Abu Garcia - made where these days?

[the lobster]

Evening all,
Just wondering if any knowledgeable people can enlighten me on the current origin of Abu reels.

My bread and butter, all purpose reel is a 6500 Ambassadeur from a few years ago. It's got the "Made in Sweden" stamp on the side and is a great reel. I got a 7000 last year as a gift and unfortunately it lacks the afore-mentioned stamp and just doesn't feel quite of the same quality as the 6500 (but maybe that's just my brain playing tricks on me). The 7000 is still a nice reel, however.

I was in a tackle store today and noticed that most of the 5600s and 6500s have the "stamp", but there were some light blue, cheaper reels that didn't.

I know a couple of years back Abu started assembling reels in Taiwan (I think). Have they now started assembling some in Sweden again? Did they ever stop assembling some models in Sweden?

Does anyone know the full story? I like Abu reels but would like to know exactly what I'm getting before buying another one. Crossing to the Shimano camp is an option.

thanks a lot

matt

[BaitThrower]

I got a few of the lower priced Cardinal spin reels recently (very good), and as you might guess... made in china sticker... Not sure about the higher end stuff.

[reggy]

ABU, PENN, and others have been bought by a company called Pure Fishing.
Some recent ABUs have been made in China, Korea and Taiwan.
I `m not sure if ABU are even assembling reels in Sweden anymore.
I still have a couple of oldies made in Sweden, and I am hanging on to them.
I believe 7000ct models, made in Sweden are bringing good prices in USA.
All manufacturers can make a reel that looks and works well,but the cheaper ones will be made of lesser grade materials, so longevity becomes an issue.
Reggy

[the lobster]

ABU, PENN, and others have been bought by a company called Pure Fishing.
Some recent ABUs have been made in China, Korea and Taiwan.
I `m not sure if ABU are even assembling reels in Sweden anymore.
I still have a couple of oldies made in Sweden, and I am hanging on to them.
I believe 7000ct models, made in Sweden are bringing good prices in USA.
All manufacturers can make a reel that looks and works well,but the cheaper ones will be made of lesser grade materials, so longevity becomes an issue.
Reggy


Isn't Pure Fishing just the Australian distributer? Also, there are still models in the shops stamped with "Made in Sweden", especially the C3s and C4s. I doubt they'd be able to claim that if they weren't.

But then again, who knows?

matt

[reggy]

Matt
I`m sure you can still find genuine made in Sweden reels in the shops. Be interesting to see how long for.
Reggy

[MyEscape]

Reggy,

And how much?

Steve

[leelee]

Alot of the jap Spec Abu gear is still made in Sweden. In fact they have just re-released the 1500 C in the original burgundy colour that is made in Sweden and only under 1000 units will be made.

From memory the way to distinguish the Sweden made reels from the others was that the Swedish made reels had the ABU emblem on the body. No emblem meant not made in Sweden. Well it used to be that way, not sure now though.

Cheers

Lee

[reidy]

Matt
I`m sure you can still find genuine made in Sweden reels in the shops. Be interesting to see how long for.
Reggy
Too true,Its all about margin increase,I dont know about you guys but i would pay the extra for a euro,us,japan build as opposed to MADE IN CHINA as i have found out the hard way with a few to many "25 bucks yer i will give that a look"
Bla bla bla
Cheers
Reidy