How hard is it to put new guides on an existing rod?

[Iowa Matt]

So before I got interested in higher quality tackle, I bought a G Loomis GL2 casting rod and used it for a while.......until I got some better rods and discovered their advantages. This rod is a quality product, just not nearly as responsive as I would like it to be. I honestly think much of the "sloppyness" of this rod (its a 7' medium) is due to the guides.......they are way way way larger and heavier than needed IMHO. I am no expert on rod building, but I have built about 6 rods from scratch and think they all turned out pretty well.

So my question to those that have been at rod building longer than me is this: how hard is it going to be if I try to remove the current, oversived guides, and replace them with new super light ones (like recoil micros)? I think I can leave the stripper guide and maybe the second one as-is and replace the rest. Is this a feasible project? Or am I just going to make the rod look aweful when I can't make the finish look right in the spots where the old guides were? Anyone ever done this? Hoping I can make the rod useful to me.

Thanks

Matt

[BB144]

Removing guides isn't too hard. Some of the more experienced rod builders can give you better instructions than I could on how to go about removing them. Just be very careful not to scratch the blank.

If you're going to be investing the time to redo the guides, I'd do them all. If they're oversized, the first couple are going to be the biggest. Replacing them with Micro guides should definitely help the rod's performance though.

[Mattman]

Well...if you already have built rods, you've got half the battle won.

Personally, of the few rewraps I've done for myself, not only did they need new guides but they needed respacing as well. Also, thread wraps are often way too long on factory rods. And don't underestimate the weight of thread and finish. Matte finish blanks tend to show less scarring from where the old guides were.

The worst part about the whole deal is getting that blank cleaned up enough for putting the new guides on.

[jimmyb]

the only time i will rewrap a rod completely is when it is a sentimental favorite. Otherwise, i usually find it is easier to start from scratch and build the entire rod exactly how i want.