I have built 40+ bait casting and 4 spinning rods. I just completed 2 fly rods. One was an 8 foot 3 weight and one a 9 foot 5 weight. Looking at the spacing of the guide for the fly rods it appeared they were to far apart. The 9 foot 5 weight called for 9 guides plus the tip top. After putting the rod in a 90 degree bend the fly line did not have smooth turns as a bait casting rod would have. I added some guides to make smooth turns from one guide to the other. I ended up with 12 guides plus the tip top. I would think this would help in the fighting of the fish and the back cast and forward cast when the rod is loaded. I used single foot guides after the first 3 guides that were double foot guides. It does not look like it changed the action of the. If it did it was a small amount.

Did I mess up by adding the additional guides?

No you did not mess up - you did what a good custom rod builder would do. Always use the correct number of guides, no more and no less. 12 seems a bit many for a 9 footer but maybe not. I suspect most 9 footers can do well enough with 10 guides plus a tiptop, but as guides have gotten lighter and lighter, I am at the point of erring on the side of one too many rather than one too few.

Action won't change with additional guides (action is where the rod initially flexes) but the speed will be reduced with any additional weight. How much so depends on how much additional weight you added and where you added it. If you like the way the rod casts and feels, go with it. I think you'll be fine.

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Pat,
# of guides on a fly rod will depend to a large degree on the action of the blank - i.e. during the static flex procedure.

Normally we use 10 guides on a 9'0" rod.
Yes - you'll get a smoother curve with more guides - but don't get carried away with it.
15 guides would give you an even smoother curve.
At one point you will have to accept that you will not get a perfect curve - but one that is good enough - usually 10 on 9'.
Herb

Pat,
If you used ceramic guides (I prefer over single foot snakes) you did an excellent job. That is exactly how I would of done it. With double foot snake guides you could of gotten away with 10 + a tip top. I have done 3 wt to 10 wt rods like this and they all cast very well and really did not add that much weight to affect the action a bunch. It really comes to finding the correct line especially on the 7 wt + sizes. It seems with the lower the weight line the less difference it makes.

Thanks for the responses. The guides used were made by me. I use 16 and 18 gauge TEMCo surgical grade titanium wire for the smaller guides and 1/16 inch titanium tig wire for the double foot larger guides. The tip top is 16 gauge titanium wire. All wire is polished to a mirror finish using jeweler’s rouge. If they ever need to be repolished this can be done using a Q-tip on a dremel with the jeweler’s rouge while the guides are on the rod. I have been making my own titanium guides and tip tops for bait casting and spinning rods for about two years now and they work great. No inserts to come out. I fish mostly braid line with a short leader.