it seems lately from a certian rod company i have been getting crooked blanks just to let you know it is not my distributer because one was so bad i sent it back to the rod company and got a new one in saturday when i opened this blank was just as bad if not worse...on a couple of occasions.. i understand theres a belly but not curving three ways i dont even want to build on it is any one else getting this lately $100.00 dollors for a crooked blank i mean come on i sell alot of these rods but now im seriosly thinkin i need to move on down the road. and try to get my customers on the same one.. all year has been like this from crushed ends to paint not being even throughout the blank and so on...........huh what happened to quality control maybe its just me but its frustrating on something you sell so much... has any one else been having this problem im going to call the company AGAIN im sure there going to love me... my concern is it going to be weak in these bends thanks crabtree's custom rods

Just you, I never bought any blanks from certain rod company.

lol .......billy i dident want to mention the rod compnay so the post wouldent get deleted..

The post wouldn't have gotten deleted. There is a difference in a civil discussion on problems versus bashing or insulting. The former is allowed, the latter are not.

No, the blank isn't weak in these areas that aren't straight. And it's rare that you'd get a perfectly straight blank from anyone, but in such situations where it happens over and over again, your own quality control needs to step in and assert itself.

Tell your customers that you no longer offer nor build on these blanks because they do not meet your stringent requirements for quality. Keep one of the worst ones on hand and offer to show them why you won't use them anymore.

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Since I have no Idea who you are talking about I can say. Sure wish I knew though so I wouldnt waste my money. It is a shame we cant just post the truth. If someone is putting out blanks of inferior quality we should know and if we stop buying them then maybe the manufacturer would work harder at putting out a better product. Tip toeing around a subject serves no purpose other than to confuse. JMO

You can always post the truth here. That's never been at issue. What has been at issue is when people do things that are intended to hurt someone or somebody. Doc, Suppose somebody that works for company A, but unkown to you, comes here and posts that company B's blanks are crooked and of inferior quality - are you going to save your money and stop buying them?

The rules do not prevent anyone here from an honest discussion of a rod blank's straightness or lack thereof. If posts include bashing or insults, however, those would be removed. There is a difference between the two. And as always, on any public forum you need to take any negative or positive reports on products or companies within the proper mindset - do you know this person? Can you vouch for them? Is their experience the norm for most builders? Is it possible the particular post was made in order to hurt a competitor's sales; to help someone's own sales?

I don't think Robert's post is anything other than what it appears in this instance. He is free to name the blank maker. Expect contrary posts as to the straightness of said company's blanks, of course.


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the blanks ive got are st.croix what bothers me most when i called back he remembered who i was when i told him he even said the rod was bad and couldent believe it....but then i was put on the phone with another guy and in his own words said " come on" like im sitting over here enjoying sending rods back spending more money wasting more time that i dont have loosing customers because the wait is longer then the fishing season.. he did say i could send it back but after two times of shipping and three weeks of hold up im out any money that was to be made and a very upset customer is not good for me by no means good... and tom i know what your talking about.. most if not all rods do have a curve but this one about 8 inche from ferrul is more then curving then bellys out and then right at the tip crooked again. its like they sent me the one i sent in so obviosly something over ther is causing these rods to do this i build alot on the same rod blank and never seen this before not only is it this blank but have had others from there that were the same.. i guess i hve to part ways with the blanks because its killing my rep and most customers wont come back after waiting a month to get a rod... what happened to first quality i dont know because st.croix has been one of my favorite rods for a long time and built more then i can count if somethin is wrong they should fix it no ???? asked not say come on

I have three St. Croix blanks in the bags right now. I pulled them out and gave them a good sighting down. Two are 6'6" and one is 7'. All are about as straight as I think anyone could make them. Maybe you got a blank off the Friday afternoon production run.

