I had a viewer on my YouTube channel ask me about this rod. I haven't seen one like it before. My initial thought was that it may either be an inexpensive imported rod or one someone built. I have seen inexpensive imported rods without much lacquer (if any) on the wraps like this but I have also seen some custom made rods done the same way. There are no markings or lables. What do y'all think?
More pics...
Obviously hard to tell. Gut feeling is a custom built. The guides look somewhat like the old Aetna Foulproofs, but they look a little odd & could be knockoffs. Foulproofs were popular 35-45 yrs. ago, until ceramic rings kinda took over. Windings are an odd pattern and not particularly uniform in size between the red and gold, so could have been an artistic attempt by an individual builder.
Frank
I have a stout 7.5' Shakespeare Howald wound white fiberglass rod from the 70s with an identical looking reel seat to that one. Those stainless "foul-proof" guides had some popularity in the 80s and I used them on some rods I built back then. They might have been put on that rod to replace the originals. Don't know about the thread wrap, it looks "home-made."
That's just my thinking on it, but others may know better.
Edit:
Well, Frank beat me to it.
The thread is called varigated by gudebrod I believe. The tread was common back in the 70-80s. It's likely that the thickness is uneven, increasing wider towards the tip since the thread changes color ever x number of inches. The thinner the blank, the wider the changes in color variation it gets. Think of it as metered line or thread. Not sure if it's valuable but definitely a rod from the past.
Thanks guys, I'll pass this knowledge along! It does look like a home brew wrapping job to me. Kinda neat and probably a good quality glass blank. All the older glass blanks seemed to be well made that I have ever run across.
some old Japanese cane has similar components & thread-work
if not homemade, I'd guess early Japanese glass -- good blanks;
poor to mediocre knock-off components w/ that "familiar look"
many fly-by-night brands w/ logo paint that didn't last too well
pretty sure they copied the look of brands like Aetna & Gudebrod, quite shamelessly
P.S.,
the metal ferrules on rods like that can be distinctive
close-ups of male, female, joined could help ID