Give me a plain rod PLEASE!

Why do I say this? Because, believe it or not, I really LOVE plain rods! Preferrably black on black with natural cork grips. PLEASE no fancy butt wraps and no contrasting colors on the guide wraps! Give me black and glossy, and plain and feather-light and sensitive and wonderful! A tool of the trade.
Like a race car with simple black primer. Like a competition rifle with a simple rubbed stock. The focus being PERFORMANCE and TECHNOLOGY not cosmetics. I want to FEEL what type of bottom my jig is bumping across. I want to KNOW how big a striper just hit my line by the way it hit. I want to SENSE a near-miss, which will be followed by a savage hit if I play my cards right.

I'm not saying that fancy rods are ugly, just that I believe onrate rods with fancy wraps belong on a wall somewhere. If you give me one, I wouldn't know what to do with it. Left on my own, the work of art will surely be ruined by salt, sand, slime and scales.

So save your energy. Do the fancy threadwork for someone else who appreciates it. Give me perfect-fitting cork and multi-point arbors beneath a quality reel seat. (these really have worked well for me, by the way!) Give me light frame, single-foot guides with minimum thread and epoxy. Use new concept sizing and space them for maximum casting and sensitivity. And PLEASE give me a high quality, feather light blank. Give me power and performance in a package that needs no extra work.

Give me a plain rod.


How many of you or your customers feel the same way? Just curious.

TH

hear hear brother i for one fully agre im not a fancy butt wrap person myself just keep it simple i build my rod's for 10.00 a foot mostely fast med-heavy to heavy blanks concept guide spaceing 3 double foot and finished out with singles a simple exposed blank reel seat and i did quite my day job to build rod's
just my 2cents worth ....John T Burford aka Tightline Rod's

John,

It sounds like you build rods that are made to be FISHED with! I bet your customers call you often with pictures and fish stories!

BTW, I mean no offense to anyone who really appreciates fine thread work, or to those who create them! That is an art form all to itself!

This is just a statement of personal preference, and a query as to how many others share the same preference.

TH

why not have both? the same we do with other things in our life. Just because it looks pretty does not mean it does not perform as well. Just my $.02 worth.

Kerry

Function before Form, I agree.To me, rodbuilding is a game of Strength to weight ratios. and the only thing that matters is performance.The exception is Offshore Trolling Rods.With the weight of the Aliminum butt and the reel loaded with 80lb test and the whole thing resting in the gimble...i say slather it on and make some rod art!
A few more ounces of thread and finish aren't gonna make any difference.

I'm not really not a race car fan having only watched a little on TV, but I haven't seen too many black primer race cars-most look pretty snazzy and appear to have very expensive decorative paint jobs. Not many people I know buy the basic stripper car or truck either although the stripper model will get them to work and back just as well as the fancy top of the line models.
I guess it's a matter of different strokes for different folks. Some people like their possessions plain jane and some like the fancy stuff. I'd buy a top model BMW or Porsche if I could afford it but I can't. I can afford the best SIC or cermet guides and can afford to take the time to put a nice split diamond or fancy metallic weave on my rods. And I don't hang them on the wall, I fish them hard offshore in S. Californian and Mexican waters and get many compliments from the boats crew and passengers.

As a rod builder I would think its a much greater challenge to build a functional top-performing rod that also contains beautiful thread work. Doesn't take a lot of skill to build black on black deck-hand specials.

Like I said , different strokes for different folks-jmo

Function before Form, I agree.To me, rodbuilding is a game of Strength to weight ratios. and the only thing that matters is performance.The exception is Offshore Trolling Rods.With the weight of the Aliminum butt and the reel loaded with 80lb test and the whole thing resting in the gimble...i say slather it on and make some rod art!
A few more ounces of thread and finish aren't gonna make any difference.

I think the epitome of beauty in a fishing rod is the simple but elegant silk wrap done by Russ Gooding and shown in Rodmaker Magazine Vol. 4 Issue 4.

Good replies! I have to agree on the offshore trolling rods. Having matched tackle on an offshore rig is part of having a pretty boat, and it helps draw and impress the customrers.

I wasn't talking about multi-million dollar sponsored race cars, I was talking down and dirty street cars. I've seen many a car with a $5,000 paint job fall to a car that only had fat tires and a primer job. Afterwards, they always want to see WHAT THE HECK was under the hood!

Yes.... for me there is something satisfying about letting PERFORMANCE do the talking, rather than bright colors. Nowadays, I feel pride when someone picks up one of my rods to move it out of the way, then go "WHOA! Where did you GET this?!? It's so light!"

