Stella SW2008: JDM vs US

Now i am trying to understand Shimano Stella SW 08 series.  There 2 versions i.e. US market version and Japanese Domestic Model (JDM) version.  There are hundred of threads in fishing forum discussing the above topic.


In term of price in Kuala Lumpur, the JDM version is more expensive up to RM500-600.


From my observation, the main difference is cosmetic and the handle. JDM SW4000 to SW8000 has carbon knob and is very expensive. In 10000, 18000 and 20000 series, they have the same rubber knob.

Posting from various forum stated that there is no difference in the reel body, drag, spool etc are all the same and no need to spend up on the JDM version.


Special thanks to toppuntawong for his write up below:
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quote "First of all, the way to tell them apart between JDM and USDM is this, JDM will always have the SW in from of the number model. As you can see USDM will say ******SW and JDM will say SW*****. Also, JDM will have the "gear" PG, HG, XG on the back of the number SW*****PG (HG or XG). 


2002 (FA = US Model)
 Stella 4000FA Spool interchangeable with 5000FA.
Stella 5000FA Spool interchangeable with 4000FA.

Stella 6000FA Spool interchangeable with 8000FA.
Stella 8000FA Spool interchangeable with 6000FA.

Stella 10000FA Spool interchangeable with 16000SW or 20000FA. (16000SW is JDM upgrade spool.
Stella 20000FA Spool interchangeable with 16000SW or 10000FA. 


2008 (SW = JDM Model)
 Stella SW4000PG No spool interchangeable.
Stella SW4000XG No spool interchangeable.

Stella SW5000PG Spool interchangeable with SW6000** and SW5000S (SW6000 is more capacity and SW5000S is shallow spool)
Stella SW5000HG Spool interchangeable with SW6000** and SW5000S (SW6000 is more capacity and SW5000S is shallow spool)
Stella SW5000XG Spool interchangeable with SW6000** and SW5000S (SW6000 is more capacity and SW5000S is shallow spool)

Stella SW6000PG Spool interchangeable with SW5000** and SW5000S is shallow spool.
Stella SW6000HG Spool interchangeable with SW5000** and SW5000S is shallow spool.

Stella SW8000PG Spool interchangeable with SW10000**, SW12000, 10000SW (USDM), SOM8000, SOM16000
Stella SW8000HG Spool interchangeable with SW10000**, SW12000, 10000SW (USDM), SOM8000, SOM16000

Stella SW10000PG Spool interchangeable with SW8000**, SW12000, 10000SW (USDM), SOM8000, SOM16000
Stella SW10000XG Spool interchangeable with SW8000**, SW12000, 10000SW (USDM), SOM8000, SOM16000

Stella SW18000HG Spool interchangeable with SW20000PG, SW20000MAX, SOM18000, SOM20000
Stella SW20000PG Spool interchangeable with SW18000HG, SW20000MAX, SOM18000, SOM20000 




2009 (SW = USDM Model)
 Stella 5000SW Spool interchangeable with SW6000** (JDM) and SW5000S (SW6000 is more capacity and SW5000S is shallow spool)

Stella 8000SWPG Spool interchangeable with SW10000** (JDM), 10000SW (USDM), SW12000, SOM8000, SOM16000
Stella 8000SW Spool interchangeable with SW10000** (JDM), 10000SW (USDM), SW12000, SOM8000, SOM16000

Stella 10000SW Spool interchangeable with SW10000** (JDM), 8000SW (USDM), SW12000, SOM8000, SOM16000

Stella 18000SW Spool interchangeable with SW20000PG, 20000SW (USDM), SW20000MAX, SOM18000, SOM20000
Stella 20000SW Spool interchangeable with SW20000PG, 18000SW (USDM), SW20000MAX, SOM18000, SOM20000

2002 spool are not interchangeable with the 2008/09 spool. " end quote.




Also very special thanks to Mr Alan Hawk for his comprehensive review in stripersonline.com .
quote "Anyhow, in Japan they offer 13 domestic reels in different combinations of sizes and gear ratios. The list is too complicated to explain in whole, so check Shimano's Japanese site for the entire line up and feel free to ask me any specific questions Those Japanese models are named SWxxxxxPG/HG/XG. Where PG is Power Gear (low ratio for jigging), HG is High Gear (high ratio for popping), and XG is Extreme Gear or Extra High Gear (even faster ratio). For the US, they offer only 6 of those models. They are named xxxxxSW with no gear designation expect for a single model called 8000SW PG which is a slower ratio version of the regular 8000SW. For the US, the 5000 reels are the smallest of the series, 8000 and 10000 reels have similar bodies with different spool capacities, and the biggest are 18000 (high ratio) and 20000 (low ratio). These two big reels have the wonderful hyper twin disk drag that works on the top and bottom of the spool, and the line capacity of each is safe enough to go after cow tuna and billfish. My 20K took 650 yards of 80# Varivas Jig max power (PE5), and it's supposed to take 320 of 30# mono, but I did not load it with mono. This is roughly 20% more than Saltiga's biggest capacity models, the Dogfight and the Expedition.

It is important to mention here that even though some will swear that they are different, both US and JDM Stellas are identical except for cosmetics and colour schemes. Rumours are all over the net about the US model being made of inferior materials (!) with crappy gearing (!!!), reconditioned components (!!!!!), and cheap bearings (!!!!!!!). I did a disassembly of a JDM last summer as I mentioned in an earlier thread, then in November I was handed a US model to take apart and put those rumours to rest, and I can assure you they are 100% the same reels internally, made by the same people on the same machines using the same components. Period." end quote
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Ok, after reading the above, i am quite satisfied that there are NO difference internally in between Stella JDM and Stella US version.


But, yesterday, i came across with a topic in www.deepjigging.com , showing both version was striped down showed that both has identical parts except for the main gear which the JDM model looks polished.  The author can't tell if they are of the same material.  Please find below pics from his posting for your reference.

left JDM........right US version

main gear back : left JDM.......right US version

main gear front:  left JDM....right US version

side by side - left JDM, right US ver

I do not know the authenticity of the above pics, but at the back of my mind the are questions.
IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE INTERNALLY BETWEEN SHIMANO STELLA SW JDM and SW US version? IS THERE ANY REASONS WHY THE MAIN GEAR COLOR AND TEXTURE ARE DIFFERENCE?