Is an exposed blank reel seat more sensitive than a good closed reel seat correctly installed?

a closed reel seat with graphite bushings correctly installed is just as sensitive as a exposed reel seat.but try and tell some one that they are just as sensitive ha .good luck regards John Bratton

Anytime you reduce weight you increase sensitivity. Each time a sine wave contacts another mass the wave spreads or breaks down as it travels through the larger mass. Yes, exposed blank reel seats are more sensitive.

Yes a exposed reel seat is more sensitive you have direct contact to the rod. If you build own for grip and butt grip out of single cork rings that fit tight against the blank you well get more sensitivity.
Keep a tight line Bob

If the assorted parts are correctly selected and installed, there is no measurable difference.

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Question? And lord knows I hate debaiting with this guy.LOL

Tom, if we consider the reel seat alone then I would agree to the comment of "no measurable difference". But when checking the wieght of a blank through reel seat and an exposed blank seat the latter is lighter. So if we decrease overall weight at the reel seat and say 4 other places throughout the rod construction, would we not then be able to measure the difference?

Point being that an overall reduction in multiple areas adds up to something measurable.

You are correct, although the addition of two brick foam arbors is such a small increase that it is not measurable to the human hand..

Another problem we run into is that there is no accurate way to measure "sensitivity" other than what the fisherman can simply feel in his hand.

No question that the greater the stiffness to weight ratio is the more sensitive the rod should be.

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I respectfully disagree in part. If our rods were connected to a 100% solid object at the butt end then yes the vibrations transmitted down the rod would be increased until reaching the solid that would then stop all vibration from the butt on. However in the case of holding the rod in hand weight decreases sensitivity as in adding 1 oz of weight to the butt of a 4 oz rod for better balance. If we went beyond the weight of the rod and added 8oz to the 4oz rod butt then we reverse the theory and begin to amplify the vibration (only through the rod section itself). But who wants to hold and cast a 12oz rod all day.LOL

In the past, many of the "exposed blank" reel seats were actually heavier than the standard seats. Even with two brick foam arbors (which weigh almost nothing) the standard seats are lighter than many of these exposed blank seats.

I have not personally weighed any of the newer versions, particularly the Fuji type. Has anyone put seat to scale yet and found out where the newer varieties fall? Might be a good project for someone.

Another idea would be for component manufacturers to provide the weight for each item in their catalog listings. Then again, it'd be a lot of work for somebody, but it would help anybody who does consider these things when selecting components. Maybe it's something a magazine could do and print the weights of all (many hundreds I'm sure) the various seats and guides in an article.

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One of the biggest problems that I found when working with these seats was getting a proper fit to the blank at the location you wanted the seat. Reaming those suckers was pain. Finally found some tapered metal working reamers that helped some. Just not worth the effort IMHO.

There are many things that a fisherman can do to feel a fish bite, the rod construction is only one aspect. I fished bass tournaments years ago (before the damn jet skis hit the water). I learned worm and jig fishing from a local master of the art. He taught me to watch the line, keep the line between my thumb and forefinger and wrap at least two fingers around the blank below the thumb and forefinger holding the line. He told me the "line doesn't lie" and it will move before you can feel it in the rod. He was dead on the money. I got to the point where I almost didn't pay attention to the rod at all, I just watched the line twitches.

I agree Tom. I have often wanted component weights to be shown in the catalogs. I weigh each and every item before installation to the blank. Being a bit extreme I even weigh mixed epoxies and record it before aplication then weigh the left over and subtract. It gives me a very close weight of the finished rod however, my digital scale won't register some of the small amounts of left over epoxy.

Many of the guides wont register either so I way them as a complete set.

A bit extreme probably.LOL