Some cheap observations, and how do we get there from here.
Soon a "good rod will be in inbasket. I very been learning on a used factory rod that has gone through some changes.
By using a 20 size stripper ample room is provided for your hand. 16 size are less tall. Butt there's a trade off.
what brand is that striper guide? the ceramic look pretty big for the frame
the spiral transition look good to me.
As shown the height is good, now I've installed a size 10 guide and slightly moved it to the "other side " as much as possible.
In my testing it does keep the cranking in "unmended" line way more centered on the spool, It's just an idea, not for everyone.......
Sometimes you wish you could buy whatever you want or need.
As I'm not casting much if at all smaller transition and running guides could be used here.
Any ideas or criticism is perfectly acceptable. ;). Just saying.
That looks like a helluva stick to put a hurt on a barndoor!
Gary!!!!
SNOW in Gustavus, AK??? Must be springtime :o
WHY is the line guide SO CLOSE to the top of the grip???
Is that the needed guide placement for your Spiral Wrap job???
Inquiring minds....
Wayne
BUTT WAIT!!!
I just checked the same model Halibut rod we caught the 325 lbs. Halibut on our 2017 trip,
it is a 30-80 lbs. line weight, 6 ft. rod,
AND the first guide is right up against the top foam grip.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/34/7588_15_04_21_5_32_20_34935921.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/34/7588_15_04_21_5_32_18_34934576.jpeg)
I have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll get off this thread and make a zoom call.
Wayne
Quote from: El Pescador on April 15, 2021, 05:35:30 PM
BUTT WAIT!!!
I have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll get off this thread and make a zoom call.
Wayne
Inquisitive mind makes a wise decision. ;D Dominick
Quote from: El Pescador on April 15, 2021, 05:35:30 PM
BUTT WAIT!!!
I just checked the same model Halibut rod we caught the 325 lbs. Halibut on our 2017 trip,
it is a 30-80 lbs. line weight, 6 ft. rod,
AND the first guide is right up against the top foam grip.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/34/7588_15_04_21_5_32_20_34935921.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/34/7588_15_04_21_5_32_18_34934576.jpeg)
That looks like a Whopper Stoppers rod... I always thought those Aftco light weight roller guides were rated like
2-30# mono. I've toyed with the idea of using them but the low rating put me off. I guess they have been stress tested and proved themselves.
Cool
CooldadE!!!!
Here is the exact same wrapped model rod used to catch & land the 325 lbs. halibut!!!
Gary has 80 lbs. braid on his reels using NO reel clamp - again, NO REEL CLAMP!!!!!
Those Aftco Light rollers have no problem with the load. NONE.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/20/7588_15_08_17_3_43_46_20996156.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/20/7588_15_08_17_3_44_54_20998804.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/21/7588_15_08_17_4_03_43_21008765.jpeg)
Wayne
It does not look like much load is being placed on the rod at the transition guides. At least for the bend you are testing at. I wonder how much load is supposed to go on a spiral transition guide anyways, since it would put a lot of force across the wraps. Seems strange that we worry about guide placement affecting the blank loading so much and then come up with a guide system that does not distribute load on the blank right for quite a distance.
Not sure what the taller stripper guide does to the load distribution at the transition section.
No answers - just some more questions...
-J
Quote from: CooldadE on April 15, 2021, 08:19:12 PM
Quote from: El Pescador on April 15, 2021, 05:35:30 PM
BUTT WAIT!!!
I just checked the same model Halibut rod we caught the 325 lbs. Halibut on our 2017 trip,
it is a 30-80 lbs. line weight, 6 ft. rod,
AND the first guide is right up against the top foam grip.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/34/7588_15_04_21_5_32_20_34935921.jpeg)
I've used the ALWR for up to 40#. I think the only issue with them using heavier lines is the knot clearance, not strength of the guides.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/34/7588_15_04_21_5_32_18_34934576.jpeg)
That looks like a Whopper Stoppers rod... I always thought those Aftco light weight roller guides were rated like
2-30# mono. I've toyed with the idea of using them but the low rating put me off. I guess they have been stress tested and proved themselves.
Cool
MarkT,
No issue here with knot clearance thru the Aftco Light guide tip since we use a 150 lbs. snap swivel which stays outside the roller tip.
Wayne
Mark
do you have a whooper stopper rod, what model?
