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My First Rod for a paying customer
Posted by: Tom Slater (---.qld.bigpond.net.au)
Date: November 20, 2007 07:48PM

ok so my mates boss wants to make him a rod right so i went down and spoke to him yesterday arfternoon abotu what he wants he said.

6 foot graphite blank, 2-6kg

6 guides plus tip
(i showed him my 7 foot plastics rod and it had the normal set up with guides getting smaller and
smaller but he said he didnt want the first guide (the biggest) on his, i thought that sounded a bit stupid, sorry i cant remember the exact size)

he didnt want to spend to much and he will be using it to bait fish out of a boat for small pan size fish.
just thought id ask your guys opinion on it. i will be off to my local shop which do alot of builds and stock alot of building supplies.

One thing he did say that made me happy is when i showed him the pattern butt binding on my rod he thought you bought them, that was my first ever attempt at a pattern so i thought i must have done alright.

thanks in advance

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Re: My First Rod for a paying customer
Posted by: Mick McComesky (---.244.42.142.Dial1.StLouis1.Level3.net)
Date: November 21, 2007 12:34AM

Congrats on your first commision. But do it right. There's more to a a good rod and your reputation than a nice wrap.

You'll need to ask him (and this board) more questions. How is he going to be using it, what he wants out of it, what he expects, how he fishes, etc.

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Re: My First Rod for a paying customer
Posted by: Russ Pollack (---.dhcp.embarqhsd.net)
Date: November 21, 2007 12:41AM

Apparently you did the butt wrap right. Good on ya.

But I'd pass on this job. He's already dinking you on price so that means you'll have to build to a price point, rather than to what the cost plus your time and skill are worth. He's already telling you how he wants it built so unless he pays a non-refundable deposit, you'll have the devil's own time satisfying him because he thinks already knows more about rod design than you do.

Did you ask him where he got his "design" idea? I'll almost guarantee it's from a manufactured rod. If that's the case, he wants you to build a custom rod to the price point he saw on the manufactured rod. I'd also bet he really wants you to use the same blank he saw on his "model". If you use anything else the resulting action will never satisfy him - you'll hear "well, I told you what I wanted and it's just like (fill in the blank)".

Trust me, this is not gonna turn out to be a good deal for you. I'm not saying you should dictate your design ideas to the customer - that's not how this works - but I am saying that at this point you are not taking a "commision" for a custom piece from a patron, as custom work is sometimes known - you're taking an assembly order from a customer, which will have a nice butt wrap and maybe his choice of colors but won't take advantage of your skills as a custom maker. Custom work involves consultation with the client, maybe a bit of education, maybe a demonstration not of your wrapping skills but of capabilities of the rod itself as a "better" fishing tool.

If that's the kind of work you want, it's a start, and that's better than no start at all. I just don't think it's going to end nicely.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods


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Re: My First Rod for a paying customer
Posted by: Tom Slater (---.qld.bigpond.net.au)
Date: November 21, 2007 03:01AM

thanks for the advice guys, yer i thought that it might end badly if he wants all the low quality parts and then i might do a really nice job but then it will break guides will break becasue he hasnt spent the money and then @#$%& think my work is crap.

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