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In reply to Post #44
Just had a quote from a good rod builder that I know . I've seen a lot of his work and it is excellent. The price comes in about £140 more than the factory builds over the three rods . I thought that was pretty good .
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In reply to Post #37
Understatement of the year, frustrating when you call about 40 times to no answer, about the same amount of emails too.
Never again, workmanship was great no doubt but everything else - forget it.
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In reply to Post #42
Thanks for the reply . The model I've been looking at would need to be made by free spirits custom service - currently 16 weeks which to be honest wouldn't bother me as I fish a lot less through the winter .
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In reply to Post #41
Did JR's not tell you they hold some stock of both cork an full duplon handled Hi-S rods? The Tackle Box also offer them from stock. All obviously contingent on them having them of course. But if it's just the cork handle you want and the rest of the rod is standard build, you could have some very quickly. I no fan of cork on carp rods, but did have three custom Free Spirit 11ft S Pike rods built by Vic Gibson via Johnson Ross - I didn't like the handle length, dodgy inscription (looked like someone was pissed when they wrote it) and the really crap ring spacing on the standard rod. Paid a little extra for them and they took 8 weeks. But very happy with the build quality.
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In reply to Post #40
Thanks for the replies . To add a further twist I have been in contact with Johnson Ross who were quite up front in saying that they have had issues regarding standard builds in the past and make sure that all rods match when bought as a set . Also adding that free spirit only make abbreviated handles as stock rods . As I'm looking at cork handles these would be made through free spirits custom made service . Therefore these would be made as a set eliminating this mix and match problem .
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In reply to Post #9
Sorry , I have fished one or two venues where its become a fashion parade, and I like my solitude 
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In reply to Post #35
Second that, my friend had a v frustrating time with them, to put it mildly.
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In reply to Post #37
Possibly on wait times. I can only talk from my own experience with Tom. Yes they can be difficult to get hold of at times, but I was in no rush for the marker rod and I let them know that. Probably the most helpful bloke I have ever dealt with tbh.
To the OP, if you want some advice on building your own, drop me a PM. I'm in no way a professional and have only done my own rods which took me ages! Obviously professional builders would do it much quicker, but it did make me think how they can make a living doing it. I made myself rod supports and turners using disco ball motors (again with advice from Tom). You are more than welcome to borrow them, as is anyone else for that matter.
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In reply to Post #36
Yes there's been no negatives reg the workmanship, but they are well known for taking the absolute piss with waits, many of over a year with no communication at all. If you do a search on here you will see for yourself
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In reply to Post #35
I have had a rod made by them. Tom built my marker rod and its tip top 
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In reply to Post #34
I doubt you'd be recommending Cotswold rods if you'd actually had rods made by them. Unreliable to say the least
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In reply to Post #32
I'd definitely recommend custom build if you can wait. Things like length of handle are especially important. I've got reasonably long arms and any standard factory built rod just seems very odd to me. I actually built all my rods myself with a lot of initial guidance from Tom at Cotswold Rods. Tom is a really top bloke by the way, so if you decide on custom built I'd definitely speak with him.
I know a lot of people would be phased by it, but if you are pretty practical with decent hand skills you could give it a go yourself. Everything is available online. I started with a simple build on a spod rod (harrison spod blank) rather than actual fishing rod to get a bit of confidence and it turned out really well. I've since built my 3 3.25lb Harrison Torrix's and another 4 on wychwood maximiser spd blanks plus 2 stalkers on the spd blanks too. It obviously takes time but you'll get great satisfaction landing fish with them. I've had UK cats up to 93lb on my Torrix's.
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In reply to Post #32
Some truly great blanks have in my opinion been spoilt by the standard factory builds. I'm a big fan of the infinity blank in high tc for distance but don't like the df build on what is a fairly expensive off the shelf rod. Like said personal preference but most off the shelf factory stuff is built to strict margins to keep them profitable even if this does compromise on performance.
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In reply to Post #29
Definitely. That's the big drawback of custom rods is the wait time. I'm getting a rod made up by Vic myself. Payed in October and will get made hopefully some time in December. Covid has had a really massive impact on wait times with all the anglers out there wanting custom rods.
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Like you're saying Mark, you can get all the bits you want on a custom job with everything to your liking. I'd more than likely say that I'd prefer custom over off the shelf for the reasons in my last sentence. I do like a very plain looking black rod, a lot of the rods I see are far to fancy looking, that's not to say that might just what someone else might like, we're all very different and like different things 🙂
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In reply to Post #30
Eh, look, before you go any further, just don't. If you want to have a pop at me, fine, start a thread about it somewhere else. Don't crap all over a perfectly decent thread and ruin it. Same goes for anyone else thinking of chiming in, doing similar and getting on the same bandwagon. Thanks 👍
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Tackle