# Zebco 33 NOT THE SAME AS IT USED TO BE!



## fender66

What's with the Zebco 33 reels that you buy today? I bought two of them (one for each daughter) last year Christmas and they both lasted about 15-20 minutes before they both jammed up. No fixing them either. They both...right out of the package, wound the line around the axle in front of the catch bail. I couldn't get into it to get the line out. Was ready to throw them both in the water! I ended up busting one up trying to fix it at home and after tearing into it, found the gears are all plastic now too. These reels are a piece of crap anymore. Several months ago, I sent Zebco (Customer Service) an email and explained to them what happened. I never even got a response. Very discouraging! I grew up beating the hell out of several of these and never had a problem. I don't get it.

I need to find a reel that I can buy that's not going to break the bank and work for my daughters/wife a handful of times through the year. Close faced like the Z33. Any suggestions?


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## LonLB

Look at the Abu Garcia closed face reels.

If they still make them, Diawa had nice closed face reels too.

I agree with you 1 million percent. They just aren't like they used to be.


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## Waterwings

I've got one in the garage that my wife uses (I mean used to use), that's been messed-up for about a year now. I fixed it a couple of times, and it jams again.


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## Captain Ahab

fender66 said:


> Several months ago, I sent Zebco (Customer Service) an email and explained to them what happened. I never even got a response. Very discouraging!



That is exactly why I will not use any of their products - including the Quantum crap-ola

You need a few "beater" reels send me a PM with your address and I will see what I can dig out for you


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## LonLB

most new comers can figure out the spinning reels.....I would go that route and just forget about the spincasters IMO.


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## heavyduty

This is off of a friend of mine's website, jeffstacklebox.com
I haven't used one but I trust his opinion and he loves them!

Qualia MuL 10 Spincast reel 
List Price: $29.95 
Our Price: $29.95 


A saltwater rated spincast reel that can handle big fish with all the easy to use features of spincasting. A great reel for both serious anglers and those not so serious as well. Both the front and rear covers are stainless steel with a graphite frame to save weight. The drag is like an automotive disk brake and fully adjustable. The handle can be switched to right or left hand use so anyone will find it comfortable to fish with. The reel comes loaded with 10lb test clear mono. This reel can also handle superlines in the 14 to 20lb range with ease. Recent testing with 14lb Fireline has produced excellent results.


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## Jim

heavyduty said:


> This is off of a friend of mine's website, jeffstacklebox.com
> I haven't used one but I trust his opinion and he loves them!
> 
> Qualia MuL 10 Spincast reel
> List Price: $29.95
> Our Price: $29.95
> 
> 
> A saltwater rated spincast reel that can handle big fish with all the easy to use features of spincasting. A great reel for both serious anglers and those not so serious as well. Both the front and rear covers are stainless steel with a graphite frame to save weight. The drag is like an automotive disk brake and fully adjustable. The handle can be switched to right or left hand use so anyone will find it comfortable to fish with. The reel comes loaded with 10lb test clear mono. This reel can also handle superlines in the 14 to 20lb range with ease. Recent testing with 14lb Fireline has produced excellent results.



Those are some radical looking rods on that site.


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## Jim

I have read that the Daiwa underspin XD reels are pretty nice.

https://www.basspro.com/Daiwa%C2%AE-UnderspinXD%C2%AE-Trigger-Reels/product/96662/-1429895


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## Waterwings

> That is exactly why I will not use any of their products - including the Quantum crap-ola




[-X Don't be hatin' on my Quantums, lol :wink: . I have two Quantum PTi spinning reels that I've used for about 4-5 yrs now, with no problems, and my wife has a Quantum KVD model baitcaster. No problems with any of them.


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## Mpd165

fender66 said:


> What's with the Zebco 33 reels that you buy today? I bought two of them (one for each daughter) last year Christmas and they both lasted about 15-20 minutes before they both jammed up. No fixing them either. They both...right out of the package, wound the line around the axle in front of the catch bail. I couldn't get into it to get the line out. Was ready to throw them both in the water! I ended up busting one up trying to fix it at home and after tearing into it, found the gears are all plastic now too. These reels are a piece of crap anymore. I grew up beating the hell out of several of these and never had a problem. I don't get it.



+1, I learned about two years ago that the Zebco 33's are now all plastic inside. I bought one for pond hopping with my daughter and stripped all the gears out after catching 2 or 3 small fish. I took it apart and could see immediatly there was no fixing it. I wont bother purchasing any of their gear again. I got my daughter and wife pflueger spinning setups for not much more than the 33 and so far they have held up well.


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## fender66

Thanks for the input guys. I'll check some of these out.


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## PartsMan

Were they the regular black 33s?
They offer gold and platinum versions also.
The platinum looks more like the 33 I grew up with.

