I don’t know how many of you out there remember Gene Bullard’s Diamond II finish. It was the stuff that finally converted me from rod varnishes. I really loved it and miss it even now. It leveled well, dried with just the right amount of flexibility, and stayed clear for years (I still have a 15+ year-old rod in my boat with nice clear white trim wraps). Of course, living in the Dallas area I guess I have to admit that I miss visiting Gene and his well-stocked fridge as much as I miss the finish.

I stocked up on the stuff when Gene went out of business in 1987 and used it for several years but finally had to move over to finishes from other vendors. I think I’ve tried them all but since I switched from Diamond II I’ve always felt that I was settling for an also-ran product.

That changed this past week.

I’ve been watching the posts on ThreadMaster lately with moderate interest and finally called Andy Dear to order a few kits and give it a try.

I had a couple of rods waiting for the arrival of the ThreadMaster, a crosswrap with large pearl white St. John’s crosses and a rather large feather inlay with a lot of white feathers. I wanted to see how the finish looks over white (the acid test in my opinion).

I got right to work. The ThreadMaster felt a bit thicker than the Flex Coat I’ve been using when I mixed it (though that might be attributed to the recent drop in temperature here). Bubbles released reasonably well and I started to apply the finish. It felt a bit thicker when I applied it, too, but seemed to coat about the same way that Flex Coat High Build coats. Andy had told me not to worry about a kinda spiral look in the finish after I applied it (I use a brush) so I ignored that. I was able to put finish on the butt wrap decorations of both rods from the single mix of ThreadMaster, something I never attempt with any other finish. By the time I had flamed it to remove any remaining bubbles all of the spirals had disappeared and it looked pretty good.

After drying I inspected both decorations closely. The finish had leveled perfectly and was absolutely glass-like. It had covered the size A threads of the crosswrap and had filled in completely around the texture of the various layers of feathers in the inlay. I could detect absolutely no effect on the color of either the pearl white thread or of the white feathers.

I had poured some of the finish out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Though it had the same gloss as the finished wraps and felt firm to the touch I was able to cut a strip and easily tie a square knot (or maybe a granny) without breaking the finish.

Since then I've used it on two more rods with identical results.

It has been too long since I’ve used Diamond II for me to really be able to directly compare the finishes and I guess I’ll have to wait another 15+ years to be able to determine whether this stuff has the same resistance to yellowing but I firmly believe that this is the finest finish on the market today. It is, truly, a worthy successor to Diamond II.

I still miss Gene, though.

My compliments to Andy on the results of his efforts. Though I’d like to see a low build formula and larger kits I’m a happy convert. If he’ll just learn to answer his phone regularly he’s got my future business.

……….so now, Andy, how about a much needed worthy successor to CPX?

Haven't tried the new finish but hope it's as good as you say it is.

There was a letter to the editor in the last issue of Rodmaker from someone named Gene Bullard. The same person?

The author of the letter sounds like the same guy. He has a lot to be proud of!! Diamond II (rod finish) and CPX (color preserver) were the best on the market! The ThreadMaster finally measured up to the Diamond II but there is still no equivalent to CPX.

.........and, by the way, he was probably the most interesting guy in the business in the '70s and '80s.

Jim,
I answer my phone as regularly as possible! It's just that having a good product keeps me continually busy enough packing shipments and answering emails that I end up having to return messages at the end of the day.

Hopefully one of these days real soon I'll have a nice big office space with a refrigirator full of cold brewski's for the walk-ins to re-fresh themselves with....now THAT was a Gene Bullard innovation right there!


Andy

Andy,

The heck with the big office space. When I started buying from Gene he was selling out of his kitchen.

You stock the fridge and I'll find out just where Pipe Creek, TX is!

Jim