Over-all convenience, go with the 4 piece, if you haven't been fishing in 14 years you will be amazed at how good rods are now. On the alignment, anyone can take a toothpick and a bottle of fingernail polish and put the dots on. The reason many rod companies don't is they don't stay....eventually they come off. Putting the top and bottom sections together and then joining them is exactly what we do.