I always found them pretty cool, specially to use them on a panga since they are really short, Im building my own whopper stopper jigging rod LOL from a broken blank, it will be 4'8" long and already test it on a deadlight 15# would be cool for light jigging, what plans do you have for your rod?
No whopper stopper. I have a Shimano Calcutta rod with ALWR and I had a Calstar 800XL and a Lamiglass WSB special that I sold.
When I started to move towards lighter tackle, I realised that for some reason that also meant slower action rods. I.E. the blanks are more bendy at the rear which created a problem with the line touching my hand with a conventional reel.
I then looked for the tallest guides I could find here and settled for flip up guides for the first one. You need to be very precise with placement distance from the reel and even consider the reel height. It works 100% but does look a bit weird with one very tall guide.
I also twice tried reinforcing the blank at the rear, but that was not very successful.
PS I think the issue with the bendy blanks is more a function of them being designed for spinning reels or for other parts of the world where that style is more popular.
See photo. (sorry for poor quality)
interesting you mention "reinforcing the blank at the rear" -- what did you use?
I was thinking of trying a rear section from a light telescopic pole:
really nice thin-wall Korean tobacco glass... 4 or 5 nestled large OD choices
if you already tried something that "thin & slow" for outer layer & no-go, I'll know not to bother
by "flip up", do you mean folding guides?
might Match double-foot (like Fuji BNMVAG) be better for weight/strength on lighter rods?
Quote from: philaroman on April 16, 2021, 08:31:12 AM
interesting you mention "reinforcing the blank at the rear" -- what did you use?
I was thinking of trying a rear section from a light telescopic pole:
really nice thin-wall Korean tobacco glass... 4 or 5 nestled large OD choices
if you already tried something that "thin & slow" for outer layer & no-go, I'll know not to bother
by "flip up", do you mean folding guides?
might Match double-foot (like Fuji BNMVAG) be better for weight/strength on lighter rods?
Agreed on the guide, problem is that I live in Cape Town and many things you take for granted are difficult or very expensive to obtain here. Buying online works out very expensive and there is always a significant risk that it never gets here.
I have a large box full of pieces of graphite from broken rods that I repair. You can make an insert and glue it inside the blank, however that does not tend to work well. Adds more weight then stiffness. You can achieve the same by lengthening it from the back, that has the effect of pushing the backbone section of the rod forward and works well, but takes quite a bit of testing and changing to get right. I have once fitted a sleeve over a portion of a blank, but also a lot of experimenting and work to get right.
It can all be done if you know precisely what you want and have time to fiddle with it.
Some purists will frown upon this, but I've done it all and successfully.
I would agree that putting a insert into the handle section does not work well all the time .
Most times it breaks the stick at the end of the insert when under stress .
Going back and adding to the length of the stick worked better .
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. In the picture you can see the hand grip the rod and the clearance needed for the application in mind. Moving the first guide and or using a less tall guide reduces the clearance
This is to answer Wayne's question hopefully, and it's a solution to the earlier problem of having the line cutting into the foregrip or your wrist in stand up fishing 🎣. Thanks for your illustration.🐟
As to help Alex understand what was done at the stripper guide shown a confession must be made.
A size 10 guide was trimmed of its feet and JB welded to the size 20 and offset as much as possible.
This is experimental and did work to keep the line in the center of the reel with no mending. Waay better than the test with the factory 20. Yes a 16 is just somewhat the smaller twin sister..🤔
In a spiral wrap rod this is the biggest problem I've seen as there is nothing tall, somewhat sturdy, with the small diameter ceramic that I'm aware of.
Roller guides aren't designed for any side load, The Aftco graphite stripper Wayne showed us, does have a titanium side plate and is quite tall. Butt so is he.😻
Tall narrow reels will help to keep the line off your hand, So maybe the combination is something to consider? I have not yet accepted the idea of cocking the first guide to the right in order to go left in the transition layout.
I,m kinda screwed ☹️
Quote from: gstours on April 16, 2021, 05:24:26 PM
T
As to help Alex understand what was done at the stripper guide shown a confession must be made.
A size 10 guide was trimmed of its feet and JB welded to the size 20 and offset as much as possible.
