Can someone give me an Idea of the spacing and guide sizes
for a 8' casting rod using a Abu Garcia 7000C bait casting reel.
The but grip will be in the neghborhood of 12" and foregrip 7".
Any input will be greatly appreciatted

Thanks
Joe

Joe,

This is the type question that gets asked so often and yet there is no good answer for it. Pre-determined guide placement just won't give you optimum spacing or sizing for your rod. Only a static distribution test (or something like the Equal Angle set-up) will do this. Once learned, it is a quick and easy way to determine the optimum guide placement for any rod and it frees you from the type situation you find yourself in now.

Do a search on this board's archives to learn more about the process. My book, Rod Building Guide, and some others have information on this as well. The spiral wrap would be your best bet on such a rod, if you can stand the odd way that some seem to think it looks.

In the meantime, if you are dead set on some type of generic spacing I would use the link to St. Croix on the left and use their guide placement chart to get started. It won't be optimum but it will work to some degree. Put the guides on according to the chart and then install the reel and thread the line through the guides. Load the line and try to arrange the guides so that the line doesn't touch the blank. Move and add/delete guides in order to achieve a nice even line flow along the blank.

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

Don't want to overwhelm you, but I would do a spiral wrap guide placement. Search the archive and get some back issues of RMaker and do it. Be much better than conventional setup.
Elrod