I agree with you Tom that such post could be use to hurt competitive companies but vague references do no one any good and lend to suspicion everywhere. If someone is putting out false info on a competitor it will surface almost immediately. I saw such a post going on another board about CalStar and it only took a short period of time before it surfaced what was going on. Ididnt get the impression in Roberts first post that there was even a hint of bashing but I did get the sense that he was worried to post a name for fear of removal. In that case either say who the manufacturer is or dont post because what was posted served no practical purpose. If a blank is crooked (I took that to be more than one would expect) then it is crooked, If you experience lousy service then that is what it is. The truth is only what it is. I have seen similar post about dealers and had no idea who was being referenced and since other rod builders ask me for advice where to order items, I dont want to send them somewhere that wont provide quality and prompt appropriate service. I dont mean to bash either but I am not good at secret codes. In answer to the question you posed Tom - No I dont stop buying from someone because of one post. But if I have had similar problems with Company A or my Customers have had similar problems then I would consider taking my money elsewhere. I have seen Robert in previous posts and didnt feel he had some hidden agenda. Now seeing who he was referencing I must admit I have heard this come from more than one quarter. What few I have used have been within my tolerances but two or three blanks a year arent enough for me to make a decision on my experiences alone.
Hope I didnt ruffle too many feathers.

I don't doubt Robert one bit, but I will say that my experience with St. Croix has been just the opposite. I use a fair amount of St Croix blanks and have never had a bad one. I can also say that about ALL the companies that I have dealt with.

I have only had to return 3 blanks in almost 20 years. Robert, if I were you, I would try to go up the chain of command at St. Croix and ask some hard questions!! Your problems should not happen or be tolerated

In Robert's case and in his post, I don't think the manufacturer or the blanks was really the specific issue and to answer his question we don't even have to know who it is. I think what he was wanting to know, was how do you deal with a situation like his. I offered my advice and hope others will as well.

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i called them earlier mike talked with one guy and was very helpfull then i talked to another guy i think was the head guy in the service department or engineer maybe.. and like mentioned above he said come on as if i was jerkin him around i asked him if i was the only one getting this right now and he couldent answer me.. ive never had a problem with st.croix either they said they will replace it but again i have to pay shipping to send in for the second time my main concern when i called them is to find out what was going on... something wrong with equipment maybe but again wouldent answer ... i was posting to find out if any 1 else had this problem i am in no way suggesting st.croix is not a good company they have honored there rods really well but when someone says come on like he did makes me wonder.. i know it must be a hastle from time to time but if it was inspected the first two times i wouldent have to go through this with them again i wish i could record as im spinning the blank in my rollers that baby is warped. the rod blank i got was the 3c90mf2 ordered two one wasent as bad as the other... bad one sent that in got another and was identicle to the last.... so ill send in suck up the shipping again and hope they dont scratch the crap out of the 8 or so hours i got into it so far.........this year has been the only year i have ever had a problem with them i still like them ill still by them for customers that wont fish with nothing else but to keep paying for something that is not my fault like you said is not tolerable in my book either maybe ill see who i can talk with tommorow what im thinkin is also maybe they had a bad run in this particular blank i mean it does happen. ive seen it before but should be corrected............ tight wraps Robert crabtree

hey tom im going to have to send this one back when im looking down the blank like i said its well the best way to describe is its got like an elbow lol if theres such a thing its shape is more like bent then curved... then comes back the other way then back another way at the tip couldent even line the guides up so ill pay again to ship it hopefully there wont be a third time its frustrating customers mad im out so much on shipping im not going to make much on this one and sure he wont be back for another unless he relizes it really isent my fault .........

What supplier did you use to get the first bent blank ??
Last St Croix I got about two weeks ago was as straight as an arrow.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2005 08:12PM by bill boettcher.

MODEL #: = "3c90mf2" [per Robert Crabtree] ... This is a M-H Catalog #

ST-CROIX SC-III GRAPHITE STEELHEAD ROD BLANKS
(Matte GREY Finish)
St.Croix Model #: AC / AS - 90 - M -F -2
9'0" - 2-pc - Medium Power - Fast Taper-Action
6-12# line ... 3/8 - 3/4 oz lures ... 0.485" butt ... 4.5/64ths" tip
.. 3.10 oz blank ... $98.

