Just finished wrapping the guides on the bamboo rod I am building. Based on the positive comments by BB member boarmountain and some folks on another site, I decided to use Snake Brand snake guides and tip tops.
Snake Brand’s products are EXCELLENT - no need for any prep at all, out of the bag and on to the blank.
And the Customer Service is OUTSTANDING. As a first time bamboo rod builder and a first time customer to Snake Brand, I missed the mark sizing a couple components. Mike and Susan ( McCoy ) worked with me in a way that I would not expect from any company dealing with a first time customer to get things sorted out. From coming up with an innovative solution to the sizing issues to waiving S&H charges on replacement components to the cheery attitude on each contact, these folks were top shelf.
They do have some really nice agate stripping guides, but since this rod is going to be my workhorse next year, I decided to go with a Mildrum SMRC stripping guide. Didn’t want to run into a breakage / replacement problem - not that that would be likely, but I wouldn’t want to stop in the middle of a hot streak to do some rod repair.
Maybe when '09 is over, I’ll replace the Mildrum with one of Snake Brands agate strippers.
I’ve been using them for the past few years. They built a better mousetrap didn’t they. Now they have just come out with a new guide that the feet of the guides are on a radius.
That makes sense John, I’ve got some ‘beater’ boo and I wouldn’t put a Snake Brand agate on those either. Nothing wrong with a Mildrum…can’t be since many makers have used them and still do.
J C, I’m not certain, but I think it was here in FAOL that I first found Snake Brand products.
Now there’s an innovation in wire guides RS1, radiused to match blanks. Would never have thought of that.
When Kerry Burkheimer build and designed my 9ft 6wt, Mike came down to work with him on which guides to use. They settled on two stripper guides and top class snakes for the rest. I won the ACA distance casting event in NY with that rod.
MM, Mildrum strippers look classy on glass rods. Check out my Black Licorice rod post http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?t=24880.- (not trying to hijack John’s thread:)) I was going to put the radius’d guides on it, but Mike hadn’t started production on them yet.
RS1, your ‘Black Licorice’ din’t escape me when you posted it before…I was bug-eyed at the wraps and got a huge smile when later you posted about the 16 coats. Have done similar but geez, that would take about 16 or so days…I’d go crazy with ‘lust to fish’ with the new, basically finished rod to keep applying coat after coat. I do admit freely that I’ve not seen wrap finish any better than that not to mention plenty of factory finished wraps that look like carp. (sp?)