all. As far as Mitchell, I feel they had a product/products in the late '40s that were successful in Europe and actually were good products, so starting from those strengths, they would have found some US connection to get them off the ground in the states. Who? Now we're really WAGing it. How about South Bend, who had been in business in the US since the 19th Century, and made and sold a lot of fishing tackle, but not so much in the spinning reel end? (Shakespeare later made a lot of reels for SB, while SB reciprocated with rods for Shaky). Or maybe Johnson; they had winners in spincast gear in the early '50s, and maybe would've been interested in acquiring a quality spinning line (just like their competitor, Zebco, did when they bought Langley in '62 for that very purpose). I suspect there are other likely candidates--maybe even Zebco themselves.
I don't want to marginalize Garcia, though; after all, there were several French reel manufacturers in the '50s, with decent products (if maybe not as good as Mitchell) that were sold in the US, and those guys never came close to doing what Mitchell did through Garcia in the US. It might have been that Garcia had a "magic touch".
Frank
(WAG = Wild As*ed Guess)
Thank you guys so much for your info and contributions!
I'm printing this all out for my reference book :)
I've started collecting a few mitchells to start on and am looking for deals on parts/parts reels/etc.
Thanks again!
Chad
Quote from: happyhooker on October 26, 2019, 01:33:14 AM
It might have been that Garcia had a "magic touch".
I'll buy that.
-steve