anyone here use a waterloo rod? My nephew wants one. I went to the waterloo web site, but they dont disclose the manufacture of the rod blanks they use, other than it is USA made.

I think those rods are made by Ryan Seiders, son of Roger Seiders at Flex Coat. I have no idea who he sources his blanks from. The Seiders don't usually do anything halfway.

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That actually came up in conversation with Roger at the show last weekend. Evendently his son started the company as Tom stated but has since sold it. I wish i had more information for you. It does seem odd to me that they would be under contract not to disclose a blank manufacturer..i have never heard of anything like that..

Aaron, nowhere in the above posts does it mention that they are under a contract not to disclose their source for their blanks. I'm sure if they wanted to they would, but face it, if It was my company I wouldn't want to disclose my sources either. Lots of companies choose not to disclose that kind of information for proprietary reasons. If every rodbuilder were to know what blanks they used I'm sure their sales would suffer because of it and that's not what they're in business for.

That, and the fact that many companies are trying to build a brand identity. They want their rods to be associated with what they're doing, not a blank manufacturer.

Then you've got the problem that Loomis ran into some years ago. They were building blanks for Cabelas (Fish Eagle) and so folks got the idea that a Fish Eagle blank was identical to a G. Loomis blank (not even close).

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its a moot point, but my post said they wont disclose their blank manufacturer. on their website is where they say they are under contract.

on a side note, since they are only 3 hrs away from me, I wrote them an email inquiring to the possibility of touring their shop. theres a post in here somewhere of someone that visited a mass produced rod building facility. As a beginner rod builder/decorator, I thought maybe doing this would be a good way of getting tips, and learning different techniques.

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. THEY'RE NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING, BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN YOU PUSH THEM DOWN THE STAIRS.

By all means, if they'll let you in, go. You'll enjoy the heck out of it.

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i thought waterloo's used to brag about using g. loomis.....or was it kistler or laguna's....damn can't remember for sure

$205 for a built rod, so I doubt they are high dollar blanks.

Daniel,
I sent you an email.
On a side note, I am good friends with the current owner of Waterloo. We have been friends for a VERY long time now and he wont even tell me what blanks he uses...and trust me I've caught him at some pretty weak moments when large quantities of adult beverages were involved and he still wont tell me!!! Hahahaha!! I was just at his shop yesterday and they are very, very busy with tournament season starting and plus they own a tournament series down there so, if he can squeeze you in and get you a tour he will. He is a very approachable guy and will go out of his way to help.
Thanks,
Noel