Where do you buy your rod blanks?

I think I want to start building my own rods for me and a couple friends. Where do you guys buy your blanks?

http://www.anglersworkshop.com/default.aspx
http://www.swamplandtackle.com/
http://www.fishsticks.us/
http://www.acidrod.com/
http://www.schneidersrods.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/ks/bingham/
http://www.mudhole.com/

There's a few to get you started. They are all great to deal with and will take the time to answer any questions you may have. You won't go wrong using any of these. Some of them don't list everything they carry on their website so calling and asking questions will get you going in the right direction. I've used all of these suppliers for different things. The mudhole website has a lot of info about getting starting building. On the home page click on the rodbuilding 101 link. Good luck. http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

wow, I expected only one or two sites. thanks a lot, this should help me waste a lot of time. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

If you can get a club membership at Versitex.com you can save some cash on high-end blanks. The only downside is that they are slooooooooooooooooooow. Really, really, slow. Did I say they were slow?

Bingham is good for sure and has excellent customer service when/if you call.

I really like Mudhole when I need something yesterday. They get it to me fast. I'm pretty sure they are the largest rod building retailer in the US. But atlas, they don't carry everything. You'll notice that certain places carry things you can't get at other places and you'll have to go there to get what you want.

My best advice if you really get into rod building, is to find/make friends with builders that are also distributors/wholesellers. I have two of those and they make a few bucks and save me quite a bit. But they don't even want me calling unless I'm buying five or more blanks at a time. So that limits things as "build for me only" rod builder.

One more after thought. If you haven't built before, I highly recommend that you go as cheap as possible on your first rod and equipment in case you don't like it. If you do like it, then invest in good equipment. I spent a small fortune over the years "upgrading" when I could have just bought the good stuff after building the first one a card board box.