I was reviewing Rod Maker and reread Rich Forhans article on the Revolver Rod. I am wanting to build a similar rod and hoped to get answers to a few questions. I am building a heavy Muskie rod. 7' medium action. As I see the first guide placement it appears the line will rub the guide ring during normal retrieve. Am I seeing this correctly? Also, This is a heavy rod and I was considering first guide size of 20 or 16 I was going to test cast but with Rich's guide locating I think a 16 will suffice! Also, guides 2 and 3 are there any specific angles to follow or are they just a matter of smooth transition.
Any help is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Mark Schulte

That can be a good way to go. By offsetting the guide the way the article showed, the line will always come into the spool from the very center. Yes it will lightly rub the ring but that won't hurt anything. I have built saltwater rods this way for many years and it seems to work well.

I believe Rich uses the standard 60, 120 and 180 degree spacing on the transition guides. And that also works well.

Follow the article and you'll be fine. A size 16 will work -so will a size 12. Just use a smooth transition with guides 2 & 3. Re-center the line with guide 4. Six inches between each guide 1-2-3&4 works well. 14 to 16 inches from the reel will work well for guide #1.

Rather than follow specific angles, place the tiptop and the next two guides. Thread the line and let the line determine to path of the guides. Make sure on a level wind reel you do this with the line guide in center position. Very effective, and eliminates measuring angles.
Elrod

Mark,
Depending on the guide type (is it light enough in weight?), you MAY want a 20 butt guide for this heavier musky rod as opposed to a lighter bass rod. This may depend more on the reel choice (wt., height, etc.) and the particular line transition from the reel face to your butt guide. Make this distance also a minimum of about 16" or more if possible. There may be touching at the top ring of this guide when directly coming off the reel.
If you can get away with 16 ring butt guide on this rod, so much the better, but keep in mind the purpose. You'll be casting much heavier baits and possible a different line than monofilament, so take into consideration this point for guide selection (SiC for instance) and the particular musky blank and taper. No SET rule about the distance and angles between the guides that are spiralling. I like to do it with the most direct line path between the center of the guides as much as possible. This could make them closer than you may expect, especially using a modification from the standard 60, 120, 180 transition.

For this blank, I should think you'll end out at the spiral (180 degrees) with size 8's and don't skimp with the number to the tip.
If the spiral takes 4 or 5 guides to complete getting to the 180 guides, that could be... and find it works optimally. Test casting will be the ultimate test....well, ultimate would be when you fight and land that 50 incher! The tone here is for rod stability, and optimal casting performance nowadays CAN be achieved over conventional guide placement with the spiral wrap on any sort of levelwind or non levelwind reel setup. There is really not a 'wrong' way or worrying much about the size of the first butt guides, as it is in sizing things up with a particular blank. Focus on having the best direct line path from reel to tip, and it may require more guides than initially thought.Keep smaller ones (in the case of a big musky blank, size 8 probably) at the end of the spiral out to the tip end.

Plenty of spiral rods were built with few guide abrupt with the spiral guides, but smooth line transition modifications might be more pleasing to your rod for intentions of better casting over merely using the rod for letting line down with a downrigger and trolling. Think more PURPOSE here and function. This is a musky rod, and has special considerations for power and stability. What you want to gain in casting performance may be why you'll consider direct smooth line transition.

Rich Garbowski
Solyrich Custom Rods

Elrod, I am confused, do you only end up with 2 guides and the tip @ 180* Thanks, DP