Hey Clyde, yes you can use whatever you want to use that will get the job done. What I would recommend with the glue stick is pretty simple, I have a pice of piano wire that I use to make guides with mounted in a wooden handle. This wire is .027"...pretty thin wire. When I heat up the hot glue I use that wire to work the glue down inside the tip top before putting the tip top on the rod. if it starts to set up a little inside the tip top, just heat it a little and it liquifies again. This allows you to get the glue down inside where it will do its work. It will "gob" up on the rod at the mouth of the tip top but that will come right off.
Hope this helps
Leo