Okay, here we go. I would like to know exactly what guides to buy before i buy them. I have the spinning reel I will use, and have chosen an axh56h blank from american tackle. (Why do they show ferules on a 1 peice blank?) The center of the spool at the bail is a little over 3 inches from the center of the rod when set 46 inches from the tip. If I place my guides at 5.5, 11.5, 19, 27 and 37, my stripper guide will be only 9 inches from the reel, and require a rod center to guide ring center distance of 2 25/64ths. If I delete the 5th guide, I will have 4 guides plus tip with the stripper guide at 19 inches from reel requiring a c to c of 1 3/4 inches. I want to use a 20 ring tip, can I go 20 tip, 25, 30, 40, 50? Anyone see any casting problems coming before I buy the stuff? Is there a way to know what what guides I need before I buy?

You're going about this backwards - don't force the line to conform to your guide set, make the guide set conform to the preferred line path.

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Ok, I hear what your sayin, Tom, but I dont have the guide set, and i hate buying guides I may not use. Your article in the library on new concept guides has convinced me to try using smaller guides, only because they are cheaper, and I need the guides on hand to do it that way.

Buying a handful of extra guides can be looked at as an investment in getting a better rod in the long run. Or, you can find old guides on yard sale rods and cut those off. 90% of them will be or mimic the Fuji spin or cast style guides. You can use the old take-off guides for your set up and then order exactly what you need.

Or, if you plan to build more rods in the future, figure any extra guides will end up being used at some point. After all, we're probably talking less than $10 to get a couple or three extra guides.

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I am taking a GLoomis GL3 flyrod blank and making it into a spinning rod. I need some advice on guide spacing. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.