Too many guides?

[PMantle]

Can a rod have too many guides? I just bought my first ever St. Croix Legend Tournament rod
. It's 7"1' and has 12, yes 12 guides. As you can see, there's 4 in the last 6 inches of the rod. The last one before the tip is 1.5" from end of tip. I have no plans to ever sell, so I don't mind removing some if needed. Thoughts?
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[Ryan]

They don’t static test factory rods. It won’t hurt to remove them but I would prolly leave them. Next time get a custom built rod.

[harrys]

i have built many rods with 3 guides in the first 6" but the 1 1/2" ones seems tight, i don't think it can hurt anything

[willwork4fish]

Too many guides isn't necessarily a functional problem (outside of unnecessary weight).

I've fixed some rods with guides spaced like that and it's dumb. Same thing with the Daiwa Feider Fly spinning rod. Last guide is unnecessarily close to the tip.

I stopped static testing years ago, especially my personal rods which are all built spiral. For casting rods I use some simple spacing recipes that are going to work on 90% of the blanks out there, from Mod to F actions.

7' Medium power - tip, 3.25", 3.5", 3.75", 4", 4.5", 5", 5.5", 6.5", 7.5", 8.5-9"...so usually 10 total guides. The last 3 can be a little variable to get my stripper between 17" and 20" from the front of the reel. Really once you get to 5" or 5.5" you're enough into the meat of the blank where a little less or a little more (1/4" or so) doesn't matter.

7' MH/H power - tip, 3.5", 3.75", 4", 4.5, 5", 5.5", 6.75", 7.75", 8.75-9.5"...so usually 9 total guides. Again once you get into the meat of the blank things can be a little further apart.

I don't build too many XF blanks as casting but when I do the first will be 3" from the tip and then follow a similar spacing convention as above...might do 4", 4.25" and then go in 1/2" increments.

Really as long as you get the first 14-16" spaced so it doesn't hit the blank, you're going to be fine. From there for the most part you can just space them so that they "look right"

[Solitario Lupo]

I would say that’s a lot of guides. I just did a 15’ with 14 guides and started to think I didn’t need that many.

[PMantle]

I think I am going to remove that one close to the end. I just need to make sure i don't leave something that will harm the line.

[Solitario Lupo]

Have you fished it. You might want to try it first. I don’t think that it will hurt if stays on you have more chance to harm the blank if not done right.

[PMantle]

Have you fished it. You might want to try it first. I don’t think that it will hurt if stays on you have more chance to harm the blank if not done right.

I have only casted it in the yard so far. Seems fine.

[billnorman1]

I would not remove any. Guide spacing is a science of art. I believe if you remove the last guide it will LOOK awkward, with the rest of them maintaining an ever increasing spacing. Hit me if you will, but if you didn't like the spacing maybe it would be best to leave it in the store for someone else.

[willwork4fish]

I think I am going to remove that one close to the end. I just need to make sure i don't leave something that will harm the line.

Naw, just leave it...it's not hurting anything. It'll look goofy if you take it off.

[ECobb91]

I’d leave it as well especially on a factory rod. It’s not needed but you’ll void the warranty if you take it off too.

When I build my own, I static test every rod. I’ve put guides anywheres from 3” to 5” from the tip. 5” seemed too much, but the tip didn’t flex in that area so there was no need to put one closer structurally speaking. Most of mine are about 3.25-3.5” from the tip and the spacing inherently gets progressive based on the curvature.

for a 7’1” rod, I would plan on using 9-10 guides plus the tip. Maybe more if it’s a lighter blank, or less if a heavier blank. I let the static test and blank properties tell me what I need.

[Spoonplugger1]

Evaluating when you need to use a guide especially in the tip is easy to do and you don't have to do anything other than just bend the tip in your hands, as you flex the tip you will see no matter what you do, no matter the angle, etc. there is an area in the very tip that just won't substantially bend, if the rod doesn't flex, or flexes very little just what is a bunch of guides protecting? The object of the guides is to try to get the blank under the load from the fish to flex in a similar fashion as the bare blank put under the same load. I doubt you really need more that 9 guides to get that done. My first guide from the tip is usually 4 1/2 to 5 inches distance, the amount of tip that doesn't bend much under load while static testing. Also remember when you have a fish hanging off the rod the tip is straight and pointing directly at the fish/load, just how much straight, very lightly loaded tip protection is necessary? Is the extra weight sacrifice to blank response, balance and sensitivity do you want to sacrifice, because we are all doing just that? Remember each tip installed guide on your blank feels to you six times heavier than they really are, as you go back toward your hand this decreases as the distance decreases. As far as response and casting power, each rod has a certain intrinsic power built into the blank to work with, you can throw the weight of your lure, plus the weight of your heavier guide train, or the same lure with a lighter guide train, which do you think will cast better with more snap and response?