Don, I agree that Shimano builds good stuff. Some of the Diawa stuff compares also. My rule of thumb for a good while now is to not judge til you’ve held it in your hand. I’ve also learned that bearing count narrows down which ones I’ll pay attention to. I’ll handle others just to see if there’s anything to change my mind but there usually isn’t. If you get into salt water there’s other things to consider but most of us don’t so I won’t get into what that is. In the late 70’s I bought myself an ambassadeur reel and thought I had found the holy grail. A few years later, Shimano came out with their Bantam series and they had leftys so I was all over it. As newer models came out I would buy another. Prices went up as the technology improved. I still have an ambassadeur but a newer model and also a Shimano Curado, the most expensive BC reel I’ve ever bought. A true pleasure in the hand. After a time and I slowed waaaay down on using the bass gear, I had time to think about getting rid of the stuff I didn’t use. Couldn’t bring myself to sell these. Even though they’re not used much they’re the best of their kind I’ve ever handled. Now to spinning reels. I’ve never spent much for a spinning reel til recent years. I’ve worn out a few along the way. The progression is very similar to what I went thru with the BC stuff. A Diawa Capricorn 1500 was begrudgingly bought and quickly became my favorite. It lasted until last weekend when I gave it to a young man in a tackle shop that acted like I gave him a bar of gold. He’s young and will finish killing it just by the nature of things, but he’ll remember that it was given to him and it’s a nice reel. Now in my mind I’m turning towards the thought of what I consider a very good reel, north of a couple of hundred dollars, and I know how long I can expect it to last, so I better choose wisely. As I’m looking I’m finding some surprisingly good reels with names outside the normal names. So after all these years I’m being re-educated in what is a good reel and what isn’t. Another bad part is the knock-offs. All the bells and whistles but they’re nothing compared to what they copy. So two things I’ve come away with thus far; you get what you pay for and I’m probably gonna spend more than I thought I would on the back end. Thanks for listening to the rant, I’ll be quiet now.