14 ft rod. Guy wants guides every 6 in. Making that 21 guides and double wrapped at 3 inches for bottom. Is that. A ridiculous amount of eyes

Probably shouldn't take 21, but a two line stress test will answer the question. Not sure what "double wrapped at 3 inches for bottom" means. Surf? Spin? Cast? Fly? "Every 6 in." ?? Even the first guide is only 6 inches from the reel? I think you need to be more clear on what you're dealing with. A simple answer is yes, ridiculous as the problem is stated.

Big Surf Rod perhaps?

I would not build one at 6 inch spacing.

Here is a big spinning rod, Alvey to be specific. Count the guides. 14 feet long.





Conventional, a few more, but nothing like 6 inch spacing.

I have some 13 -1/2 foot Hatteras Heaver blanks by RainShadow, I will look up the recommended guide spacing. RainShadow has guide spacing drawings for some 500 blanks in their database, this is why I use RainShadow blanks and components.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2021 05:12PM by John Ricks.

This is like going to a restaurant and telling the chef exactly how to cook your food. Tell him you can build the rod according to his specs, but you will not be responsible for it's performance.

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I would require him to put it in writing before I built it because he's going to be infuriated when he attempts to cast that monstrosity. You could also tell him that you retired last week & send him on his way , that's probably what I would do .

The guides go where they're needed, Do a bit more reading as I previously suggested.

The added weight of all those guides and wrappings will cause the rod to flex more during the cast and might cause the rod to throw the line farther (grin).

Amber was stating what the customer requested not what she thought was a good idea .

Amber,
Calm down and be at peace.

"The customer is always right" so goes the quote.

So, double check with the client to be sure that the client knows what that means and your recommendation is something like 15 guides for this rod.

But, if the blank has a very soft tip section - then 21 guides would not be out of the question.

I have built a lot of casting rods with a soft tip where I had the guides only 2-3 inches apart to keep the line off of the blank.

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I do have to ask - what sort of guides and what height are the guides?

If the guides are taller guides, then the number of guides go way down.

But, if the guides are very short or small and want to keep the line off of the blank on a conventionally wrapped casting rods - then a lot more guides are necessary.

So - if the client wants 21 guides, don't debate with him, give him 21 guides. The rod will work just fine with 21 guides.

Depending on the rod, the rod may be used for a use where little to no casting is involved.

I know that there a lot of longer rods that either are used for dabbling brush piles with little or no casting, or a lot of longer rods are used in a trolling environment with the rod spending most of its life in a rod holder. If those are the uses intended for the rod - there is absolutly nothing wrong with putting 21 guides on a 14 foot rod.

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But, if the client is at all close to you, you could place 15 guides on the rod and tape them in place and mount a reel, string the line through the guides and have the client come over to let him know his thoughts on the rod with 15 guides in place. If, after handling the rod in the taped up guide configuration, then of course go ahead remove the guides as taped on and tape on the 21 guides in the correct locations , wrap, dry and deliver the rod as requested.

Best wishes

Yep, as Roger says, we need details.

Most of my builds are heavy salt water rods, so the build sheets provided by blank makers are out the window. OK for starting placements but blank flexing with the guides taped on is important.

I do not build for others, so in my case the customer is always right!

Example: I have two heavy Salmon Mooching rods started using Musky blanks. 8 1/2 foot, one piece, 40-80 pounds. The blank is heavy not for the fish but to be able to handle the sinker at depths up to 300 feet and high current added for more fun. Rainshadow blanks, the guides suggested are way to big, especially for the stripper. I am using a 12 stripper, graduated down to 8 towards the tip. Why smaller guides than the build sheets? We are not casting anything, just free spooling the sinker down to bounce the bottom. And with the heavy blank, the line stays away from the blank even with smaller guides. Big turbo guides get in the way when racking the rods in the under gunnel rod racks.






Can't see the guides very well in this photo, but this is a 9-1/2 foot Salmon Mooching Rod I made in about 1978. Lamiglass one piece surf rod blank. In the lathe for a finish touch up. Still works well. Note the small size of the guides.



So getting out of the box and building the rod specifically for the application is important. A surf rod blank and a Musky blank for salmon mooching? I have done stranger things. You gotta study the blank makers catalogs. Pick the specifications of the blank to fit the fishing conditions.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2021 04:37PM by John Ricks.

The stripper on this Moocher is a 12, other guides graduated down to 6's towards the tip. Big guides get in the way on a serious Mooching rod, however, we fish a bit differently here in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Lots of deep water and the big Chinook are right on the bottom. Mooching a cut plug herring is a hoot!

However the deep water Mooching is a fast dying art, most young uns' want to use downriggers (easy fishing) and jigs are taking way also. I am one of the few Moochers left.

The gear. Note the sinker slide.

Here ya go. 13 foot Surf Spinning, Rain Shadow blank. 11 guides plus the tip top.

[www.dropbox.com]

scroll down to the REVSU130H blank drawing. Click on it.

Scroll down again, in addition to the rod drawing there is another page with the part numbers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/2021 03:47PM by John Ricks.