John Baker 12

[MrBill]

The John Baker reel finally arrived after a long wait. From what I understand, this is the first production run. It has been field tested numerous times. It comes with a wood box. (Period). It has no instructions, no schematic, no oil, no wrench, no warranty card. It came with some foam on the bottom of the box and some bubble wrap on the top.

The finish is a nice light gold anodized aluminum. The markings or etching of the JB12 is very light. Not deeply engraved. The knob is made of delrin. It has a nice feel to it. It also has lugs which are angled back toward the angler unlike the common top of the reel. This is a topless reel, giving you access to the line.

The main reason I bought this reel is because I was under the impression that you could shift the 2 speed with your thumb without your hand leaving the handle. You have to pull out and twist the shift knob to change gears. I have no idea how you can tell which gear you are in without cranking the handle. I don't like the shifting knob or the way it works. It also feels loose and wobbly.

The clicker is hard to get to if you have big fingers. I have a big problem. Others many not. It also is spring loaded and you have to pull out and twist to go in and out of the click mode.

The handle is loose. I have about 1/2 inch of play in the crank, back crank. It's as if someone machined the handle to big on the shaft. The handle arm looks strong but it feels funny being loose.

The drag preset knob is located like most others. This one is loose. It doesn't turn evenly when adjusting. Like a wobbly wheel on a bend shaft. Maybe something is wrong with one.

As far as drag, it feels smooth, but I'm afraid to load it up with line as I don't know if I have any warranty. I have no idea of the line capacity, drag capability or anything else because it comes with no information what so ever. I have taken some pictures next to other reels to give you an idea of the size. It's about the size of a Accurate 665W.

Keep reading this thread as I will continure to update pictures and facts about this reel. (Last sentence added on 12/31/07)

[fishr1989]

it's possible because this is a first run of the reel, that they didn't include any paperwork or accessories because they may be working out any last kinks before putting them on the market with accessories.

[puroagave]

i will preface this post by saying i have the highest regard for john's products. i've met him at shows and owned eight baker/cal coversions including the monster, topless and narrowed 80 penn intl, super 12, 20 numerous 30s and 50-sized intls and tiagras).

John's all-new inhouse designed reels were no doubt inspired by the penn 12 intl. with a clean sheet he created the ultimate "12" by giving it dual drags, much larger geartrain and a patented shift mechanism. i've seen the development mules at fred hall last yr and i understand the reel has been put through its paces by numerous testers. i did handle the production versions at charkbait and noted some of the quirks mrbill commented on. i truly believe this reel will prove to be world class and on par with the best available and im sure john will do whats necessary to correct any problems.

[jureal]

The Trinidad has both the anti reverse pawls and the anti reverse bearings and I have had failures on two reels. I spoke with Harry at Avet at one of the shows and he told me that the anti reverse bearings do little in preventing the handle from going into full reverse. That is why he chose to not use them in his Avets. Remember the problems that Accurate had with the anti reverse bearings when they first introduced the Boss series? They fixed the problem with the Magnum upgrade that many of us went through which involved a new side plate with more room for a larger anti reverse bearing. In my opinion, the reduction of the sloppy handle is enough for me to want the anti reverse bearings even if they don't add to the load significantly.

[SpecialK]

Lite liner, I just thought I had read that the 665 only made around 28 lbs of drag max. It looks like that is the next best option for me if they cannot get a custom clamp stance drilled for me. I assume that this will change permenantly with the next run as well as a few other fixes. I took the reel with me to Houston over the last couple of days before I sent it back. While I was at FTU I was able to look at the Baker side by side. I would say with a few improvements the Baker would be a much better value. It would be capable of the same+ and has a more comfortable handle...

[hatidua]

I've been eager to read a review of these after seeing a number of photos of prototypes recently. From what I've read here this appears to be yet another case of a reel that is a work-in-progress and using the general public as guinea pigs.

There are a number of reels that already have the kinks worked out, I'll let the rest of you be the test audience on this one.

[Gunsmoke]

I'm going over to pick up Mrbill in thirty minutes. I caught him on his cell yesterday afternoon. That fool was headed down to the coast to hop on a head boat to go tuna fishing again. I talked him out of it. I don't want him to become a head boat junkie.

He's joining my group this afternoon to go get our game faces on. I like to have a belly full of whiskey before I watch my fighting Texas Aggies beat the hell out of Penn State tonight.

I'll take a look at the John Baker. If we have time, we'll load it up with some line to give it a fast test. Baker makes good stuff. I'll give my honest opinion after seeing and testing the reel.