Sorry for your troubles, Crabtree. ... Major hassle.
I would be up in arms myself if I were you.

But at least now I know what SC series model numbers we are talking about. It sounds like a bad training day for somebody, because that sounds like a bad batch run that never got caught before it left the factory. And it may have never happened again. But since it is a go-to choice rod blank for you, and naturally from the same Supplier, then the majority of this bad batch may have wound up in just a few places, ... and been first discovered by you. ... It wouldn't surprise me at all if a single large Supplier has an entire batch run of blanks shipped to it, and there aren't any leftover to send to other Suppliers. ... At least that's my guestimation on the subject.

And a long whispy rod like a steelhead blank (or low-wt fly rod) seems like it would be more subject to non-straightness, because of its small diameter and thin blank walls. Small variances or defects introduce a larger error in mechanical tolerance.

Well, I have been recommending St.Croix's AC-70-M/MH-F series to others for use as a Snook rod, and I just wanted to make sure that your experience is no reason for me to expect the same problem to occur in the SC-III Casting Rod Blank Series. ... Hopefully, St.Croix will investigate and discover what - or who - needs some correction.

Don't give up on the Holy Cross. ...
-Cliff Hall, Gainesville, FL-USA+++

P.S. - Boettcher - Are you saying that that St.Croix AC-56-MF that we talked about ~ Sept.25th arrived as straight as an arrow? -Cliff+++



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/2005 09:55PM by Cliff Hall.

hello cliff yeah thats what i was wondering myself a bad batch thats what i asked when i called but he dident give me any answers and kinda frowned on me calling again.....bill my supplier is here in michigan the only blank thats been like this is the one mentioned but was replaced once from st.croix and the one they sent me was just as bad so there has to be somethin wrong with that line.. now i ordered a bunch of st.croix med.heavy in the 8''6 sc3 probably about 20 blanks and not one had any problems.....and none have been brought back for repair or replacement... i wish i had a good camera to take a pic of the tip section so you guys know what im talking about its that noticable even one guy at st.croix remebered it out of all the rods they deal with. hopefully third times a charm but man what a hastle i just want to say in no way did they say i couldent send it back they had no problem with that..... it bothers me when i call to tell them the bends were all the same in both blanks and to me he did not want to hear what i had to say i thought i was trying to help not only me but them..... i mainly started this thread to see if others were having this problem and thought maybe i could build on it but i got a better look and thats not possible so were going to send her in and try again.. and cliff i hope they find the problem to.. ive had time to cool down today fartin around on here and relize its just something wrong hopefully i dont happen more then often... i have around here what i call the croix crew they wont even look at another rod... thanks guys and have a good one ill post when the third comes in and maybe will have some luck tight wraps crabtree's custom rods

If the supplyer is not to lazy tell him to check out that batch and if he finds more he can send them back

That's if he cares ?? If they are that bad I know he can see them right though the wrapping

Robert, I have been in the factory more than once and have personally watched the production process. I think I can say with a great deal of accuracy that no rod factory has as many quality checks as St Croix. They don't just look at the blank, they check it with a computerized lazer at each step in the production process. You can't find a blank that is checked as much as theirs and they try very hard to produce the best blanks that can be produced. I am just a rod builder like your self and have no connections with the company but have had the opportunity to visit them and see their production process and thier commitment to quality. Don't give up give up to quick, I think you can still get a good straight blank from them. Don

i hear ya Don i was just a little short fused yesterday after the call i made i know stuff happens were all human im not going to give up on them.. sending the rod back hopefully they will believe me when they get this one after a couple times im shure it will turn some heads they are and have been a great company so will see what happens.............................. tight wraps Rob

Ya ? mean while you are losing money ???