Ron,
The handle is a KAHARA JAPAN Short Twin Handle for ABU Ambassadeur *KJHA (Handle color: Mirror Clear Red)

Yeah, new page needs a photo.
Mike, good choice on the handle.

Congrats Crosscreek! Nice work there!

I haven't done one yet, but it is on my list. I've been trying to find one that hasn't been beat too bad. My only Shimano right now is my Conquest BFS. All the rest are Daiwa and my baby Ambassadeurs.

Here's one many don't see everyday, a 1600C IAR which was sort of a last hurrah for the small Ambassadeur before Pure Fishing took over all operations in 2000. These were only made from '98 to '00 and use a thumb bar line release instead of the push button like other models. The spool and palm side are the same as a 1500C, but the gearbox is more like that of the Morrum. The clutch assembly is a lot smoother and the revised pinion yoke keeps everything aligned much better. I like to think this is the design Abu was going to implement in the future until their parent company told them overwise, truly a special reel.

oh great, another unicorn to pursue through the fields of ebay ;-)
that's a lovely reel, sad it's so rare..

This was a $100 Facebook marketplace find. Some girl in the middle of Indiana corn country had it for sale, I jumped on it. I was begging her to ship it for a few weeks, even offered her more than she was asking, just for her troubles. She wouldn't budge, so I had a friend of mine pick it up as he passes through her area on the way to see family. I asked why she wouldn't ship and she said because she didn't want to risk it going to the wrong address. Understandable, but I wasn't about to split hairs so I said I will figure something out. I asked my friend Phil when he was planning on going to Indy, and he said the coming weekend. She still had it. Thankfully Phil is a dear friend, because he loves these things too and got to spend a few days playing around with it. He definitely had the temptation to make me an offer. I know because he was wanting to trade me at first but he has nothing I really can't live without.

It didn't have the factory handle, but beggars can't be choosers. Not that it matters much to me, but collectors want all original if I decided to resell in the future. Somebody changed the handle to one of those 90mm things that perform very poorly on this type of reel. You weren't reeling, you were churning butter. I did use it for a few weeks while I mulled over handle options. This was how I received it.


While Avail does make a lot of parts for these in general, they still don't have an offset frame or lighter brake plate as of yet. Even though I swapped many parts, it still weighs 9.3oz. I think a duralumin handle and star wheel are in its future.


Now compare that to my 2500C IAR, which was a scratch build. Everything brand new but the pinion yoke and push button. I plan on building a couple more as I have 2 more sets of NOS side plates.

Beautiful work. I'm astounded the 2500C only weighs 6.6 oz !

I was lucky to track down the NOS side plates. Ron is the only other person I told about them. I ended up buying 3 sets and now it looks like they are unobtainable. I also have a couple of spare pinion yokes and push buttons, the only parts that can't be purchased aftermarket. I'm keeping a parts stash since the are my favorite reels.

Hi friend,
The Haneda Craft handles come from a really neat vendor in Japan (check out their wood plugs).

https://www.hanecra.com/product-list/62

They don't market to US. Two ways to buy them. Order from Haneda Craft through a Japan broker, noppin, ZenMarket, or Rinkya.
You pay brokerage fee. I've been using Masamichi at noppin for my Japan broker for 20 years, since it was the only way you could buy from Japan.
Now I use him for vendors who don't market to US, also Rakuten and Yahoo, and you can build up a cache of small orders before you ask them to pack and ship.
Masamichi proved himself to me ordering a rolled-from-scratch-on-order Izch inshore S-glass rod 15 years ago, and I count him as a friend.

Second way is order whatever is in stock at Hedgehog Studio, who also has the lead on the quality Avail upgrade parts.
https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product-list/424
Both their handle and knob choices are limited compared to ordering from H/C.

I can't answer for the pretty marbled knobs that both Cross Creek and redmeandistortion showed on examples.

Been saving this reel for an all at once presentation.
Steve traded me this EX-condition 4500C for a song, '78 Zero mod, no. 200.

Shown here all finished

The main reason I wanted this exact age 4500C, it uses the Avail AMB4530R-EF spool we discussed on the other page,
and especially, it's the only Ambassadeur model that accepts IXA 1033 double spool bearings.
I also found the NOS small alloy spur gear to replace the big nylon spur gear with the ersatz bait-feed-clicker teeth (which would catch air like a squirrel-cage fan).

With these spool bearings, the outer race is pinned in the frame, the inner race always spins with the spool.
The inner micro bearing balls spin when casting light weights, and the middle race and larger outer bearing balls spin when casting heavy weights and with big drive loads.

My dual-BB LW assembly with alloy rider and zirconia pawl, and the blue ported dual-BB idler gear came from Mike's Reel Repair.
The drive plate received NOS gears and A/R pawl, and my favorite Haneda Craft fiber drag washers.


Avail mag brake plus the small centrifugal shoes.
This turned out to be the fastest reel I've ever built, and had to move each individual magnet inward almost 2 turns to register a mag brake effect on the tiny spool flange for casting 3 g.
Avail black trim, Valleyhill handle, Bright River round drag knob (I'm thinking about swapping in a larger black one).

I matched the reel with a short-grip Bright River offset handle and Bright River Concorde glass 5' (OL) MM rod blade.
This is the prettiest rod I have ever seen. They call this an eyespot handle, which has a spring-loaded rotating pocket that grabs the reel foot.




The rod blade is half black and half red, all the wraps are red.


My here's my small-water kayak triumvirate, MH, MM, and ML

Droolworthy !

Sweet Ron. Glad you are happy with that kayak rod. Things look pleasant and lush down there, contrary to up here but spring is coming.