Megabass rods

A specialized forum to discuss anything and everything about your favorite or not so favorite fishing rods.
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bronzebacks
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Megabass rods

Post by bronzebacks » Thu Aug 15, 2019 6:26 pm

They make a beautiful balanced rod but i see so many post and comments about breakage issues recently in the past year or so. Ive had 2 in the last year break on hooksets of fish that should have never broken a rod. One was a a mart flipping special and the warranty replacement braillist. I've owned 5 mb rods in my life and almost half have broke when they shouldn't have. I don't hear these breaking issues with the other top dog manufacturers and i own a mixed bag of kistler, loomis, shimano and im down to 2 mb rods i love. What is going on with the newer mb rods? If you dig you see issues with all 3 us lines of rods.

The only other rod ive busted in the past five years was a expride 6'10" light that broke because the jig head flew off a pice of willow grass and hit the blank. I really like the mb rods but believe I'm over buying anymore and i hate that you can't buy a used one with any warranty coverage. I know a lot here on tackle tour are mb lovers so i might get roasted over this post. What are y'alls thoughts?

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by LNunley » Fri Aug 16, 2019 4:53 am

I have experienced the same results. My partner always called them Megabreaks. I loved the Destroyers but lost all confidence in them. I switched back to Loomis and haven’t had anymore issues. I have added four of the Orochi XX Rods and no trouble with those yet but they don’t get used a whole lot.

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by poisonokie » Fri Aug 16, 2019 9:21 am

This is why, even though I want to see what all the fuss is about, I haven't pulled the trigger. That, and for what one Destroyer goes for I can buy two excellent rods in which I have complete confidence. Maybe one of these days...
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Re: Megabass rods

Post by goldrod » Fri Aug 16, 2019 9:52 am

I my time with the MB Rods I’ve only broken one
However I have only broken one of this or that brand
I wonder why some people seem to break rods F R E Q U E N T L Y. I’m sure every rod brand has cons, but I’ve not had the experience of breaking multiple MB rods. I believe that the X7 line up has a high asking price because they are so well built and hard to find. Most people won’t part with them
I have several rods in the destroyer line up and to date broke the tip of only one.
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poisonokie
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Re: Megabass rods

Post by poisonokie » Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:23 am

You're right, it could partly be because some people are hard on their stuff. While I can't imagine what they must be doing to break rods, I get that they're fragile. Plus, just from a statistical standpoint, things are gonna happen, and eventually someone is going to get a bad rod and then also get a bad replacement. That particular scenario should be exceedingly rare to the point where it's highly unlikely that you'll ever hear about it, especially with rods costing over $400. Unfortunately, from what I hear that just doesn't seem to be the case with Megabass. Maybe you hear about these issues precisely because they are expensive and it's the frustration of the people with broken rods that amplifies their grievances. On the other hand, maybe it just happens more often than anyone would care to admit and there are some serious QC problems with certain models. I don't know which is true, but I'm not willing to be one of those guys left holding a broken rod who everyone, namely Megabass, accuses of being rough on his gear.
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Re: Megabass rods

Post by Hogsticker2 » Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:36 am

bronzebacks wrote:
Thu Aug 15, 2019 6:26 pm
They make a beautiful balanced rod but i see so many post and comments about breakage issues recently in the past year or so. Ive had 2 in the last year break on hooksets of fish that should have never broken a rod. One was a a mart flipping special and the warranty replacement braillist. I've owned 5 mb rods in my life and almost half have broke when they shouldn't have. I don't hear these breaking issues with the other top dog manufacturers and i own a mixed bag of kistler, loomis, shimano and im down to 2 mb rods i love. What is going on with the newer mb rods? If you dig you see issues with all 3 us lines of rods.

