a buddy of mine bought a sage XP, 9'-6" 7 weight blank and has asked me to build it for him as close to factory as possible. feathercraft had a reel seat but they're out. does anyone know where i might be able to obtain one? it looks like an uplocking all black aluminum with a short butt on the end. thanks.

eric
fresno, ca.

Hi Eric.

I got a similar request for the Sage XI2 10 wt. Now Anglers Workshop two Black anodised Sage seats for this range. They also do the fighting butts so there is a chance that they may well do the seat for this specific rod. Tell the truth I was not that impressed with the quality of the Sage seat or the high price of $70. Thin walled and whilst it looked ok it was not worth $70 in my opinion. It always makes me smile when Anglers want rods built by Custom Builders to look like the origional factory rod. Why not buy one and get all the benifits of the warrenty. Ok I know the arguments the other way but it still makes me smile. Maybe you can convince your customer that a seat by Struble or REC may well be better. While you are at it you may also convince him/her that the wire framed stripping guides might be swapped for something a bit better in quality to.

Cheers

Mike Oliver

Doesn't Struble make all the seats for Sage?

I know the U20 is the same seat as on the freshwater XP and SLT's,and "I think" the lighter salt water rods have the U15 on them,just with a different fighting butt(the Sage rods have a small EVA capped butt instead of the Struble model).If they aren't the U15,then they certainly look similar.You could easily buy a U15 and either turn or buy a small glue on the blank style EVA capped cork butt for it that is the same size as the factory Sage 7wt.Just a thought.

Tony,

The U15 has a much thicker wall than the Sage seat. I don't think Struble does make for Sage. I would prefer the Standard range Struble seat anyday or an REC. The Sage seat has a sexy looking but non aligned moving hood but heck its $70 and it just is not a $70 seat in my opinion. I have one in my shop right now and it is very ordinary. By the way I am not anti Sage I build a fair few rods on their Xi2 series of blanks. Great blank even if a tad expensive. They deliver where it counts. You can buy the short stubby fighting butt which comes from Sage from AW. Or you can turn your own from decent cork shives and rubberised cork or even EVA. Nothing particulary good about Sage factory cork handles or fighting butts. Eric will have to find some not quite so good cork to copy exactally. LOL

They add more because of the name - Sage ???

I would email Sage and ask what the reel seat they use is. It probably is commercially available. Anyway, when I emailed Sage in the past about rodbuilding questions I got a quick response.

Been a while since I had a XP in my hands, and the pictures I pull up aren't world class, but it kind of looks like the REC RFTS seat on the 7 wts to me. Am I close?

I had a look at a saltwater model factory XP today,and as Mike said,it is not the U15 on it(the U15 looks nicer than the one on the factory rods).The freshwater XP,SLT,and TCR rods look like they have the U20,and I think the TXL rods might have the U25 on them,but I'm not sure who makes the saltwater seats or what model they are.

I have a Sage seat in the bag that is meant for a 10-14wt RPLXi and it doesn't look like any Struble model,but it does look a lot like a certain REC seat.The heavy Sage saltwater seat I have here looks very similar to the picture of the REC RSLL model posted on their website.

Guys,

Just to re-iterate. You can buy the Sage actual model reel seat used on the XI2 rods from Anglers Workshop. There are two sizes to suit the light and heavier end of the model range. You can buy the matching fighting buts too. There are two sizes to choose from.

Spencer.

I don't think it is an REC RFTS which is their Tru- Track model. I like this seat a lot but the hoods do not fit all reel seats even though there is supposed to be some std now for reel seat feet sizing.

The factory fitted Sage seat comes at a high price. I don't mind high prices if I get value for money and better quality than lower priced seats but in this case in my opinion you don't. To be fair to Sage they probably need to hike the price of their OEM equipment to builders or they could start to see some pricing imbalances in the market. It is already possible for those determined enought to under cut the retail price of the factory rod. This is madness but it does go on in a very small scale.

As I said always makes me smile when I get asked to copy as close as I can the components on a manufactureres rod when building on one of their blanks. Kind of takes out the reason detre for a custom build. But orders are orders and they feed my kids.

Mike O.

Guys,

Just to re-iterate. You can buy the Sage actual model reel seat used on the XI2 rods from Anglers Workshop. There are two sizes to suit the light and heavier end of the model range. You can buy the matching fighting buts too. There are two sizes to choose from.

Spencer.

I don't think it is an REC RFTS which is their Tru- Track model. I like this seat a lot but the hoods do not fit all reel seats even though there is supposed to be some std now for reel seat feet sizing.

The factory fitted Sage seat comes at a high price. I don't mind high prices if I get value for money and better quality than lower priced seats but in this case in my opinion you don't. To be fair to Sage they probably need to hike the price of their OEM equipment to builders or they could start to see some pricing imbalances in the market. It is already possible for those determined enought to under cut the retail price of the factory rod. This is madness but it does go on in a very small scale.

As I said always makes me smile when I get asked to copy as close as I can the components on a manufactureres rod when building on one of their blanks. Kind of takes out the reason detre for a custom build. But orders are orders and they feed my kids.

Mike O.

thanks to everyone for their input so far. this is for a buddy of mine who got the blank at a good price. i don't build as a living or expand my clientele beyond 2-3 close friends who i fish with and my dad. and of course, yours truly. he knows the value of REC and struble and such components. and how one can assemble a rod looking nicer or performing better than what off the shelf rods can do and be. if anyon has any other leads, feel free to emailo me or post here. i'll look up the seats that have been mentioned so far. i don't usually build rods with these seats or the extra fighting butt so it'll take a little reading up on what's available and dialing a few vendors' phone numbers. thanks again.

eric
fresno, ca.