Guide Layouts for Surf Rods

[Saltheart]

First , if your budget is $350 for the rod , you should get a Century or Lami , not a Batson.

The guide size/spacing thing is easy as far as Cone of flight vs NGC or Fuji Concept. You should get an adjusted NGC/Fuji Concept layout.

Third. Let the builder decide what sizes and spacing for your reel and line and butt length. That's what you are paying for in a custom.
Fourth. If there were a high 20 ring K frame then I believe LC guides would be discontinued. Its only the LC20 gathering guide that has any utility in rod building anymore now that the K frames are available. To properly use the LC gathering guide it must be pushed way up the rod. This IMO might add very slightly to casting performance if you are a casting expert but does almost nothing for the average or even above average caster. For the slight chance you could pick up 5 yards in your cast , you give up fish fighting power with that first guide moved way up the rod.

Use BKWAG guides , let the builder determine how many and were to place then using a parabolic equation (based on stress test results) adjusted NGC/Fuji concept guide layout. If your builder doesn't know what any of that means , you are not buying at the current rod building state of the art level at this time.

[massbassman]

Saltheart, thanks for the info and suggestions, although your expertise in this area far exceeds mine and I was a little lost at the end, hence your suggestion to leave it to the experts... agreed.

I am only in the "kicking the tires stage" of this build and have a lot of homework to do before I settle on a blank and final layout. I'm planning to get down to see Chef and the Century crew in Nov. in Charlestown as I am interested in a couple of their blanks too, particularly the new rods they have coming out. Also the winter shows to see whats out there for deals.
You suggested the adjusted NGC/Fuji Concept layout for whatever rod I choose. Does this change from manufacturer/manufacturer or does it more pertain to the individual rods action? If that makes sense. Also, the KWAG frames I saw were only stainless steel, do they come black also? Thanks for the input.