TackleTour

I have read a few posts on here about the craftsmanship of G Loomis going downhill. I never have seen one in person where I thought it was below average until today. I ordered a NRX online and every guide wrap has something wrong. Pretty disappointing for a rod with a MSRP of $575.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nA2GgzY8gbGsxBM97

The guides halfway down the blank are also misaligned.

Ouch. Totally unacceptable on a mid tier rod let alone top of the line. It's common unfortunately. I stopped buying Loomis a couple years back after 3 unsuccessful attempts at getting a rod without obvious flaws.

We will see what happens. I talked to the customer service supervisor and I emailed him the pictures.

Practically speaking, can't see much wrong with the wraps.

The misaligned guides/s is a bit annoying and I'd probably look for a better built rod in the shop if there was one.
It doesn't appear massively out of alignment and wouldn't stop me from buying though.

They do need to be reminded to lift up their game otherwise quality can keep slipping.

To me it looks like an acid wrap on bad acid. I have never even considered sending back a wrong order incorrectly cooked food at a restaurant; just not that type of person. But, this is poor. Would definitely stop me from buying. They should be ashamed sending something like that out the door. I’ve had the pleasure of fishing some cheap gear for 20+ years before being able to dabble in high end and I don’t recall seeing something with this type of consistency for not giving a $&”@ on a single rod. I would have to imagine you’ll get a replacement or refund.

I have owned several of the 13 Hellbent rods in the past ($59 msrp) and still have a couple for pond-hopping. None of them had even a hint of a misaligned guide. That sort of thing you posted would almost be understandable on a cheap rod.....but on a rod approaching $600, I would be just plain angry. Yet another reason I have never and will never own a G Loomis factory-built rod.

I don't know if this qualifies as G Loomis or Shimano, but I recently bought a conquest online that has glue coming out of the handle and the cork isn't totally flush with the real seat. I emailed Shimano with photos and they told me to send it in and sent me a prepaid label. I asked if they will be replacing it but they didn't reply so I guess we shall see.

jerkbait22 wrote:I don't know if this qualifies as G Loomis or Shimano, but I recently bought a conquest online that has glue coming out of the handle and the cork isn't totally flush with the real seat. I emailed Shimano with photos and they told me to send it in and sent me a prepaid label. I asked if they will be replacing it but they didn't reply so I guess we shall see.

This type of thing is totally unacceptable, in my opinion. I have built about 50 rods and it takes about 10 seconds to take a rag to clean this up. If St Croix can have factory builds that are clean, there's no reason G Loomis can't. I have a 893 NRX that has a clean build and expected the 894 to be as well. If Loomis sold blanks, I would have built the rod myself (and gotten rid of the recoils for torzites).

I just got a 893 and posted pictures on their Facebook page mine is much worse than yours. Every guide wrap is crap and the epoxy work coming from someone who builds rods looks like they sent it out after only one application of finish

A few uneven threads on my DSR822

falcon wrote:I just got a 893 and posted pictures on their Facebook page mine is much worse than yours. Every guide wrap is crap and the epoxy work coming from someone who builds rods looks like they sent it out after only one application of finish

Sorry to hear that. I bought my 893 last year and the guides are straight and the wraps are clean. I looked at my 2016 model GLXs (820, 843, and 844). All are clean builds. Maybe the same person built both of our rods.

smallies wrote:A few uneven threads on my DSR822

It's lack of detail and quality control. It takes 30 seconds with a burnishing tool to pack the threads and smooth them over.

HobeyBaker wrote:

smallies wrote:A few uneven threads on my DSR822

It's lack of detail and quality control. It takes 30 seconds with a burnishing tool to pack the threads and smooth them over.

Exactly. This is the only rod I noticed this on as well, having rods from $100-$500+

Also feel like the cork breaks easier on these rods than others, though that isnt really a quality control issue. My 822 has a rather large chunk of cork missing from the beginning days, and it is the actual cork that is damaged, not filler