Check smaller bait shops and garage sales. They will have the old good ones. Cheap to!


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## redbug

all my wife will use is spin cast reels 
I have tried them all and have settled on the dawia spincast reels. 
They hold up well and don't get bound up much (as long as she keeps the weeds off the line)


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## BLK fisher

I bought one for my son and had the same problem. I was able to fix it but I'm already looking into purchasing him a opened face spinning reel for next season. Sorry for your problems.


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## Captain Ahab

Waterwings said:


> That is exactly why I will not use any of their products - including the Quantum crap-ola
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> [-X Don't be hatin' on my Quantums, lol :wink: . I have two Quantum PTi spinning reels that I've used for about 4-5 yrs now, with no problems, and my wife has a Quantum KVD model baitcaster. No problems with any of them.
Click to expand...


Wait until you need to have them serviced -


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## poolie

fender66 said:


> What's with the Zebco 33 reels that you buy today? I bought two of them (one for each daughter) last year Christmas and they both lasted about 15-20 minutes before they both jammed up. No fixing them either. .....



That's sad. As a kid my first rod/reel was a Zebco 202 which were about as crappy as the Z33's of today. I can remember what a treat it was to use my dad's Z33. It was the bomb!


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## cavman138

That's a shame, I grew up using the 33s. They used to be great.


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## bobberboy

I had a Daiwa spincast reel that lasted for a long time. It still worked when I gave it to Brine last year for his kids fishing outing. It wasn't exactly like the one below but it was a Daiwa...

https://www.basspro.com/Daiwa®-Goldcast-III-Series-Spincast-Reel/product/2018/-253989


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## redbug

bobberboy said:


> I had a Daiwa spincast reel that lasted for a long time. It still worked when I gave it to Brine last year for his kids fishing outing. It wasn't exactly like the one below but it was a Daiwa...
> 
> https://www.basspro.com/Daiwa®-Goldcast-III-Series-Spincast-Reel/product/2018/-253989


I have 5 of these reels they are fantastic


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## PartsMan

Has anybody tried the 33 platinum? 
It's only $10 more.


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## fender66

PartsMan said:


> Has anybody tried the 33 platinum?
> It's only $10 more.


I bought one just before Thanksgiving to give my wife this year, hoping it would be better than the crap I bought last year but I'm going to return it. Can't make myself take that chance.


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## FishingCop

I have several Daiwa spin casts, my wife and kids and other friends' wives use them cause it's so easy for them to use. They have always been good reels, no problems, no breakdowns, etc. The gold cast and silver cast models. I'd recommend them to anyone who needs a reliable, inexpensive spincaster.....


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## one100grand

LonLB said:


> Look at the Abu Garcia closed face reels.
> 
> If they still make them, Diawa had nice closed face reels too.
> 
> I agree with you 1 million percent. They just aren't like they used to be.



+1 about the Abu reels. My wife prefers spincasters to spinning reels. I bought her a Pflueger as an upgrade from a crummy Shakespeare she was using and it bound up and had problems in the first 6 weeks, fortunately BPS readily swapped it for an Abu. We got a $10 refund and that reel has taken a beating with no problems. She's even dropped it into the mud and it still works as well as it did on first purchase (after some cleaning of course). She even caught a pretty good sized catfish afterward and had no problems landing it. My only complaint on the Abu spincasting reel is that the drag doesn't seem to be a slight change, it seems to go from completely loose (granted this is after several twists of the drag wheel) before it can be tuned to fighting strength. Once it was tuned, there was no problem.


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## Encoreman

You may try evil-bay and see if there aren't some older ones for sale. It is a shame Zebco used to be a quality entry reel for newcomers. Oh well nothin is made like it used to be.


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## Hooky1420

Bought my brother a Zebco33 a few years ago and had the same issue. This is really surprising that they went the cheap route with that line of reel. My dad, who taught me how to fish, had two Z33's and we put in some good work with them. I still have one of the two and it still works after 25+ years of service. 

They don't make'm like they used to!

+1 with the Abu Garcia suggestions. I have one of those.


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## dixie_boysles

Ive been looking for a good spincast reel for my fiance. She currently uses a Z33 and it sucks. She loves it though because they are easy to use, but i want to get her a quality one. I like the look of the Abu Garcia Abumatics BUT, i dont like the one handle design. Is there a QUALITY reel similar to the Z33?


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## fender66

dixie_boysles said:


> Ive been looking for a good spincast reel for my fiance. She currently uses a Z33 and it sucks. She loves it though because they are easy to use, but i want to get her a quality one. I like the look of the Abu Garcia Abumatics BUT, i dont like the one handle design. Is there a QUALITY reel similar to the Z33?



