As far as spinning reel seat is concerned, almost identical are available since 2 years (at least) from Aliexpress. I was sceptical at first but a friend of mine is using them successfully for light spinnng rod builds. They are indeed lighter than newes Fuji 'carbon mesh' reel seats although not such sturdy.

Best regards,
Pavel

Thomas, 100%. as Dave says, albeit more politely, a seat with a cutout is useless if the cutout doesn't allow contact with the blank. Except for purely visual reasons.

The industry has been going away from direct contact seats for some time now, got to get that extra $10 out of you, and it's so much easier for them during production.

I just looked at the web site of a major on line tackle retailer. Every Shimano, every Daiwa, every G Loomis, every Megabass, every Fenwick, and practically every St Croix casting rod they offer uses exposed blank reel seats on their casting rods.

Some of these rods retail for as little as $69.99 so it's not like this on line retailer only carry the manufacturer's top of the line rods. They offer an "Ugly Stik Carbon Casting Rod".and even it uses an exposed blank reel seat. If anything, at least in the bass fishing industry, manufacturers have been moving towards direct blank contact reel seats on their casting rods. for some time now.

As far as ease if of production goes. it definitely has to be easier to make a standard reel seat versus one with a cut out and a specific ID, but it's not easier to build a rod using a standard seat.