Selecting an ideal stripper guide for the custom build Sage TXL 363-3 has been daunting. I don't know of anywhere I can go and view the options so this has been trial and error through procurement. Even a deep Google image search is limited.
The Sage specification for the TXL is a 6mm light gauge guide, chrome finish. I viewed this on Chris Hosker's 2710-3 recently, and after I'd order a dark nickel TiCH guide from Mudhole. It's a neat and tiny guide, with a subtle, smoky bronze finish. I rarely haul, and the advice from Sage when I enquired was to haul in-line with the guide. A sz6 is just a touch too small to my eyes, and too close in size to the adjacent sz2 snake guide (more later) for a balanced aesthetic. Sage have increased the stripper guide on the latest TXL-F range to 8mm, so I'm guessing they feel the same.
Having settled on an 8mm guide, the guys at Hopkins and Holloway (who supply most of the hardware for Sage's factory built rods) recommended the LNSG, the lighter model of the NSG guide. The matt, gunsmoke finish on this guide is subdued, and would have been a perfect match for the Prayer Stick.
Trevor Bourne, who runs the Rod Builder forum first suggested an agate stripper guide last Summer, when I first aquired the blank and was just working this all out. I was premature in overlooking this idea at the time, with concerns of an overtly traditional look. Fine on cane, but on Sage's Generation 5 graphite? I looked at Mildrum and Struble, and the black nickel + midnight lace insert from Struble was just irresistable. These are handmade, beautifully crafted components - and this is reflected in the price. Some may question the mass loading of such heavy duty hardware on a build that focuses so closely on stark minimalism. At this position on the rod the effect on balance is negligable, especially when the grip design shaves grams off the weight.
It's taken an age to arrive here, and the build has yet to start. The finished rod may yet see stream time during the 2012 season. If not, I'll ensure it's finished during the close season.
Just to build on the anticipation...
The Sage specification for the TXL is a 6mm light gauge guide, chrome finish. I viewed this on Chris Hosker's 2710-3 recently, and after I'd order a dark nickel TiCH guide from Mudhole. It's a neat and tiny guide, with a subtle, smoky bronze finish. I rarely haul, and the advice from Sage when I enquired was to haul in-line with the guide. A sz6 is just a touch too small to my eyes, and too close in size to the adjacent sz2 snake guide (more later) for a balanced aesthetic. Sage have increased the stripper guide on the latest TXL-F range to 8mm, so I'm guessing they feel the same.
Trevor Bourne, who runs the Rod Builder forum first suggested an agate stripper guide last Summer, when I first aquired the blank and was just working this all out. I was premature in overlooking this idea at the time, with concerns of an overtly traditional look. Fine on cane, but on Sage's Generation 5 graphite? I looked at Mildrum and Struble, and the black nickel + midnight lace insert from Struble was just irresistable. These are handmade, beautifully crafted components - and this is reflected in the price. Some may question the mass loading of such heavy duty hardware on a build that focuses so closely on stark minimalism. At this position on the rod the effect on balance is negligable, especially when the grip design shaves grams off the weight.
It's taken an age to arrive here, and the build has yet to start. The finished rod may yet see stream time during the 2012 season. If not, I'll ensure it's finished during the close season.
Just to build on the anticipation...