The only other rod ive busted in the past five years was a expride 6'10" light that broke because the jig head flew off a pice of willow grass and hit the blank. I really like the mb rods but believe I'm over buying anymore and i hate that you can't buy a used one with any warranty coverage. I know a lot here on tackle tour are mb lovers so i might get roasted over this post. What are y'alls thoughts?
Balanced rod :-k??

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by domthewon » Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:16 am

I'm still a MB fan but not diehard like I once was. I still have around 2 dozen of them which is almost 2/3 of what I originally had. Out of all of the rods over the years I've only broken 3. I broke 2) Phase 3 Nautilus' and 1) X7 Destruction. Both the Nautilus broke on fish. One on a hookset on an ok fish that came off after I couldn't reel cause the 3 pieces came all tangled with the line. The other while fighting a close to 6 lb smallie that I was able to boat. The Destruction was my fault high sticking the rod while my tungsten was stuck between rocks and I tried to get it out. Every other rod has been pretty solid for me and about half were bought used. I stopped buying them after trying a few gen 2 orochi rods, a travel levante gen 2, and US Destroyers and found them to be not for me. The super short trigger kills me if I fish more than one on the same outing. It is so short the point rubs in the very middle of my finger and on a good day i've been bleeding on my cork grips. I've kept a US Javelin, Addermine, and an Evolution Diablo type L of the 8 newer models I initially purchased. No issues with the blanks or guides, and they have a really good warranty and take very good care of their customers really with no questions asked. The Made in China sticker on a Japanese rod companies top of the line rods does bother me even though they perform pretty well for the price. I do feel like the quality has gone down on the reel seats all around. On my $650 Evo you can see the seam where it was put together right down the center. It just looks cheap. I still fish mainly the X7's, X4's,Diablo type L and older Evoluzions, a random gen 1 XX and an Arm's rod here or there. I prefer my Japanese rods to be built in Japan so I buy from otherJDM companies and usually with zero warranty on their top tier rods. Warranty has never been a factor in my rod purchases I just want to see how the best rods in the world perform. If they ever go back to a longer trigger, and bring higher end models here I may buy another. I might try a valkyrie 71 just cause. Overall if I was in the market for one I would be completely comfortable purchasing a brand new Megabass rod from an authorized dealer without question knowing they will replace it if something happens. I think the issue for most is where can I pick one up before I buy it?

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by Winstondry » Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:39 am

I've only broken one Megabass out of about the twenty or so I've had and still currently have. It was an older generation Destroyer F1-60X, I still have it. It's now used to spool reels so all was not lost. ;)

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by bronzebacks » Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:01 pm

Hogsticker2 wrote:
Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:36 am
bronzebacks wrote:
Thu Aug 15, 2019 6:26 pm
They make a beautiful balanced rod but i see so many post and comments about breakage issues recently in the past year or so. Ive had 2 in the last year break on hooksets of fish that should have never broken a rod. One was a a mart flipping special and the warranty replacement braillist. I've owned 5 mb rods in my life and almost half have broke when they shouldn't have. I don't hear these breaking issues with the other top dog manufacturers and i own a mixed bag of kistler, loomis, shimano and im down to 2 mb rods i love. What is going on with the newer mb rods? If you dig you see issues with all 3 us lines of rods.

The only other rod ive busted in the past five years was a expride 6'10" light that broke because the jig head flew off a pice of willow grass and hit the blank. I really like the mb rods but believe I'm over buying anymore and i hate that you can't buy a used one with any warranty coverage. I know a lot here on tackle tour are mb lovers so i might get roasted over this post. What are y'alls thoughts?
Balanced rod :-k??
The gen 1 xx emft and dsr are. The emft is the most balanced 7'5" factory rod ive seen. I did have the brallist and it was tip heavy and a over hyped. The sensitivity was bad to me also
Last edited by bronzebacks on Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by bronzebacks » Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:10 pm

