I was thinking about offering to members of a local fishing club converting their conventional rods into bumper system rods. What I was stuck on is how much to charge for each guide. What do y'all think would be a fair price? I was thinking in the neighborhood of $5 - $7 per guide plus the cost of the additional bumper guide. One other thing.....do you think this would be a good idea or not since it doesn't really promote custom rod building? It does make an off the shelf rod better though.

Thanks,
Steve

Personally I would not do it. It is a lot of work to take off the old guides and replace them. I would show them a rod you have made and maybe get some orders for a custom rod. I don't see anything wrong with trying to make a little money in your spare time but $7.00 a guide to me is not enought for the work involved.

On 2 pc rods, there is usually only one guide on the butt section. I have done a fair number of trolling rod conversions by simply turning the top piece 180 degrees and adding a small single foot fly type bumper guide! 10 minute job for 10 dollars

Mike

On re-builds...I will typically charge $20-$45 just for stipping the old guides. Only after that do I even begin to charge for re-wrapping.

Jay

Wrapping at $12 per guide , plus the price of the guide (including your 40% margin on the guide) that would be a fair price. Some charge $6 - $7 per guide to remove them. Don't forget the work involved in removal, the excess epoxy that take a ton of time to carefully remove and not scratch or do any other harm to the blank.. Then, think, what if by some quirk of fate you break a rod,,, you buy him another one!!!!!!!!!!

Tight lines ~ ~

Steve,

Fair price very difficult to establish. Everyones's got a view point on what something is worth to them. It depend son how bad theses Guys want the rebuild you are offering. Re-builds are a nightmare. I reckon on a rebuild taking more than double the time than starting from scratch. Cleaning off old high build is extreemly skillfull work if done well. It is very risky and very fiddly. If the blanks are painted you can get into all sorts of problems. The best way to price thios work is on the basis of time. Charge an hourly rate plus parts. You should make a margin on parts. I suspect if you charged a realistic hourly rate the Guys would probably decline. In which case so might you.

The worst customer type in my experinece is another custom rodbuilder. I was talking to one the other day and he was moaning that someone had quoted him $90 to strip of the guides from a fly rod and rewrap them. The blank was painted to.

There is a price that is worthwhile and there is the walk away price, just be nice if you do have to take the walk. Genaerally a question like this is never going to provide the answer you want. Everyone has different ideas on what to charge out work for. It will also depend on your reputation to.

Mike O.