There is. Many opinions on this, but I bought my wife a pflueger spincast and she loves it. It came with an extra spool that is easy to swap out, and holds up very well. Can't remember the model # but I can get it if you want. Bought it at BP on sale and it was under or right around $30 I think.

Zebco is a 4 letter word to me anymore. Oh wait..that's 5 letters....guess that makes it that much worse. :LOL2:


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## Oldgeek

I've been fishing with a 30 year old Zebco 33 and an Zebco Ultralite (can't remember the model) and they still aren't bad. I've been through a couple dozen cheap reels for the kids and grandkids. Last year I decided to buy two more Zebco 33's and found the newer ones to be very poorly made. I finally went on EBay and landed two Zebco 33's from a guy that bought an old bait shop. They were the old stainless housings with metal gears. I got both for about $45. They were used but in great shape.


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## fender66

Oldgeek said:


> I've been fishing with a 30 year old Zebco 33 and an Zebco Ultralite (can't remember the model) and they still aren't bad. I've been through a couple dozen cheap reels for the kids and grandkids. Last year I decided to buy two more Zebco 33's and found the newer ones to be very poorly made. I finally went on EBay and landed two Zebco 33's from a guy that bought an old bait shop. They were the old stainless housings with metal gears. I got both for about $45. They were used but in great shape.



The old ones like that are the ONLY ones worth a dime anymore. Good find!


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## nathanielrthomas

I know we are all hating on Zebco right now, and I agree, the 33 is a POS. But the Zeco Omega reels are good to go. They remind me of the old ones we grew up on. I have the smaller version(cant remember the model #) and it works great. My uncle has been using them for years for crappie fishing and he abuses them regularly, about 3 times a week. They hold up great, and handle 6-8#test really well. They are a bit on the pricey side, but they are one of the best newer spincast reels out today.

I just looked it up, I have the ZO2 model. My 5 year old loves it.


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## dixie_boysles

fender66 said:


> dixie_boysles said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ive been looking for a good spincast reel for my fiance. She currently uses a Z33 and it sucks. She loves it though because they are easy to use, but i want to get her a quality one. I like the look of the Abu Garcia Abumatics BUT, i dont like the one handle design. Is there a QUALITY reel similar to the Z33?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There is. Many opinions on this, but I bought my wife a pflueger spincast and she loves it. It came with an extra spool that is easy to swap out, and holds up very well. Can't remember the model # but I can get it if you want. Bought it at BP on sale and it was under or right around $30 I think.
> 
> Zebco is a 4 letter word to me anymore. Oh wait..that's 5 letters....guess that makes it that much worse. :LOL2:
Click to expand...


i need something that can handle like 10-12 lb test as we fish for smallies ad they fight as we all know


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## fender66

> i need something that can handle like 10-12 lb test as we fish for smallies ad they fight as we all know



As I recall....Both spools for the Pflueger that I bought have either 10 or 12 lb on them. I'll try to remember to look at the model # tonight. It is a one handle crank though I think.


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## moelkhuntr

fender66, look at the Abu Garcia 1276 SLi. I just bought one off e-bay for $49.00 and $5.50 shipping. It's cheaper than I could find elsewhere. I know it's a little pricey for a Spincast but I have heard it's worth it. Comes spooled with 14# fireline. Reason I bought it was I just bought a Zebco Pro 888 about 2 months ago thinking it would be a good heavy reel and with the drag sit tight as it will go a 1 to 2 lb cat with just make it sing. Dumb me I throwed the box away and had receipt in it I guess. NO MORE ZEBCOS FOR ME.


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## redbug

if you want a quality spin cast reel look at the Dawia you can get them with 8 ,10 or 12 lb test the have a great drag on them and cast well. my wife loves hers


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## ray55classic

Diawa's spincasters hold up!! My wife uses both her goldcast II 's weekly {a 510RL and a 512RL} Maybe one of these days she'll get the goldcast III's if the II's ever wear out .


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## screwballl

Check ebay for "vintage zebco 33 reel"... people are selling the original classic ones and the prices are not too bad. Just make sure you read through the description closely to make sure it is a 1980s or older "tough" version, and not some 90s remake when they started using the plastic and junk parts, but kept the same classic exterior casing.


