Well, okay, so I tried to straighten the section, and had a little luck with it. In the process, closer inspection (via a stereoscope) shows that the section has been broken in the past. It looks to have been split, and very nicely repaired. The rod has intermediate wraps of a different thread color to the guide wraps. The guides are wrapped with black and gold jasper, while the intermediate wraps appear to be gold silk. (did SB ever intermediate wrap their rods?)

So it doesn't look like I will be able to 100% straighten the rod out, but I've got it to an acceptable point. My next question is: Can I fish this rod with the repair? How much does damage like this weaken the rod? Again, it's very well repaired and wrapped. But, it is a #24 (7/8 wt rod, bass taper), which means I'm far more likely to have a lunker on the end of it.

Regards,
Jeff