This is experimental and did work to keep the line in the center of the reel with no mending. Waay better than the test with the factory 20. Yes a 16 is just somewhat the smaller twin sister..🤔
so, Gary, you're saying a normal 20 tall guide didnt kept the line centered on the reel but a welded ring/ceramic from a size 10 guide to it made it work?
if you dont want to offset the 1st guide to the right in order to have the line more centered then just leave the line to line up on the left of the reel and push it away to the right on the spool, it becomes a mechanic and automatic when reeling the line back to the reel and gives a nice lay in the line.
No, butt it did improve the level lay of the line without mending it coming back on the reel in a simulation test. For years we have been mending in coming line on trolling type reels, it's just second nature.
The taller narrow reels just seem to excentuate the need when the spiral wrap rod is in motion.
I'm just making some observations. This is how we learn. 😻
In simulation mode, some measures to help.
And now the more obvious.
As tall as reel is it does not change the clearance it the first guide, only the angles change.
As piks demo.
Butt the taller reel seemed to buy some more clearance. Just saying.
You could squeeze the legs closer together and do a under wrap on the first guide if needing more room .
At the moment you have room , [ full spool ] what do you have with line out and in fight mode ?
Maybe you have the solution. Mr. Joe's. Put the small diameter first guide on a stand of some type?
Q, n A. The reel half full will lower the line angle, butt the guide is fixed and it's here where the height may allow the line to rub your hand or groove the grip.
It's a clue why some rod builders flatten the top of the round grip, this allows clearance from the line.
If we can't have fun, why go fishing 🎣?
I feel like I am missing something here. I say that because the problem that you have is the line touching your hand when under load. I accept this may become serious on a long fight with strong fish and perhaps more so with braid.
All my rods and most of my friends are built with the reel on top and a fairly long gap between the reel and the first guide. Although I go out of my way to build a rod in a way that will keep the line away from the but or a hand as much as is possible, quite a few of my rods have line cuts on the front of the but. Proves that it is not always successful to achieve that goal.
Now here is the thing I don't understand, I have never really had my hand cut or even hurt by line touching it. In fact it has never really bothered me that I can ever remember. Why is this?
I can only think it has to do with the way in which we fish. Maybe its the way the Halibut fights, I unfortunately have no experience. I move and swap my hands a lot when fighting a strong fish and also open my hands by keeping my thumb away from under the line, as in the photo. Perhaps my rods are stronger in the rear and thereby keep the line away, but I've already said that some do touch my hand sometimes but I guess it does not really bother me.
Yes. Thanks, Your picture shows that the rod is simply laying in a cupped hand. If a harness, gimbal is used it seems that this will work. Off times the heavily loaded rod is handed off to a guest or helper to get around obstacles, things get out of control quickly.
The height of the guide is half of the quest. For spiral wrap rods the transition from top to bottom of rod should be in as short of space as possible to get the full benefit of the change in dynamics.
It seems?🤔🐟🤔
Quote from: gstours on April 16, 2021, 05:24:26 PMI have not yet accepted the idea of cocking the first guide to the right in order to go left in the transition layout.
For what it's worth, the conventional wisdom is to clock the second guide to the right, not the first.
It's accepted wisdom by several rod builders, do you have a particular objection to it?
On a stand up rod, the use of a Low Rider is an inspired choice to get the elevation of the line away from the handle, though the benefits of the additional insert is just a couple of millimetres in lift, so I would question the benefit, over say pushing the guide even closer to the handle or even underwrapping the guide for that little extra lift. Very fine tuning. Had a very light weight stand up built with Low Riders throughout, it worked a dream.
The only other alternative for such a high lift guide is the 16M Low Rider, but not as high as the 20.
From the few spiral wrapped rods we have done, albeit for casting on surf rods, we just set the first guide about 5 degrees to the left for the left hand spiral - not much, but started it in the right direction. Then 45 degree increments for the rest of the transition. Never any problems with that set up. Realistically, you are always going to have to get a thumb involved in laying the line, so anything otherwise is not really a factor.
Just my penny worth......... :)
Thanks for everyone who has added information, and now my other observation.
When cranking in line with a conventional reel and rod some line mending is automatically done when like on he rail the reel is rolled a little, the line with follow the low spot in-the guides and put the line on the other side of the spool if it's not too far out of level. Especially easy todo with no heavy load.
This feature is now gone with the spiral wrap rod. Like you all have said. Not a big deal.
Just observations.💁♂️
Quote from: boon on April 18, 2021, 11:33:04 PM
For what it's worth, the conventional wisdom is to clock the second guide to the right, not the first.
It's accepted wisdom by several rod builders, do you have a particular objection to it?
