After seeing continual questions on this and other sites about problems everyone is encountering with mederia and other non-rodbuilding threads I started wondering why Gudebrod doesn't make available a wider selection colors in their line. It seems that the color selection is the primary reason that mederia is so popular and they do have some amazing colors. Doesn't Gudebrod want a piece of this?

They cut back on the number of colors they had, why would they want to add more? The market for this many colors is miniscule and not worth it for any company to design a thread specificall for rodbuilders. They need to sell thousands of bulk cones for it to be worth it, with rodbuilders we buy one 1000M spool and it lasts 10 years. I looked into a company to see if it they would be willing to make threads for me without giving the thread a lubricating bath, and tehy would. I'd just have to order 1000 spools per color. If I wanted to get 100 colors, I was looking at 100,000 spools of thread...of which I would have sold teh same 5 colors everyoen always uses (Blue, red, green, purple, black), and had to find a place to store all the rest.

Billy, yeah, I understand what you're saying, but it seems to me that there are enough builders to buy up a run like you're talking about. The manufacturers certainly aren't going to put something like this on a regular production run, but what if our retailers asked for limited or one time color runs (like Mud Hole or Angler's Workshop)? a thousand spools doesn't seem like a lot to me. I'm sure there are a lot more than a thousand builders out there. I'll buy at least one of every color!!!

Everyone will buy at least one of every color...until you actually get teh product in hand and try to fond all those people who said they'd order one spool, lol. Thread Manu's need OEM and major manufacturers to bother with it, as that is where the bulk of there orders come from. Most people looking for 100 shades of thread are hobby/part time builders who make up a very small percentage of sales.

Mudhole might be able to pull it off, but it is a significant investment, for really a small profit. There is a way imo that if someone decided to do something like this that would be easy to sell, stock, and pull orders without going insane looking through 351 spools to find that 1842 Blue is out of stock, lol.

Bill B.,
The problems with Madeira and other polyester threads is that they are made for use in sewing machines and are coated with silicones which allow the thread to move through the machine with less resistance. The problems rod builders have with these threads disappear when color preserver is used. If you want to use these threads without color preserver, you are likely to have trouble. Billy V. raised cogent reasons for the fact that Gudebrod reduced the number of colors. I was happy when I heard they were going to offer some of their two thread classic twist threads which they had canceled.

If you want nylon thread, you have the choice of Gudebrod, FishHawk, and the Pac Bay threads. The Pac Bay thread is particularly interesting since the surface seems to have a pearl like sheen which gives the appearance of a textured finish. Gudebrod also offers some thread in silk which also offers a slightly different appearance. Go to the respective web sites for these different thread companies and look at the colors--I'm sure that you will be able to find what you will need to build very beautiful rods.

Mike Blomme

Thanks Billy and Mike for the comments. I had ask this question on another site at about the same time and received a great response from Mark at Acid Rod. He went into the problems of health risks involved with making thread (especially certain colors) as well as the realities that you guys mentioned. I haven't tried the Pac Bay thread yet, but have used the FishHawk. I'm luck because I have a pretty good inventory of thread, including several that are no longer available, so my creativity is not hampered too much. But I really hate limitations!