Hi All,
I'm building a 9' #12 saltwater rod. What size ceramic tip top should I use and what manufacturer would you recommend ?
Thanks in advance.
Glen

I would stay with a #10 running guides and rings. A rod that powerful will easily carry and handle them and the slightly larger opening gives you a few more options as to various line set-ups you can use.

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Glen,
There are many great guide manufacturers. If your into colored rings and guides frames, than Pac Bay, American Tackle or Forecast would be good choices. Forecast is probably a little better value for the dollar, but the selection isn't as great. Gold frames don't do well in saltwater, though Pac Bay seems to have made them better.
If a more conservative set up is your choice than the Fuji Alconites are a great choice, the Fuji Titaniums being the ultimate.
All will require a freshwater washdown when your done fishing for the day, the Fuji Titaniums the least so.
Forecast may be harder to find a full line, Dan Craft has them.

Glen, my favorite 12 weight is a three piece that I built for fishing in Baja. I used a Fuji TPST-8 tip, and six Fuji TSG-8's. The last guide on the tip was directly on the female ferrule, so I stepped up to two TSG-10's, followed by a Fuji TSVSG-16 and a TSVSG-20. The reason I went to the 10 when I did is that the diameter of the blank where the seventh guide was located was smaller than the female ferrule. This would cause the line to bend back toward the blank rather than follow a straight line through the guides. The 8's are plenty big enough, because I do not use multi-tip lines. I instead take multiple rods already rigged aboard the panga. I'm building an 11 weight RPLXi now, and using #7's, because the only line I will fish on the rod will be a clear intermediate.