I might be wrong (not the 1st time) but I have noticed that in USA and few other countries the normal way for an spiral wrap is to use the 1st guide (striper) at 0* or bit clocked to the right (3*-5*) in order to have the line centered, but in NZ and Australia (maybe more) they leave the 1st guide at 0* and then clocked the 2nd guide to the RIGTH those 5* and then start the spiral wrap to the LEFT, I understand the idea but that makes the transition larger because it involves more guides to have the line to the bottom of the blank, on long jigging rods or casting rods this might not a problem but on short jigging or trolling rods that might leave you with just 2 or 3 guides at the bottom of the rod.
Mine have the first guide basically centered and then spiral to the left. I don't know why you'd want to angle the 2nd guide to the right if you're spiraling to the left. I like the fact that the line tends to build up on the left of the spool so that I just have to press it the right with my thumb and let it come back on it's own.
Quote from: MarkT on April 19, 2021, 05:46:53 PM
I don't know why you'd want to angle the 2nd guide to the right if you're spiraling to the left. I like the fact that the line tends to build up on the left of the spool so that I just have to press it the right with my thumb and let it come back on it's own.
For mechanical jigging, if the rod design makes line build up on one side it's no good, because there is no opportunity to guide the line on. You palm the reel with your left hand and you're winding with the right. The reason the second guide is clocked against the spiral is so that line comes through the horizontal centre of the stripper guide (the left side of the second guide should align with the middle of the stripper), making it want to stack in the middle of the spool. Then you use really narrow tall reels which self-manage the line lay.
Yes, you need an extra guide in the transition, but you still end up with 3-4 guides and the tip on the underside of the rod, even on a very short (5') jig rod, and that seems to work well enough.
I guess it begs the question... if you like a spiral rod to lay the line on the left so you can just guide it right, do you build your "conventional" wrap rods so the stripper guide pulls line to the side as well?
Quote from: boon on April 19, 2021, 10:34:59 PM
For mechanical jigging, if the rod design makes line build up on one side it's no good, because there is no opportunity to guide the line on. .......
hmm nice to know it mostly (or only??) apply to mechanical jigging rods, I was intrigued by the different way to do the transition from the Aussie style Vs USA style, so with that said, I have this long 7.6ft swimbait rod that I was thinking to USE that "other" style of spiral wrapping of adding that offset 2nd guide to the right keeping the striper guide centered and then make the transition to the left (as always in my case) and try it before putting the epoxy on the guides.
the swimbait blank have a long flex and it will be used with a 300 sized low profile baitcasting reel so, it might work better if has something to make it avoid the pressure of the line on the left side of the reel and let the levelwind to work more freely.
@ Gary, I think there are some guides with a taller frame than those low raider, check the Fuji RV, but they are expensive since the only material available for those is Titanium
Quote from: steelfish on April 19, 2021, 11:19:04 PM
@ Gary, I think there are some guides with a taller frame than those low raider, check the Fuji RV, but they are expensive since the only material available for those is Titanium
Size for size, when comparing overall height - yes, the RV guides are higher, but the lowest edge of the insert is actually lower, so no nett gain on the raising of the line height above the blank. And at 4x the price of a comparable LC guide, I think I will stick with the slightly cheaper option and would take the line height gain as well - win, win. :)
Conducted a small trial with a colleague, had him cast a rod with plain stainless guides, and the same rod/blank built with titanium guides - he couldn't tell the difference between each on performance. Sure there is possibly an argument for titanium framed guides on very light spinning or casting rods, but that gain is soon lost as the weight of the overall rod goes above a certain point. The friend was a great advocate for titanium guides. It becomes a matter of discernible performance change/improvement.
Quote from: Jeri on April 20, 2021, 05:40:45 AM
Quote from: steelfish on April 19, 2021, 11:19:04 PM
@ Gary, I think there are some guides with a taller frame than those low raider, check the Fuji RV, but they are expensive since the only material available for those is Titanium
Size for size, when comparing overall height - yes, the RV guides are higher, but the lowest edge of the insert is actually lower, so no nett gain on the raising of the line height above the blank. And at 4x the price of a comparable LC guide, I think I will stick with the slightly cheaper option and would take the line height gain as well - win, win. :)
Its always nice to have an expert on Fuji guides and surf fishing, thanks for that info about those two high frame guides Jeri.
