ged Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) First disclaimer - I am not affiliated with ZeeBaaS. I appreciate the freedom to be honest that paying retail allows me. My gear reviews are a 100% authentic and an honest reflection of my personal experience. (Your experience may vary). I am a self proclaimed gear junky that likes rare and collectable reels. I have owned many reels in the last 15 years, but no reel fits me and my style of fishing better than my Z, no matter how hard I look. Some of my favorite reels: Top Left - Very early Mint VS300 with bolt side cover Top Right - Subaqua Bottom Left - TiGrey Generation 1 ZeeBaaS 27 Bottom Right - Matte Black Generation 1 ZeeBaaS 22 Top Left Pink/Blue ZX2-27 Top Right Red/Silver ZX2-22 My Generation on Ti-Grey the day I bought her - pretty huh? My now blue silver ZX2-22 that day I bought it Generation 1 piston bail rotor (in bronze) & Generation 2 bailed rotor I helped to connect ZeeBaaS and the maker of the original ZPreme mahogany box for a fundraiser - That is my canal reel in there all scratched up Edited September 3, 2018 by ged DeepBlue, Keltan, EricDice and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) I have been asked "What is different between the original ZeeBaaS and the current version". The answer is, almost everything is different, and some things have changed more than once since the early models. The parts that have remained unchanged are the main gear, pinion gear, and the main shaft and some internal seals, bearing etc. Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) Currently I own 3 Generation 1 (1 ZX27 & 2 ZX22) and 4 Generation 2 (3 ZX2-27 & 1 ZX2-22) My experience: Spool & Drag My primary fishing reel is a Generation 2 ZX2-27 Red/Silver. This reel is beat to death, but is smooth and has a very reliable drag. I am extremely confident putting the brakes to fish with this reel. Although this is my confidence reel, I will say that my Generation 1 reels seems to have an even more smooth drag. I can't give a mechanical explanation, they just feel even better than my beat up 27. As noted above, the early Generation 1 reels have extremely smooth drags. Unfortunately, they suffer from a design flaw that allows sand/water to enter the drag from the top. This was remedied by filling the holes with silicone or from an expensive upgrade. Also worth noting, very early reels have a different design spool - the spool skirt is fixed to the spool body and the drag cap and titanium ring are slightly smaller in diameter (not interchangeable with current design) Spool design then changed to eliminate the Titanium ring. This has been replaced by a newer version of the first drag cap (without sand holes) Best Spool and drag - Generation 2 Generation 1 Spool with 1 piece spool body and skirt (note 4 screw to access drag) Generation 2 spool skirt (threaded to access drag) Blue spool skit is threaded on to access drag. Black spool body has holes, but drag is protected gen 1 black drag cap - current gen 2 drag cap Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvFeashing Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 Do you have the complete gen 1 piston bail zee reel.If so can you share some pics.THX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) Generation 1 TiGrey with sand holes (with threaded spool skirt) - Early generation 2 Spool (pink) - Current Generation 2 (Blue) with no sand holes (my favorite design) Current generation 2 design is my preference (blue) Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) Rotors: Here are some rare rotors. A TiGrey Generation 2 style and a Piston bailed generation 1 with "faded bronze" color Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Keltan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) Both bailed rotors: I don't like either rotor. Partly because I prefer manual pick up and partially because both designs could be improved. Maybe I will get back to this later... Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Keltan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) Line Rollers: If you look close there are 3 different line rollers. On the TiGrey ZX27 there is the Van Staal style old school titanium line roller, on the black rotor is the polished Ti roller and on the silver rotor the current version. I am partial to the old school VS style roller. I have a few on old Van Staal reels and have had no issue with grooving. Gen 1 gets the nod here. Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Keltan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveBKNY Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 Bravo Nice collection. While I do not have an array of reels like you have (cause you didn’t make any offers in my WTB thread. Lol) I too love my zee. Don’t get me wrong. Other reel options are great but something about the zee for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wire For Fire Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 I get lined wrapped under spool cap on early 2nd gen spool . You get same with later 2nd gen ? And are the spools interchangeable ? t_man7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) Manual P/U Rotors: Generation 1 with 3 Piece design (similar to current PENN torque design) Generation 2 Silver - 1 Piece design (with removable roller arms) Side by side you can see the rotors have critical differences The angle of the line rollers is critical The generation 1 is beautiful, but less functional Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avet4life Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 Great read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) Rotor Preference: This is a tough one to explain, and I will try to demonstrate this later so you can visualize. The angle of the line roller as the line come off the spool is different. The line comes off the spool and onto the generation 2 style line roller/rotor better. The roller arm design is significant. I have found generation 2 does flex slightly, and generation 1 is more rigid. I have never accidently caught the line roller on the generation 2, however I have had this issue on the generation 1. My preference is the Generation 2. I will edit some photo's later to show better detail. Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bospa357 Posted September 3, 2018 Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 Nice collection Gary. I once had a sizable collection as well and also ended up giving several away for raffles for IronMike's PMC Challenge rides. I only kept one 1st Gen Piston Bailed 22. I think at one point I counted at least 20 that passed through my hands as well as some VS reels. I also raffled off an early engraved VS for Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ged Posted September 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) Let's look inside both Edited September 3, 2018 by ged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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