I feel that test wraps are always a good thing to do, so you get to see what your finished wraps will end up like. I have made what I call colour sticks. These are rod blank pieces which have 1/2" long wraps of every thread colour available by Gudebrod. One is finished using colour preserver and one without. Due to the fact that I repair large numbers of rods each year, I found these colour sticks were a great reference tool to use to ensure that the repaired wraps match the entire rod. Never missed the match using these refernce tools and they are very helpful in determining what colour combo I will use on a new custom build. I would highly recommend the above suggestions for doing a test wrap in the reel seat area before you start a new rod. Nothing worse than spending all the time building that WOW rod only to be disappointed once the epoxy touches the thread.
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David Parker
Guild Certified Professional Rod Builder