Trying Airwave guides for the first time. The directions say to place the stripper guide 19.5" from the fully extended spool to the primary ring of the stripper guide. When the guide is set on the blank, though, the primary ring (which I'm assuming is the larger outer ring) sits at a pretty steep angle. What point on that ring do I measure to? The point closest to the reel, which would be the back or bottom edge? The top/highest edge? Or do I split the difference and measure from the center?

Try it in all three positions. Tape the guide in place at each of the positions and do some test casts. See if it makes any difference. If it does, place it where it works best. If it doesn't make any difference, suit yourself.

Be safe

I'd just measure to the center. At some point the differences are too slight to be of practical concern.

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On the spinning rod guides, From the lip on the spinning reel, I measure from the highest point of the large guide ring, (19 1/2 inches.) The most critical measurements are from the 1st guide to the 2nd guide, and from the 2nd guide to the 3rd guide (first running guide). The highest point on each guide gives me a constant to measure from. One thing I know about them though, is that you will notice a real difference in how the rod cast... Hope you are trying a Bushido Blank..LOL Good Luck.

I have typically measured from the top of the guide and it always seems to work out well. One thing to take into consideration is whether or not you will be using different reels on the rod. Differnt reels have different profiles and it can change the position of the spool, so if you plan to use various different reels, measure with the one you will use most often.

Roger has the right idea. The guides, their placement, the rod, the line, the reel, and the caster combine to determine the best choice of each. Results are the best guide.

American Tackle assured me that moving the stripper +/ - an inch or so will not effect performance. Maintain recommended spacing for next 2 and static test from there. Measure from spool lip to highest point of large ring. (the foot being the lowest.)

Thanks for the responses and the help!

Some great responses there for you Kevin...... There is a safe margin of error when measuring out the MicroWave system.

Some builders measure along the blank, some at an angle from the reel to the stripper, some measure to the middle of the large ring, some to the top.

Any of the above will generally be with in a half of an inch of any other....so you are safe with any.

Let us know how those work out for you.... I am sure you will love them.

_______________________________
God Bless, Don Morse

800-516-1750 ext. 1207 / don@americantackle.us

Rod Building..... It's What We Do.