[MrBill]

Well, it was interesting yesterday as GS came over to inspect the JB12. First,
I will list the specs taken off the charkbait site since none where in the box.

-Patent pending toggle switch for high to low gear
-Gear Ratios - 5:1 high and 2:1 low
-Double disc drag system capable of 40#'s of pressure @ full!
-Grade 5 Stainless Shielded SAPPORO Japanese Bearings (not Chinese...)
-Heat treated stainless steel gears, cam and pinion shaft
-14 Point Double Dog anti-reverse
-Proprietary Carbon Fiber U.S. made drag washers for smoothness and heat dissipation
-6061-T6 aluminum construction on frame, spool, sideplate and clamp
-All exterior components are hand polished, both stainless and aluminum
-Lever drag control with finite notches on sideplate to eliminate lever arm movement from boat vibration
-Big Game style clicker
-Precision ground stainless steel friction plate with minimum 32 Rockwell hardness for high loads and consistently smooth drag performance at all ranges
-Easy 5 screw take down for maintenance
-Proudly designed, manufactured and assembled in the U.S.A.

The first thing we did was some maintenance. The stainless steel drag lever was loose as well as the lever side. Out comes the allen wrenches and locktite. After fixing that, we noticed all the allen bolts needed more tightening. Once that was done the reel felt better. The preset wheel still a little free floating, but not a big deal. The handle still has the back play, but we believe that is because of the lack of anti reverse bearings on the handle shaft. The only evidence of locktite on the reel was the handle screw. After removing it to put on locktite, we noticed it was hard to remove and locktite had been used.

The free spool on the reel is great. It spins and spins. Before loading it with some line we got it spinning and turned the drag preset until it slowed down the spinning. We then loaded it with about 100 yards of 130 mono. Out comes the sash weights. I had 36 1/2 pounds of weights on hand. We cranked the drag lever to full with the preset unchanged. It lifted the 36 1/2 pounds without the spool moving. We took that to mean that the reel could achieved at least 36 1/2 pounds of drag and still have free spool.

I'll let GS tell his story about how we tested the drag.

The shift lever is mean't to be turned not pulled. If you turn it forward (clockwise), you are in low gear. Counter clockwise puts you in high gear. It's not real smooth, but once you get used to it, it does work. We couldn't remove it because it looks like a little stainless pin has been put throught the knob and shaft and back through the knob again. I didn't want to punch it out as GS was eager to do so.

This little reel is built like a tank. The frame is very thick. The frame measured 7mm or 9/32". That's the same as a 50W tiagra. A hair over 1/4".
Today I was curious about the frame thickness of other "Might Mouse" size reels. So I pulled out the calipers. Here's a list of the frame thickness of various models.

John Baker 7mm or 9/32
Accurate 665 4mm or 5/32
Penn Torque 6mm or 7/32
Torsa 6mm or 7/32

With such a good free spool, I think this reel would be a great chunking reel for floater size YF's. There is no doubt that it can produce at least 36 pounds of drag. Probably in the low 40's. The handle did get a little harder to turn with it set at full drag as do all the lever drag reels. Fishing with 25 to 30 pounds of drag with reel would be a piece of cake. I only own rods with aluminum reel seats. I tried putting the reel on three different rods and it fit fine on all rods. SpecialK had said that his Model 6 size JB didn't fit his reel seats. Maybe the 12 size is different from the 6.

Here are some pics of where we used the locktite.

[gman]

Maybe JB reels should read this thread and get the hint LOL seriously though a reel at that price should come in perfect condition with all info just my 2 cents

[SpecialK]

MrBill,
Thanks for posting that. Since you had no problems with the clamps studs clearing the reel seats I think I will order the JB 12. My JB 6 is already on the way back.
I really liked the look of the reel, not to metion the handle made me feel like I could really crank some big fish in. I was thinking of just paying out the difference for BS665 but I hate that ball crank handle...

[MrBill]

Originally Posted by SpecialK

MrBill,
Thanks for posting that. Since you had no problems with the clamps studs clearing the reel seats I think I will order the JB 12. My JB 6 is already on the way back.
I really liked the look of the reel, not to metion the handle made me feel like I could really crank some big fish in. I was thinking of just paying out the difference for BS665 but I hate that ball crank handle...

Come to think of it, I just put the reel on the rod. I never attached the studs to the reel and tried using the under rod reel clamp. I'll give it a try later this evening.

Just checked it out. Everything is fine. The holes on the reel a 1 3/8" on center just like the accurates, penns and shimano's. Studs worked fine on two different size aftco unibutts.