Someone gave me an old rod they said harnell though theres no markings think it is though. Going to keep the old tungsten carbide tip looks to be size 12. Cant decide what I want to do for guides think i want to keep traditional style guides thinking either the single foot chrome nickel titanium rspg recoil guides or just go the cheap xsg stainless wire guides. Its a 10' not sure if I want to spend for the recoil guides. If I go with the single foot recoil i may go concept layout but not sure. Does anyone have any input or alternative suggestions i havent seen? Thanks

What reel and line choice will you be using and what type of fish will you be targeting ?

Stripers probably a 704 and 14 or 17lb mono or 20 fireline. At first i was just going to go with the cheaper xsg double foot stainless guides and practice some threadwork on it as i am a novice but its actually a pretty nice although beatup blank and am thinking i may actually fish it and am looking at those sf rspg recoils they are nickel titanium and are kinda expensive looking at like 70 or more for a set depending on layout just not sure if i want to spend alot for this rod

A 704 stacked with mono huh ,well in that case you can rule out a KR concept build and go with a NGC type build starting with something like a size 30 on down , the Pacific Bay XSG guides come in sizes that will work and Fuji's K guides offer sizes that will also work and you can get them in corrosion control frames . Forget the Recoil guides they don't come in the sizes you need anyway .

I have never heard of any surf rods built with Recoil guides actually .

Sizes that will work would be a size 30 to start , 40 is not needed unless using heavier mono and you can even get away with a size 25 IF using 20 pound Fireline , i actually have a 704 with Fireline and it casts very well with a size 20 mm guide actually . Check out sizes 30,20,12, - 30,20,16,10,8,8,8,8 or 40, 25,16, 12, 8,8,8,8 in the XSG frames.

Looked like the recoils came in 40 and down unless its a different measurement. Dont know if i want to go with ks or keep an old style guide

Probably just going to go with the xsg as i am keeping the wood handle and reel seat and tip original think ks would look silly.

Is it a problem to do 30 20 16 10 8 runners if the tip is a 10 or 12? Should not matter right?

Brett DeNicola Wrote:
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> Is it a problem to do 30 20 16 10 8 runners if the
> tip is a 10 or 12? Should not matter right?

No it's not a problem , to me size 8 guides are the largest i would use for runners and they sound like they would fit right in with the rod you're building , guide recommendations are just that, recommendations based on a guess when you disclosed what reel and line you were using . You will have to move them around to figure out what layout works best by test casting .

It's always prudent to go with the smallest running guides that will work for your application and size 8's will easily handle mono line of all types , going larger just because the tip size is larger is not a smart move .

Thank you Herb. I just wasnt sure i have never used a larger tip than the runners though didnt foresee it being a problem

Brett DeNicola Wrote:
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> Thank you Herb. I just wasnt sure i have never
> used a larger tip than the runners though didnt
> foresee it being a problem

I was instructed to use a tip 2 sizes bigger than my runners. Don't know if it helps or hurts but the few rods i have built handle extremely well.

Brett DeNicola Wrote:
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> Thank you Herb. I just wasnt sure i have never
> used a larger tip than the runners though didnt
> foresee it being a problem

I was instructed to use a tip 2 sizes bigger than my runners. Don't know if it helps or hurts but the few rods i have built handle extremely well.