Thanks again for the help and good reed. ;). Maybe there are several solutions and now I almost forgot what my problem was. Possibly is....
The need for a small 6-10 size tall stripper the same height as a 16-20 low rider might keep the line centered and provide sufficient clearance for the front 🤚 hand.
Certainly the stripper guide could be smaller diameter butt I have yet to find the animal 🦒.
I am learning and soon want to start my first Zeus's #4 blank. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas. I,m here to learn.🚶♂️
Quote from: gstours on April 20, 2021, 05:19:47 PM
I am learning and soon want to start my first Zeus's #4 blank. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas. I,m here to learn.🚶♂️
yaik !! are you getting a zeus Blank? nice!!
I have my eyes on a Zeus 3, but that might wait till summer
Yes Alex, After a 6 month ponder 🤔, A Zeus 4 is in my possession. 66 inches, light and yet powerful.
The finish is beautiful. Just saying. 🙋♂️.
It's to run the big iron and octopus 🐙 s.
A remarkable resemblance of the Boss. ;)
That must be a professional model. He's too handsome to be the boss. :D Dominick
After listening to you and pondering 🤔 if stumbled on a possible
Viola. Adding the inner size 10 guide to aid in keeping the incoming line centered in the first guide.
This might just work.
Wow, ya know, maybe you should just stick to conventional wrapped rods!
Im not an expert but seems that the angle of the line from the added small guide is too sharp, the size 10 guide is to close to the striper guide, I think in this case you better off taking the striper guide out and reinstalling it with an offset to the right.
Ok,ok, this is only a test. About 22 degrees helped the correction guide with a slight tension center the line in the stripper. After thread wraps a reel was put back on.✅
After peeling off 75 yards of line in the yard, and with a level spool, theline was cranked back on with a bend in the rod, here's the unmended spool of line. Perfectly centered.
Mission accomplished.🎣
The correction guide may seem unconventional, butt there's a lot of things about the spiral wrap rod that is a topic for comments. Thanks again for everyone who helped me get this far.🙋♂️🚣♀️🎣
It's almost like people have done this before and reached basically the same conclusion ???
Good on you for doing the experiment. You could have just ended up with a rod that stacked all the line on one side and pretended it was a feature ::)
Now scale the guides and spacing to remove the sharp angles and I think you'll be on to a winner.
I think that I have found an answer to my question from earlier in this thread. There is not supposed to be much load on the transition guides. Any load will end up being torsional. With significant load, if you don't rip the guide of the wraps, you will end up twisting the blank. Twisting is not good for blank integrity, and the main point of spiral wrapping is to get rid of twisting load. Plus it is really hard to design a transition that will take much load anyways.
So how is this important? The guides that are not centered (top or bottom), will not be distributing load on that section of the blank. When building traditional guides-on-top, we obsess about guide positioning, but with spiral wrapping we happily leave a chunk of the blank almost free of any load from the guides. These are conflicting theories.
My guess is that the transition typically occurs in the mid section, and as long as there are enough guides in the right place to load the tip and butt decently, we don't notice what might be a more modest loss in potential deep loading performance (similar to switching a blank from conventional to spinning). Plus there are some potential benefits with spiral that must also be added to the equation.
If I was building another spiral wrapped - drop jigging rod, I would compare how it fully loads and dead lifts against a traditional layout, and would probably try to make the transition on as short a distance as possible, and make sure that the stripper guide was taking some load in a short pump scenario.
-J.
Another test picture. Same sample layout, about 75 yards was reeled in starting with a level 🧵 spool.
This reel is narrow and it's possibly a better test for line stacking if it's going to be a problem.
Again using a bend in the rod and with no mending of the incoming line, almost perfectly centered on the spool.
Part of the equation is solved. This might also help guide people to stay away from the road less traveled.✅
I dont know Gary, but is the last pics you make it look like a "complicated science" but it shouldnt, the closest the rod flexes to the grip the faster you have to send the line to the bottom, heck, some guys even use 2 transition guides instead of 3 or 4 to send the line to the guides at the bottom of the blank, but I need to say that its always nice to experiment and get our own findings and use what it will work for you, just because I do that all the time.
Thanks Alex, you have got more experience on these spiral wrap rods than I do, and I respect everyone,s opinion. The rod shone has my idea of a correction guide if you want the first guide centered.
As a taker of information, it seems like as soon as the transition is made the better the advantage is from the design. This is short for short rods.........