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## ScreamingIdiot

I'm kinda with you on the 33's but at the same time I'm not. I do have a 1982 Zebco 33 Prototype (It's stamped "L" on the back of the bracket which attaches the reel to the pole. The "L" denotes "lead" which was Zebco's internal jargon for a prototype at the time.) which had an experemental switch that allowed you to turn the bait click on or off. It was thought that would be a useful feature for night fishing. You could quiet the reel and listen more for the splashes in the water when you had a bite. The added feature unfortunetly prevented the reel crank from being reversed, wasn't considered particularly useful, and the feature therefore didn't make it to market. If it wasn't for the fact that the rivet keeping the bracket attached to the reel was loose I would still be using that reel. Back then, the 33 reels were made here in America, were stamped "American Craftsmanship" on the side, and were assembled by hand in Brunswick. Mine pulled in some heavy Bass in it's time, and was a dream to drop-shot cast with the Daiwa Jupiter 1230A Medium Light pole it was paired with. Like the reel, the rod was also a blast from the past when Daiwa's rods were made in Japan, not Taiwan or China. Daiwa himself (who used to make those rods by hand) promised his customers his rods would never break... and it hasn't. I'm still using the rod sometimes today, paired up with a Zebco Delta restrung with 20lb Berkley Triline. The reel however has had it's time and it's sitting on the shelf, but still cleaned and oiled. 

I've bought 2 Zebco 33's in the last 6 months. One of them is a "Authentic" 33 and the other is a Cuztomz. Both have 3 ball bearings and a few plastic parts. Yeah things have changed, and 33's are now made on machines in China. Maybe Zebco used to use plastic gears on some models but here lately, I haven't seen any with the exception of the drag control. Out of the package too, I should point out that most low to middle ranged reels including the 33's aren't always lubed quite well enough at the factory. A good oiling is recommended for any reel which has been on the shelf for any length of time. My 33's are teamed up with Zebco made Medium Light action rods. I'll admit to some casting issues but it wasn't the reel itself, it was stringy Cajun Line it comes spooled with. It loves to wrap around the pole so easily and get tangled up. I've restrung it with 20lb Berlkey Triline. A little known secret in the fishing industry is that what was good 10-12lb line 20 years ago is nowadays manufactured and labeled 20lb line. The 10lb line we have now in turn was labeled 8lb or 6lb line back then. Keep in mind as well, not all 33's are equal. The all-metal 33 Platinum has 5 ballbearings and a smoother drag. The 33 Gold has automatic-auto reverse. Both of those cost a bit more than the usual 33, but the differences will be noticeable.

Put it simply, standards have changed, manufacturers have changed, and so much else has changed in the last 20 years. You can't just get ANY middle grade reel out of the package anymore and expect it to work right away. I think that goes not only for Zebco, but for Shakespeare, Eagle Claw, and anyone else in the $0-$20 market. They need to be pampered a bit, but it's more than worth the little bit of extra effort.

- J. Lee Seiler


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## fender66

Any product (ANY) right out of the package, no matter the cost, should work without having to baby, or service it before use. I've had three in the past year + (33s) that worked for about 3 or 4 casts total. Two of them, were brand new and right out of the package and both shot craps on the same outing. Each of those cost more than $20 each as combos and were probably closer to $30 each, but can't remember. A third combo did the same thing later last year. That is completely unacceptable to me. I even took my time to write Zebco, but my efforts went unanswered. That in itself tells me that they don't care about quality, or customers. I'm still, totally through with Zebco. There's lots of them out there if you want to mess with them....but I can't afford to throw away my money.


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## ScreamingIdiot

Unfortunetly, it is the reality of the retail business that a product can sit on the shelf for some time before someone uses it. I've seen good reels sit for shelves for days, weeks, months, and in the case of some back country bait shops, years before their ever sold. Even places like Bass Pro Shops and Academy for all their high volume traffic, are not immune to this rule. Grease gets grimmy, and gears that sit immobile get a bit stiff. There is no telling in some cases what the age is of the product you are buying unless it's an older model. Higher end reels which sit in the big glass display case instead of sitting in plastic boxes are in some shops removed from display and lubercated at regular intervals to keep them in excellent condition while boxed reels and inexpensive combos are left to sit. So that's the manufactures fault? Nope. It's how it is. So the shops fault? Nope, it's how it is. For this reason it is VERY wise to do some perliminary matinence on a reel before you use it, even if it is new.


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## SVOMike86

Jim said:


> heavyduty said:
> 
> 
> 
> This is off of a friend of mine's website, jeffstacklebox.com
> I haven't used one but I trust his opinion and he loves them!
> 
> Qualia MuL 10 Spincast reel
> List Price: $29.95
> Our Price: $29.95
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those are some radical looking rods on that site.
Click to expand...


I think I'd try one of the rods out. I keep an ultralight in the car, but am afraid of breaking the tip, this might be a good replacement. The reel looks almost identical to a zebco spincast I bought my wife a couple years ago. Definitely a piece of crap (the zebco). She refused to try a spinning reel until we went out with a friend and his wife. His wife used a spinning reel with no problems. My wife got a little weird about it (jealous maybe?) and tried it out. It took about 2 minutes to teach her, so now I might get to buy her a spinning rod.


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