I just received a blank:

American Tackle Matrix series 6'6 2 pc. MODERATE 2 wt. 3.5 (tip) .269 (butt) 0.8 weight - looks really nice - green finish shines.

I am thinking of doing gold colored guides and tip top. Would it be a bad idea to go with single foot guides instead of snake foot guides? And how many guides would be right for a rod this length? I have a Reddington Red.Fly 3/4 wt reel I was going to use with 3 wt line. Thinking of a rosewood reel seat with half wells cork handle -- or toying with the idea of the all cork handle with slide rings.

Would really enjoy hearing your comments and suggestions.

HI, Yes I would go with single foot guides, they control the line better, keeps line away from blank , guide doesn't let line slap against rod. Some of the other builders could answer your guide spacing better then myself, I'm sometime radical about guide sizes and spacing.

Dave von Doehren
PRRODS......If man built it , man can fix it.and if man built it man can break it !

Send it back immediately.

It's worse than crack.
And probably more expensive.

Ha! Too funny, Scott! :)

James--I'd go with H&H standoff single foot guides in their TiN (gold) plating. We've got them in stock in our VA distribution center. REC Recoils would be another great choice. Either way, I'd probably go with 4 - sz 1's, 1 - sz 2, 1 - sz 3, and a size 10 TiN ringed ceramic stripping guide. We've got the gold tip tops, hook keepers, and winding checks in stock as well so you can pimp up the rest of the rod, too! ;)

Actually, got some sweet gold wc's coming in from Germany shortly--we'll be sure to post here once they're in.

I'd reserve judgment on which line to use until you do a Common Cents test or just go and play with it with a few lines. A 2wt Rio PocketWater or Cortland Clear Creek might be just the ticket, but again...if you're serious about finding the perfect line/rod marriage, order the Common Cents info pack from Tom K. and get a true sense of the power of the rod.

All the best on your new venture! :)

James when I get home tonight I'll post the guide sizes and spacing I used on my 6'6" 2 piece 2 weight.


Mark

The Matrix series pleasantly surprised me-- I picked up a 7'9" 3 weight at the Charlotte show and found it to be not just eye-catching but a good quality fishing blank too.

My girlfriend spotted it on the way to @#$%& and called dibs on it. I am a fan of that situation as it means that I can have it around as a demo rod as well as fishing it every once in a while...

I built mine with a #10 alconite single foot stripper, #4, #2, and then #1's out to the tip.

If you can get ahold of a Triangle Taper WF2F, it would match your rod beautifully. I am a huge proponent of triangle/delta taper lines on 1-3 weights as they allow for light presentations but load fairly quickly.

I recently finished a Pac Bay Rainforest (dark green) 6' 6" 2 wt. I used AmTac size 5 ceramics with the gold ring. The size 5 guides are very small, and although they weigh slightly more than single foot snakes, I believe that the benefits are worth a slight (very slight) increase. Plus, they look very sharp on the green blank with a matching Ti finished reel seat.

I want to second John's suggestion to do a Common Cents test on this blank. I''ve built on Matrix blanks before and have two more in the works right now. These are really nice blanks but they are also very quick and so far every one has CC'd at more than Amtak rates them for. Go to the CCS Data Site and look at the numbers for the few Matrix blanks that are there. My guess is that you'll want to use a 3 weight line because the 2 weight just won't load it properly, unless you plan on casting more than 40-50 feet on a regular basis.

Gold wire SFs will look great. Get a #10 gold plated and ceramic SF for the stripper.

I had mine CC'd at Charlotte by the man himself (Dr. Hanneman), and it came out below the recommended designation--

7'9" 3 weight AmTak Matrix came out at 2.82 ERN and 68AA

James - I've recently finished 2 green blanks with a gold theme - a Rainshadow RX7 6' 6" 2wt and a Pac Bay Rainforest 7'6" 4wt. I used gold SF's for the running guides on both. The only issue I had was that I could not find gold rings for a all cork seat/grip for the Rainshadow . I ended up using some brass rings from the hardware store, but I'm not really happy with the set up. Maybe someone has a good idea/source for gold rings for a double sliding band seat. Other than that, I'm pleased with the look and performance.