I just went out and made the first casts with my two newest builds, both built on NFC MB736 X ray blanks. All I can say is ....... MAN ..... these things are crazy good. The sensitivity is nuts, and they cast like a dream. I couldn't be happier. Yeah I know fishing them and casting them around in the yard are two different things, but ..... man lol

Both rods, other than the rear grips and trim bands on one of the rods, are identical. I used Fuji T2 titanium K series guides on both. A 3 guide reduction train, KW 10, 8, and 6. Two KB 5's and six KT 5s with an Arowana tip top. #5 ring with a 4.5 tube. I weighed the guides before putting them on. The described set weighs 2 grams. Both rods have Alps MVT reel seats with 2 Alps trim rings. One ring between the reel seat and grips, the other between the butt cap and grip. Titanium colored on one rod, and black on the other.

The rod with the titanium color rings is the one with the trim bands on the wraps. The wraps are black size A Pro Wrap and the trim bands are dark grey size A Alps metallic thread. That rod has a 10" CFX rear grip on it, and the rod weighs in at 3.85 oz. The other rod has a split rear grip using black EVA. Wraps are black size A with no trim bands. That rod weighs in at 3.65 oz.

Both rods are paired with brand new 200 Shimano Curado K, XGs, and are spooled with 15# Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon line.

This is the first time I used a high build finish for the guide wraps, purely by accident though. I normally use U-40 LS Supreme and had ordered some with my last set of components for these builds. I was mistakenly sent the High Build version, and as the bottles look virtually identical, I didn't notice it was high build until I started mixing it up. It's definitely a different animal than the regular LS Supreme and since it was my first time using it, a few of the wraps look a little fat compared to what I usually get, and as it's thicker it was a little more difficult getting clean lines on the insides of the wraps on the double foot guides. Other wise I like it quite a bit. The second of those rods the wraps came out very nice. I think I may switch to the high build formula.

And BTW, the Alps metallic thread is outstanding. Pulls through without any shedding, with very nice shimmer to it. It's great stuff! Hopefully they'll increase their color choices. If anyone is interested I got the Alps metallic thread from Rougarou Rods. Oh and I also picked up two sets of rare earth magnets for my thread carriage from them. I really REALLY like the rare earth magnets. They're smoother running than spring spool tension, and they are very responsive to even small adjustments. For me they made wrapping guides much easier. I'm glad I picked them up.

So anyhow........ I love these rods.They are without a doubt the highest performing rods I have ever had in my hands. It's going to be tough to put them down, but my first couple of tournaments are on lakes where flipping and pitching heavy cover are the ways to cash a check. These rods don't have the kind of power for that. But once the water warms up and fish start moving off shore ..... look out fish lol

Thanks for letting me indulge myself ... like I said, I had to tell someone, and you people are the kind of people that would understand my enthusiasm. Plus ...... I like you people.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2019 05:49PM by David Baylor.

David, great write-up and lots of good information! Curious though how you determined sensitivity without fishing them?

I almost always love the last rod I built.

You can get a feel for sensitivity when you drag your test cast weight along the lawn on retrieve. Not objective, but with a lot of experience, you get a feel for it.

Always a great feeling when you end up loving the performance of your build and it sounds like David is a "Performance first" kind of guy with him explaining how the wraps are slightly fuller than normal lol . I'm the same way , the wrap can't be any longer than absolutely necessary to save weight etc...

Although Flourocarbon doesn't stretch nearly as much as mono, braid will make that setup even more sensitive than it is currently . I store all my rods in a flannel rod sleeve which goes into a protective tube when not in use , i would freak out if a blank like that took a hard whack .

Anyways enjoy it.

Thanks guys, and as far as getting a feel for sensitivity, exactly how Michael mentioned. As he said, it's not objective, but it's one of those things you just kind of know. I can say this ... I've built on what I think are some pretty nice blanks, Rainshadow Immortals, Pac Bay Quicklines, and NFC blanks from the IM series. None of them felt like these X rays when doing the very same thing. Or to put it another way, I can feel the wood grain in my hardwood floors.

And I always love the last rod I built too........ but I want to marry these ones lol

Great post ,honest, believable results from someone who's not slinging it!

David if you dont mind me asking, how long did it take to receive your blanks? I've been trying to get an update from NFC on my order of some mb705-1hm since mid Feb but no one is answering. I wonder if I should switch to the xray or if that would make the order faster (I heard they make based on demand and batches?)

Your setup sounds very nice. What are techniques are you throwing on these new rods? Thanks

Darwin don't hold your breath , don't know where there problem is, but there is no normal wait time , , on when the blank will be shipped after your order is placed , do a such on this forum

William Sidney
AK

I’m still waiting on a blank I ordered in December. Emails with no reply’s, telephone calls with no answers. NFC’s customer service is the worst I’ve ever seen.
Norm

I absolutely love my X-RAY’s!!

I'm finishing one just like that David but spiral wrapped with an RV stripper. Fished me 662 IM this weekend and its awesome. Have a few more to get done here quick. I ordered 10/8 just got my last blank 3/26. I ordered a bunch more this week just so that maybe when the ice starts coming in I will have blanks in hand.

I think I detect another Shikari legend in the making. Better get em' while they're hot. An influx of orders might help the situation.

keep them waiting and wanting..lol.

Once again, thanks guys, I appreciate the responses and the understanding of my enthusiasm.

Darwin, I was evidently very lucky in how quickly my blanks arrived after ordering them. I ordered mine in the closing months of last year. I ordered 3 blanks, each at different times (one was broken in shipping when I received it) and none of them took longer than 3 weeks to get here. One may have been a couple days past 3 weeks, but nothing like some of the horror stories some of the members are posting here, and on other rod building message boards I participate on. As far as what I will be throwing with them goes. I built them primarily to fish dragging 3/8 oz football jigs and Texas rigs, for smallmouth bass. They'll also see use in light to moderate weed cover for largemouth. They've got nice power, but as I said earlier, I don't see them being powerful enough to horse fish out of heavy cover.

It's really a shame that NFCs customer service is what it is. Not knowing when or even if your blanks will ever show up would be maddening to me. Especially knowing how amazing the X ray blanks are. I've been finding NFCs name connected with a lot of different rod manufacturers of late. It's clearly a case of too many irons in the fire. I fear there may come a time when they are no longer available to builders like us. Which is why I'm going to do what Jacob mentioned, and order a few more while I can.

And Lynn, thanks for that post up there bro. I'm definitely not slinging it ............ these X ray blanks are the real deal. Deserving of the accolades they receive. And I'm glad they're easy to sand smooth, because I am NOT a fan of the factory finish lol

Texas rig yup thats what i was hoping to make a similar setup. Its a shame about the NFC delivery time and service though as some has expressed. This is my first time ordering them and unfortunately am now in the same waiting and wondering category. No replies or phone answers. Thats xray does sound nice tho i may have to find something else if want to fish it this summer ??

is the warranty still good after sanding any of these blanks?

great write up David. I would love to see a picture or two of the finished product!

Rick

Thanks Rick, I appreciate the comment. I would love to link some photos but for some reason when I up load a photo to the gallery it says upload successful, but the photos don't show up. They don't even show up the "my photos" page. Just the pictures I uploaded over a year ago. Don't know what's going on with that.