I see the high price of the daiwa steez rods, Am I wrong in thinking these are Loomis GLX blanks with the steez name and a great marketing team to push them to consumers? Those steez carry a hefty price tag.

I have seen and handled these rods. The blanks look nothing like a Loomis GLX or any other Loomis.
The blank has a texture to it, not sure why but its there.
My tournament partner has one, and two of the guides feel out as he was fighting a bass, while we were fishing a tournament. Never seen that happen before.

No, they are not Loomis rods.

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The GLX has been out since '92-'93 you don't think someone has gotten something better or at least similar figured out by now? There are quite a few of the Diawas on sale used on the bass forums, guides have been a problem as mentioned above.

My thinking was that since daiwa now owns Loomis that they might be pushing loomis blanks and call them a steez as something new and special. I have not handled a steez yet, and at the price they are asking I doubt I will.

Hold the PRESS!!! Daiwa does not own Loomis. Shimano does.

Daiwa has never owned any interest in G. Loomis, Inc.

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My bad It is Shimano that has Loomis. Thanks for the sarcasm, You guys are the best.

It looks like no one wants to admite who makes Diawa blanks unless it is Diawa themselves or some un-named blank maker off-shore
Good Wraps Bob

Daiwa manufactures the steez blanks. The SVF blanks are built in a daiwa factory in Thailand. The SVF Compile-X blanks are built in a daiwa factory in Japan. I own both glx's and st. croix's legend elites. I used to think they were the best rods money could buy until I bought my first steez rod. I still love my glx's but the daiwa steez rods are the best bass rods I have fished with to date.

At one time Daiwa made their blanks and rods here in the U.S. in California. I don't believe they've done that in some time, however.

Today Daiwa makes and/or has them made in the orient.

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Jonathan I sure would like to hear the reasons why you feel the Steeze Rod is superior to the other rods mentioned. What specific technique are you using when the Steeze is in use? The more detail you can provide will surely help those of us who are trying to upgrade the rods we build for bass fishermen. All ears here!

Thanks for your time.

Gon Fishn

This may sound a bit egotistical but putting my partner’s Steez rod heads up against one of my custom rods

My rod is lighter, more sensitive, and is better built period.

Cosmetics look better and the guides have the Forhan’s locking wrap so they won’t fall out.
The blank on mine is a Batson RX8+

I have built custom glx and st croix sv5 (no rx8 yet) for my personal use. I love these custom rods and continue to use them but the blank daiwa uses on the steez rods is lighter and stronger than any of loomis's or st croix's offerings. Most of what I like about the steez rods I can be build, but the blanks can not be bought. Also, from my experience, once you get above a certain level of graphite content/quality in the blank, the difference in sensitivity is too hard for my human hand to notice. I believe there are many other variables that influence the sensitivity of a fishing rod and a glx, sv5, and a steez svf blank are all plenty sensitive enough to catch fish. One more thing...those real seats are quite comfortable and can not be bought either.

All that metal in the handle and seat assembly must put some weight in there. The reel seat, however, looks to be the new VSS seat from Fuji, or something VERY similar, just with a different locking system.

It would not be too hard to duplicate the build, and modify it however you want. Cosmetics, components, etc. can be sourced and bought. You just won't have the same graphite blank, or the Daiwa name. No matter what's said, it's a factory rod.

The reel seat on the steez casting rod is like nothing fuji currently produces. The closest thing I can find would be a super sticker off-set design. I disassembled some of the handle components on my steez rod and found the metal used adds virtually no extra weight to the handle assembly. The steez is a factory rod with components I can buy or almost duplicate, but I can't buy the blank. Before the steez rods came out, I was against factory rods simply because I could build a better rod with the same blank to my liking. I actually never even considered buying a steez rod based on the high price until I found one for a really good deal. I only purchased this rod with the intent of evaluating it and then sell on @#$%&. After the first time I used it I was quite stunned/surprised with the performance. I wasn't expecting it to perform/feel better than my custom built rods. So yes the steez is a factory rod everyone can buy, but the main reason I started building rods was to get the best tool for the job. The steez rod is just another great tool I have added to my arsenal.

Jonathan,
The Steez rod I looked at was not a blank through design, built like the old rod were. Is that how yours is also?

You are correct, the reel seat is not a blank through design. I haven't noticed any loss in sensitivity with the daiwa reel seat when I compare it to my custom rods that have a split reel seat that exposes most of the blank under the reel.

How do you compare the sensitivity of one rod versus another? I really am looking for the items that "stunned and surprised" you. Was it the blank?

I meant the Steez spinning rod, which is the only one I have had a look at. Could very well be custom made for Daiwa by Fuji on both the spinning and casting setups.