Unfortunately, that line is often followed by, "Can I use this rod for awhile?!?" :)

TH

It's weird I have 2 Matte Fisher Blanks, these are a New Taper by Hal Bacon and they are very light in weight, and have a fast tip , but everyone wants Blue and Green Blanks. I cant keep enough of them in stock.. I will cut anyone a good deal for these 2 Blanks.. Thanks Daves Rods

A really good rod builder can create a rod that is outstanding in the performance department, but is also embellished with tasteful decorative work that adds much to the value and pride of ownership the fishermen who uses it will feel.

And remember, that properly thought out and done, decorative or cosmetic work does not detract from performance.

Top rod builders are very much capable of meeting strict technical expertise while also providing some art in the process.

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I just stripped down a 10 year old surf rod that was pretty ornate. Got some new guides, painted it black and wrapped it with black thread. Just a little gold ring near the handle and tip....it looks way better....and kept the cabin fever at bay for a while....gonna do my 4 stand-up rods next.

One should always consider that not everyones taste is the same and a good builder should be able to provide for everyones taste,whether it be a simple weave to ornate butt wraps grip inlays etc,everyone is different and their rods should be also.I do agree that performance is paramount but have been asked to do butt wraps on some of the lowest priced rack rods made.
John

This gives me a chuckle!

Every single rodmaker I have ever met has been LOATHE to build a black on black rod! EVERY ONE of them always comes back with, "How about a trim here, or a wrap there, or ..." It is almost as if making a simple rod is a CRIME. :)

I was getting my first custom rod made, and I asked for black on black. I got black on black with metallic blue trim rings. In my eyes, the blue ruined the look of the rod. I didn't want a striped blue creation, I wanted BLACK. What made me laugh is that it simply drove him NUTS to make a plain rod! He wiggled and squirmed everytime I brought it up!

For some reason, when people look at my black rods, they always comment at how sleek and beautiful they are.... Unless they are a rodbuilder! LOL!

TH

Dave,

Those blanks from Hal whats the scoop.

What wt , length how many sections spigott or sleeve ?. Is Hal now up and running now?

Thanks "John"

I have done black on black rods with no problems. Another stealthy look is using the #441 charcoal on any of the matte gray blanks.

And we also forget there is more than one way to customize a rod. A black on black rod that has no thread embellishments, but does have some sort of grip or handle inlay or something along those lines is a way of still providing something low key but with some sort of individual customization.

.......................

IMHO a simple uncluttered look is best. I even shy away from rods with too much data in the inscription or a big flashy decal. But that's just my opinion. If you're buildiing custom rods, you have to listen to your customer, right? However, if you're building hand crafted rods of your own design, you can call the shots. Right now I'm building two identical blanks in two different ways. One will have chrome snake guides and flashy trim. The other will have smoke single foot guide with understated seat and trim. In a month I'll let my fishing buddies determine which one is more "popular". Then I'll build my rods the way I want anyways, heh-heh-heh....

Black on black is more common then you may think have done quite a few of them, my only problem is with geting older is going blind by the time I am wrapping the last two guides and geting an even line with epoxy can cause us older folks some probplems
John

I like the idea of black on black but I would have to add one thing to the completed rod. I would use a FUJI skeleton seat FK2SKD Cobra graphite and the Cobra Graphite insert to complement. I think it looks like and extension of rod graphite.
My .02
mark Schulte

The real challenge is when the customer says "I want black on black....but" also may want 2 single trim bands placed at precisely positioned the way they want just to challenge your skills. (some fishing guides like doing this for some reason. I guess they have skills in fish catching, and want to see what you can do also with making their rod "just so").

I too have made the black on black, or in the case of a green blank would be green on green. Agree also, and often ask the customer if they want the thread to blend in with the blank color, and it could be better to match charcoal matte with charcoal maybe. The question though is asked about a "plain rod"? Is there such a thing for custom built rods? I doubt it. If it's better than factory, then something has to distinguish it to identify your skills put into the rod, and it may be simply the use of better materials. But it still would not be a 'plain rod'.

Point is do what comes with your skills and preferences. ALWAYS keep in mind that performance is high with priority, but it does not mean you can't also show off what can be done artistically.

I can also say that more often than not, if shown to the customer that you'll surely keep it 'simple', they can also appreciate a tasteful trim band but most of the time will want your personalization to recognize that it is their 'special' custom rod.

Black on black matte looks good, and I personally like it also. Built rods like this for some. Most will want a bit more, beign custom built,. Nothing wrong if that is what you want your custom rods defined to look like, but you also have lots of company doing this.

my opinion

Rich
Solyrich Custom Rods