On my surf rods, I normally use el-cheapo ceramic guides, mostly Fuji aluminum oxide (BSVOG for spinning, BHOG in conventional) and occasionally Hardloy. For demanding applications (like the way I fish the surf), I like these, as they are ridiculously cheap and perform just fine. The way I fish, I can't justify spending $20 on a guide just so I can bang it on a beach-access stairway and have to replace it (as a walk-on surfcaster who fishes at night, I do this kind of stuff a lot).

For spinning rods, though, I like the idea of higher-frame guides, and I've been looking at the BHVLGs (Hardloy) and HVSGs (SiC). The next time I order some components, I'll probably pick up a few BHVLGs (I'll wait till I've had a good day at the track to consider HVSG), but until then, I was wondering how much higher these guides are. What's the difference, for example, between the standard double-footed Hardloy spinning guide (SVLG) and the BHVLG, which appears to be a high-framed version of the same guide?

Has anyone been personally able to compare the two, and is there a noticeable difference? It is worth ordering a bunch of BHVLGs and adding them to my guide bank?

Although not in English, this site should answer your questions on guide heights.

[www.fujitackle.com]

As Tim says above, you can look on the Fuji site. Even thought it isn't in English, you can figure out what is being measured in mm. Also, Dale Clemens' old book had heights on many of them. Best I can tell, the BHVLG30 is very similar in height to the BYAG30, but by the time you get down to a 16 size guide, the HV series is actually lower than the corresponding Y guides. I have a BHVLG40 that I bought years ago and I honestly don't know when I'll build a rod heavy enough with a big enough reel and heavy enough line to use it; but you can probably order one of each of the BHVLG series and compare them to other things for yourself.

Thanks, guys. And Marty, that's what I was looking for (I probably should have been more specific in my question): what's the difference between the regular, SVSG-style guides, and the high-frames? It seems like there's not much (about 10 mm on a size 40, by my calculation, or about a third of an inch). But I think I'll want to have a few on hand to test with, to make sure I'm not missing anything when I set up my guide arrays.

I had the feeling that the high-framed guides were primarily for the first one or two (or perhaps three) buttmost guides, and that the closer you get to the tip, and the smaller the guides get, the differences approach zero. I have to order some other guides soon, so there's no reason not to pick up a few in sizes from 40 - 20 or so, and play with them the next time I build a spinner. Thanks again.