I’m building a Rainshadow RCKJB600-250 blank to be used with a Shimano Saragosa 8000 spinning reel for tuna, so its going to see some stress. When I attempt to use the “New Concept” for guide placement on this 6’6” rod I wind up past the tip top for the choker. My question is how do you determine guide placement for a 61mm diameter reel spool on a shorter rod? Or is there another method I should resort to as a starting point prior to static testing?

There is a guide spacing from the manufacturer i can resort to as a reference, but curious to what others would or have done in this situation. Thanks!

In this case the tiptop will be your choker guide. Per the spool diameter and rod length, there is no room for nor need for running guides.

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Thanks for the quick reply Tom. So then if the tip top was treated as the choker I should only use a max of 4 reduction guides. That seems like way too few! Using the tip too as the choker, how many reduction guides should I be using (pending static testing of course)?

Side note on static testing a spinning reel this large, I’m assuming I position the bail in the “mid position”? Positioning it near the blank or away from the blank drastically changes line trajectory, hence my thought on the mid position. Thoughts?

Use the spool spindle for your trajectory line, not the line as it comes off the bail roller, which as you know, varies depending on whether it is on top or bottom.

Use whatever number of reduction guides are needed. 4 might be right. 5 might be. Set them up, do a static distribution test and see what works.

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Thanks Tom. Very helpful and appreciate the quick response!