I'm trying to select the guides for a Loomis IMX F964-3 (8 ft/4 wt) blank that I'm getting ready to build. But can't decide whether to go single foot wire or ceramic.

Up until now, I've used traditional wire snake guides (on the 5 fly rods that I've build so far). But after reading some of the discussions here, sounds like I may be able to improve the rod's performance (whether that means greater casting distance, quieter casting, or longer fly line life, I'm not certain).

If I go ceramic, I was thinking of using the following Fuji Titanium SiC Concept guides:

1 TLNSG-12J stripper guide
1 TLSG-7J fly guide
7 TLSG-6J fly guide
1 TFST-6-4 tip top

Even though these are pricey, thought they would be lightest ceramic guides available?

If I go single foot wire, I was thinking of using the following:

1 TLNSG-12J stripper guide
1 Size 5 wire
7 Size 2 wire
1 Std loop wire tip top

Is the extra weight of the ceramic guides too much for a 4 wt rod? If not, which option would you select?

And does the sizing of the two options look about right?

Or if you can think of a better guide setup, I'm open to those suggestions as well.

Fred your going a bit to large on the tip guides I think. A 4 wt should take 1/0 guides, maybe 2/0 easy. The ring size of a 6 ceramic is about a #1 wire.

You could think about doing a combination of the two if you aren't worried as much about having a consistent set of either wire or SIC. I've been playing with a fly rod (5wt) and found that using two SIC stripper guides and a SIC tip provide basically as good a performance as with all SIC guides. Using only the three SIC guides and the rest wire also seemed to improve the blank performance over all SIC (of course I didn't have titanium guides to work with either so take the added weight into account with my testing) and keep it pretty close to that of the all wire setup.

I like the ceramic guides on fairly light rods. Imporoved performance to me does not necessarily mean increased casting distance, because with a lot of line out and using the full power of the rod the guides have little effect overall anyway.

But what is improved is the ease of making the little short shoots with little line out that making fishing easier. And shooting line on the back cast. And feeding line to mend, etc. For me the slicker guides just make it a little easier. Not a whole bunch, but just a little. And you got to learn not to point the rod straight up because the guides are so slick it will fall back through them.

I don't know what the "lightest" all ceramic guides are. I have built with the SIC-titanium and they are pretty light.

The real weight savings that is important is in the tiptop. And the ceramic tiptops with the titanium frame are a bunch lighter than the standard chrome steel loop top.

I have a 4 wt or two or so with the ceramic all the way up. But lately to save weight, money, and to make things interesting I have been building my real light rods with a sort of hybrid guide selection. A titanium ceramic tiptop or one of those ugly, ultra light, REC tiptops, followed by 3 or 4 REC titanium single foots, followed by ceramic the rest of the way down. My logic is to try to get the ceramic guides where there is some loading when the rod bends or the line is being gathered to cast, and to use the wire guides where the rod needs to be light and the line just is flowing through without a lot of slap to straighten out. Realistically I guess if the top and the stripper were ceramic that would get about 70% of the big jobs done anyway.