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ABU 54's

Steve Sorrell

Steve Sorrell

Senior Member
Well, after lots of soul searching and looking for suitable alternatives i'm seriously considering selling my beloved 54's.:(
Still got the original boxes, manuals, etc.
They don't seem to come up on the auction sites often so i'm wondering what price they are likely to fetch? Anyone any idea?

Off to the coast for a few days now, will make my decision while i'm away.... :confused:
 
They are sought after reels both to use and to collect . With all the boxes / manuals and if they are in excellent unmarked /fully functioning condition you could be sat on a fair few quid there . I have seen the spools alone go for £20 + on Ebay . Unless you have to , I would keep hold of them . Although they do not have a baitrunner facility they are still regarded as a very high quality reel with a top notch clutch .
 
Hello Steve - I sold 2 a couple of years ago and got over £50 each for them. They had been in the attic for years, so I was more than satisfied with what I got for them. For whatever reason, they seem to be desirable reels and can command a good price. Personally, I think there are much better reels available nowadays.
Unlike more modern reels, the bail arm cannot be pushed over manually. The height (not the diameter) of the spool is not great, line beds in and doesn't lay very well and distance casting is rather poor. Also, lighter lines would sometimes wrap around the spool release button - I had to file the buttons to give them a more domed profile. My advice is sell them and treat yourself to a good quality, modern (Shimano?) reel.
 
Steve, £50 tops for a well used one i'd say, i used them for many years, but sold them after buying the Suveran when it came out, there really is no comparison, especially in the clutch, sorry Mike but 54 drags are ok at best, top notch ? naah.
If it was me i'd sell them and find some secondhand Suverans, or mid range Shimano's, Rareniums are good (theres one in the classifieds) or Daiwa Caldia, TDX etc.
 
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My advice is sell them while they are still working and get some nice modern replacements,got my stradics on ebay at the moment,going to replace them with Xt 4000 Fa Baitrunners.
Used an old Mitchell quartz feeder reel last week for first time in ages and to be honest it was a lot smoother and better drag than the stradics that's when I decided to upgrade.
 
Cricket, better dig mine out of the rubbish box and get them on the bay............ seems some folk, especially the cheese heads will buy any old junk :D
 
I should point out that the whole gudgeon thing is his idea - first I heard of it was when he put the Ousemeister post up.

See, the thing is, he's created this competition and not managed to ever win it. He introduced the Tommy Ruffe thing, but I cleaned up in that. So now he's come up with this ridiculous gudgeon idea. :rolleyes:

;)

R.
 
Robin Bowes said:
I should point out that the whole gudgeon thing is his idea - first I heard of it was when he put the Ousemeister post up.

See, the thing is, he's created this competition and not managed to ever win it. He introduced the Tommy Ruffe thing, but I cleaned up in that. So now he's come up with this ridiculous gudgeon idea. :rolleyes:

;)

R.
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Best you check his flask on the day then, he's probably been grooming one at home in a tank specially for the big day, to quote the great Paul weller "To be someone must be a wonderful thing" :)
 
Simon Lush said:
Best you check his flask on the day then, he's probably been grooming one at home in a tank specially for the big day, to quote the great Paul weller "To be someone must be a wonderful thing" :)
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Heh, too right :)

I'll be checking for submerged keepnets too ;)

R.
 
Adrian Williams said:
There you go again confusing us old folk........What in the name of all holy is a cheese head?:confused:
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It is a translation of kaaskopf Ade, the well known descriptor for the Dutch. I was making reference to the eBay link posted which showed some old bit of tat had sold for a hundred and seventy odd quid on eBay in Holland

Hope that explains, I will try to spell things out better in future :D
 
Back to Cardinal 54s...Would the fact that I bought my three off a pre-superstar Julian Cundiff mean that (providing I could find them) they might fetch a couple more quid??

And I hope the Ouse fish-in's a success :)

Matt
 
Matt Smith said:
Back to Cardinal 54s...Would the fact that I bought my three off a pre-superstar Julian Cundiff mean that (providing I could find them) they might fetch a couple more quid??

And I hope the Ouse fish-in's a success :)

Matt
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I doubt it will be Matt, if they are taking on gudgeon using 54's with dodgy clutches :D

I doubt your 54's will be worth more because they once belonged to young master Cundiff...he probably only sold them to get his hair done again and add a new layer of spray tan :D:D Ooooh....bit below the belt that one :p

Cheers, Dave.
 
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