domthewon wrote:
Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:16 am
I'm still a MB fan but not diehard like I once was. I still have around 2 dozen of them which is almost 2/3 of what I originally had. Out of all of the rods over the years I've only broken 3. I broke 2) Phase 3 Nautilus' and 1) X7 Destruction. Both the Nautilus broke on fish. One on a hookset on an ok fish that came off after I couldn't reel cause the 3 pieces came all tangled with the line. The other while fighting a close to 6 lb smallie that I was able to boat. The Destruction was my fault high sticking the rod while my tungsten was stuck between rocks and I tried to get it out. Every other rod has been pretty solid for me and about half were bought used. I stopped buying them after trying a few gen 2 orochi rods, a travel levante gen 2, and US Destroyers and found them to be not for me. The super short trigger kills me if I fish more than one on the same outing. It is so short the point rubs in the very middle of my finger and on a good day i've been bleeding on my cork grips. I've kept a US Javelin, Addermine, and an Evolution Diablo type L of the 8 newer models I initially purchased. No issues with the blanks or guides, and they have a really good warranty and take very good care of their customers really with no questions asked. The Made in China sticker on a Japanese rod companies top of the line rods does bother me even though they perform pretty well for the price. I do feel like the quality has gone down on the reel seats all around. On my $650 Evo you can see the seam where it was put together right down the center. It just looks cheap. I still fish mainly the X7's, X4's,Diablo type L and older Evoluzions, a random gen 1 XX and an Arm's rod here or there. I prefer my Japanese rods to be built in Japan so I buy from otherJDM companies and usually with zero warranty on their top tier rods. Warranty has never been a factor in my rod purchases I just want to see how the best rods in the world perform. If they ever go back to a longer trigger, and bring higher end models here I may buy another. I might try a valkyrie 71 just cause. Overall if I was in the market for one I would be completely comfortable purchasing a brand new Megabass rod from an authorized dealer without question knowing they will replace it if something happens. I think the issue for most is where can I pick one up before I buy it?
i hated the short trigger on the gen 2 xx too. I prefer the gen 1 build so much more from the handle, reel seats and guides. I read so much hype for the gen 2's and i was very disappointed. I guess i was expecting for it to be so much better than the gen 1 and it wasn't to me. Plus the sensitivity was not near as good in my hands as my gen 1 emtf so i guess i could say the blank was a bust also

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by jdbassman32 » Wed Aug 21, 2019 8:24 am

Rob, I'm with you. Very unimpressed with the US line overall. Have had a few breakage issues, but overall not too bad. The Gen 2 Orchi is a dud IMO. Gen 1 are just a better rod at least for me.

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by SSS » Wed Aug 21, 2019 10:31 am

Just grab some older models. Not only are they built like tanks, but they look nice too.

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by Hogsticker2 » Wed Aug 21, 2019 1:31 pm

Winstondry wrote:
Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:39 am
I've only broken one Megabass out of about the twenty or so I've had and still currently have. It was an older generation Destroyer F1-60X, I still have it. It's now used to spool reels so all was not lost. ;)
Nice. Spooling in style 8-)

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by Winstondry » Wed Aug 21, 2019 1:55 pm

Hogsticker2 wrote:
Wed Aug 21, 2019 1:31 pm
Winstondry wrote:
Fri Aug 16, 2019 11:39 am
I've only broken one Megabass out of about the twenty or so I've had and still currently have. It was an older generation Destroyer F1-60X, I still have it. It's now used to spool reels so all was not lost. ;)
Nice. Spooling in style 8-)
Ha! Isn't that just the way we all roll? :big grin:

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Re: Megabass rods

Post by Tokugawa » Sun Sep 08, 2019 12:15 pm

I have quite few MB rods and only had one break. It was a new Levante EMTF that broke the first time out. The warranty replacement is fine. I guess this is the version that they had a quality escape on and announced to get it fixed.

If a rod does not break very early in its life cycle, then it is user damage or abuse that caused the failure. Sure - some rod designs are more damage tolerant than others. YMMV.

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