HELP

I am building a 7 ft. inshore rainshadow RX8. I have already glued on a 11 in. grip which puts my seat and the spool face of a symetre 3000 at about 14 1/2 in. from the rear of the rod.
Using the new concept guide system, my first high profile guide( which is a little better then half the diameter of the reel spool) lines up at 15 1/2 in. from the spool face. According to the system the first guide should be 18 in. or more from the spool. DO I HAVE A PROBLEM ? If so should I cut the grip back to give more distance?

Thank you for your input.

Jim,
The length of the grip has no bearing on the guide placement - all measurements are taken from the reel spool face, so cutting the grip back won't help. The center of the spool is the alignment point, and the top inside edges of the reduction guide rings are lined up between the spool center and the top inside of the choke guide ring (first running guide). My builds will usually fall well within the normal 18-22 inch range for the butt guide using the 27x method with reels in the 1000 to 4000 size range.

My spool diameter is 45.50 MM * 27 = 1228.50 divided 10= 122.85 divided by 2.54 = 48.37 in. which puts my first transition guide at about 15 1/2 from the spool?

Clearly there is a misunderstanding of some sort. The spool diameter determines two things. First, the location of the choker guide, and next, the size of the guide nearest the reel. You pick the size of the choker guide based on smallest knot to be passed. If you will use braid pick a butt guide on the smaller size of what is indicated....if mono go full size.

You didn't provide any info so I have to make a guess. Say your spool diameter is two inches (50.8mm). That makes your butt guide around a size 25 and your choker guide is 54 inches from the spool lip. Decide on the size of your choker guide....call it a size 4. Place it where it needs to be (54 inches) and place size 4 guide every four inches towards the tip (those will be moved later on) and use a size 4 tip top. Remove the reel's spool and tie a thin line onto the spool's axle and thread it through all the size 4 guides and tip top. Tie a light sinker/split shot on the end to maintain a little tension. Take your 25 guide and start at the reel end and slide it forward until the outside of the frame just contacts your thin line. Mark location and if it is less than 18 inches from reel's spool pick a smaller/ less height guide. Then look at remaining room between butt guide and choker and see if you need one....two....or three more guides to fill in. Place them by moving them forward until they touch the thin line as you did for the butt guide.

Only the butt guide and choker guide are fixed in stone. All other guides will be adjusted when you do a static test.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

That suggest a butt guide around 20 to 25 and the choker guide location at 48.37 inches from the spool's lip. Nothing in the measurments/calculations determine the butt guide's location.....other than it's size and height in relation to the choker guide's size.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Reviewing all of this as its coming in and re reading the article on new concept I think my problem is my butt guide, its to tall !

Jim,
I would guess that your guide is just fine.
Set it at 20 inches from the reel and space out the rest for a nice rod.

Remember, the concept guide system, as any other system, is simply a starting point for a general recommendation. Tape up a set of guides, and insure that you have a guide placed and spaced such that the line has a nice flow and that it follows the contour of the loaded blank.

You will be good to go.

Roger

Using braid you can easily drop down to the size 20 stripper which will be shorter and should fall in the 18-22 zone.

Test cast the rod. Don't get hung up on dimensions. If the rod casts well and the line gets tamed properly, who cares where the butt guide ends up?

Jim,

Looks like you are taking the 48.37 in measurement from the rear of the rod, not the lip of the reel spool. Take a deep breath and read the article again. :-) Russell has your measurements right on the mark.

Terry

Thank you all for the advice, hear is what I have decided to do. I got a shorter butt guide with the same diameter which lines up almost in the center of the 18 to 24 in. space where it should. Just for kicks I hope to test cast it and try alternating the two size butt guides to see if it really makes a difference. I will try to let you all know what happens.

Thanks again