mass production rod surprise

Not surprising for me but maybe for you.

This rod came in due to reel seat failure. Soft plastic reel seat deformed and would no longer secure a reel. Also the adhesive on the threaded barrel for the locking hood became brittle. It would turn if you twisted it. Double failure, yikes!

Cut away the reel seat and saw something familiar...


A closer look. The piece on the right is what's leftover of the reel seat that was hidden under the rear split grip foam...


Let's cut that piece off...


Cleaned up for a better picture. Yup, butted end. This one piece rod is made of two pieces...


It's not uncommon actually. I've seen this done with different brands and with a variety of models. Yes even hyped up, you-gotta-have-it rods that many would consider an industry standard rod or their personal favorite rod in their arsenal.

Why? It's probably because you can have the same preassembled rear end inserted into a ML, M, MH, spinning, casting, bass, trout... basically different model rods with the same rear end. Same size butt cap, tail grip, trim rings... all cost cutting measures to provide you the best value.

Some things you don't see everyday...

 

The foam wasn't the culprit and was actually fine. It wasn't until later I learned the reel seat has a lip for the foam to sit on ( the part I'm holding in pic #3 ). When I was removing the reel seat the foam was damaged in the process.

This reel seat felt like plain nylon. Softer than say Fuji's nylon graphite reinforced reel seats. Over time removing and mounting reels, fighting fish, etc... eventually it lost it's tightness. Also with the threaded part spinning, you might as well just taped the reel on the blank.

Quality parts, quality work... might be worth the squeeze in the long run.