OK, Ladies and Gents, I have in hand one of Cabella's Traditional II blanks for a 7' 6" 4 pc, 4w rod in a pretty olive green. I have taken the comments from the resources thread and stuffed them all in a Word document so I wouldn't lose any of them as well as the the discussion on guide placement. I shall be referring to them often.

I think I am going to go with single foot guides. I can see snake guides restricting the flex of the rod to some degree. It may be minuscule, but I can see it, none the less. A single foot guide will minimize that. I am inclined to use a chart to get some initial spacing and fine tune from there to get the curve of the line just right. The fine tuning struck a chord with me and makes a lot of sense.

I think a trip to Bass Pro Shop is in order to put my hand on as many different rods as possible to see which handle is the most comfortable to me. I may run by Anglers All as well to fondle a few rods that I would have to sell the house to afford. That should give me a good idea on what to order for a handle. I might try turning my own on the next rod.

The only decision left, outside of aesthetics, is the type of reel seat. How does the reel seat affect the center of gravity of the rod? This blank weighs less than 2 ounces as it sits. I can see it being somewhat butt heavy even with a small reel. I would like something with a rosewood insert or seat just because it's pretty, but is that really going to make much difference? I can see where an up-locking seat that is hooded by the handle will move the hand back towards the effective center of gravity and the reel forward which will bring the center of gravity more toward the hand. I think.

If I am all wet, please tell me why.