Anybody have any really bad experiences with high-end gear? I am in the middle of dealing with another Bauer reel and for the life of me cannot imagine the lack of thought used for such a high end reel. I picked this on eup cheap at an estate sale. It had never been lined and all of the other reels there were RHW... My preference. It is an MZ4 and it has several really irritating "features" that scream "Cheap."

There is one 4x8 card folded in half on which they give you everything for their entire line of reel models, but not close to enough for any one of them. As an experienced technical writer it would embarrass me to turn in work of this quality... The fact it is the best they have after years of production is amazing.

Now the really annoying parts... despite the lack of clear directions, in part caused by the obscene clutter of trying to explain several models at once, it is not that complicated to figure out how to do the swap. But now I have no drag whatsoever. I suspect there should be a warning to not turn the shaft while swapping the four ridiculous sleeves and rubber cushions (little tiny things and when was dropped it made me very unhappy) but I did so because it is not easy to get at the little bitty parts with the surrounding rubber seal ring and such... I know it is a discontinued model, and it is obvious why.

I guess I will take it back apart and try to figure out what is wrong... SOmewhere between the Ross Vexsis and this reel there ought to be an easier way... Oh that must be why I like Lamson so much!
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