Others say 2 guides will bring terrible twist to the blank?
The funniest thing. Is when you f. Up, And now body knows. Lots of trial, Can't wait. 🥊
Back in the day they got to the bottom ASAP. First guide slightly tilted to the left, 2nd a small guide at 90 (bump guide), 3rd slightly tilted to left, all others at 180. I saw some without a 2nd guide at all, just a rub strip. Mine use a slower 3-4 guide transition.
Gary, is this a rod for your charters where you have googans who can't keep the line level? The focus on having the line centered on the reel seems aimed at those who can't fish!
Thanks again for everyone chiming in to add information .....
I,m short on time, so for this season I,m going to test the work I've experimented on.
The first picture is a test of reeling in unmended line with a bend inthe rod keeping Rhee reel as level as possible while walking forward.
The line is loading mostly on the transition side.
The second pik is with the small correction guide installed. It's a no brainer. Perfectly centered, about 75 yards.
I,m still looking for a size 8-10 tall k- type guide for the eventual project of the Zeus's #4 blank.
I,m hoping to live that long?💁♂️
Oops 🙊. The spiral side picture did not load. Butt you get the picture? I'll try again.
Quote from: MarkT on May 08, 2021, 01:00:52 AM
Gary, is this a rod for your charters where you have googans who can't keep the line level? The focus on having the line centered on the reel seems aimed at those who can't fish!
I mean.... broadly speaking, I would consider any rod that doesn't centre the line to be faultily designed. Just because you can mend the line doesn't mean you should have to do it all the time to compensate for an incorrectly designed or built rod.
Quote from: boon on May 11, 2021, 05:43:41 AM
Quote from: MarkT on May 08, 2021, 01:00:52 AM
Gary, is this a rod for your charters where you have googans who can't keep the line level? The focus on having the line centered on the reel seems aimed at those who can't fish!
I mean.... broadly speaking, I would consider any rod that doesn't centre the line to be faultily designed. Just because you can mend the line doesn't mean you should have to do it all the time to compensate for an incorrectly designed or built rod.
what would be the difference on skipping the striper guide and use only the bumper guide (2nd guide) to center the line ? (seeing this next pic)
considering your bumper guide is as tall as the striper guide, in other words, installing the striper guide 5* offset to the right as the bumper guide is located in that rod, at the end, is that guide (bumper) what actually keeps the line centered.
I'm not 100%. I think if you offset the stripper guide, there is uneven pressure on the line when it goes to the left (assuming you clocked it to the right) versus when it goes to the right. I suspect it would bias line to the right hand side of the spool.
No one has called out the JVariance frame and ole skool Sabre! Classics....
Hey John, there is nothing wrong with a Jvariance frame or side plates. They are a copy of Accurate frames & plates. I've got a full half dozen of them in gold, red, & silver. We just don't see them to often any more. They haven't been available for almost 10 years. I remember when I bought mine they were about $125-$135 for a set of plates & frame. Those were the days. :D
Thanks, I,m digesting all this stuff. The j v frame was too good a buy in narrow to pass up, about a decade ago. These are very well made, in weight and thickness kinda in between the Accurate and the Tiber on frames. Too bad there's no more. Anyway it's just another great build.
That said mr. Boon said it right, you need to correct the guides to center the incoming line with out mending it. This was a "fix" to the test spiral wrap rod, the purpose was to see if this would allow me to center the stripper guide and make the transition in about a foot.... my initial tests showed it would work.
I'm of the belief that on a 65 inch rod the spiral guides the transition should be as soon (shortest) as practical........ it's possible that in a longer, lighter rod that it might give you more forgiveness, but then you have more to work with.
Possibly with the longer rods with shorter reels and guides the benefits are less pronounced.....🤦♀️
Quote from: RowdyW on May 13, 2021, 09:41:37 PM
Hey John, there is nothing wrong with a Jvariance frame or side plates. They are a copy of Accurate frames & plates. I've got a full half dozen of them in gold, red, & silver. We just don't see them to often any more. They haven't been available for almost 10 years. I remember when I bought mine they were about $125-$135 for a set of plates & frame. Those were the days. :D
I was recognizing them, not calling them out; my bad. I have a set of red JVariance plates, nicely done. And a prize pair of those Sabres with fully built ice blue CC 4/0's on them. 125 for the set of plates and frame, yeah that's a win!