New Rods That Aren't Perfectly Straight

[masterbass]

I recently purchased my most expensive rod to date.  I examined it thoroughly and noticed when looking down the blank that the tip had a very slight hitch to the left.  It probably wouldn't effect how it fished, but it kind of bothers me.  I spent $300 on this rod which for me is a lot of money.  What would you do?  Like I said it is a very slight hitch which you can't see unless you down the blank.

[fishguy613]

ive had that issue with expensive rods as well, take it back to where you purchased it. If they dont help you contact the manufacturer

[Wbeadlescomb]

I don't guess I've ever looked at any of mine that close?

[fadetoblack21]

I always look down the blank when buying a rod, though I usually buy mine from a big box store like Walmart or BPS. After watching a BPS "salesman" test a rod by flexing it on the ground, I got in the habit of checking every bit of the rod I buy.

[masterbass]

I bought it on-line

[Banned-99884]

I always look down the blank when buying a rod, though I usually buy mine from a big box store like Walmart or BPS. After watching a BPS "salesman" test a rod by flexing it on the ground, I got in the habit of checking every bit of the rod I buy.

thats the best way to do it. flexing it with your hand breaks it easier.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Higher quality blanks tend to be straighter, but almost every blank has some sort of bend. If you rotate most any rod blank you'll see one axis will be straightest. That's the one I build on. This is much more important than the spine/spline. Long story short, there's nothing structurally wrong with your rod. 

[Jrob78]

Higher quality blanks tend to be straighter, but almost every blank has some sort of bend. If you rotate most any rod blank you'll see one axis will be straightest. That's the one I build on. This is much more important than the spine/spline. Long story short, there's nothing structurally wrong with your rod. 

Agree, a slight curve is completely normal and you shouldn't worry about it.   I've seen way more crooked blanks than I have perfectly straight ones.   Most builders build with the curve in line with the guides so you don't notice that it isn't straight.

[S Hovanec]

I can count on one hand how many dart straight blanks I have built on.  My findings are opposite of DVT tho, with the worst offender being SCV's.  SCIII's, Rainshadow RX7's SM North Forks and CTS have been my straightest blanks.  Unless it makes 2 or 3 changes in direction, there is nothing wrong with it.

[bigbill]

I think with any rod expensive or not it depends on how long it's been sitting in one position in the rack. It can take a set but as its used the set or angle it has will disappear. Of course that new PB can change the set right away too.

[Hi Salenity]

Higher quality blanks tend to be straighter, but almost every blank has some sort of bend. If you rotate most any rod blank you'll see one axis will be straightest. That's the one I build on. This is much more important than the spine/spline. Long story short, there's nothing structurally wrong with your rod.

Can you explain this a bit? I would have thought building on the spine would be preferred.

[Hogsticker]

Curious what rod you purchased. Was an XX Orochi?

[Jeff H]

I think with any rod expensive or not it depends on how long it's been sitting in one position in the rack. It can take a set but as its used the set or angle it has will disappear. Of course that new PB can change the set right away too.

I have seen fiberglass rods take a set but have yet to see a graphite rod take one.  All of mine lean in a corner all winter long, none have ever taken a set.

[masterbass]

Curious what rod you purchased. Was an XX Orochi?

    Yes, which is why I was surprised because all I heard about was build quality.  When I buy a rod at the store I examine it closely and choose one that looks clean.  I realize that it is cosmetic and I was actually going to just keep it.  But then I thought,  if I had a rack of them in front of me, I wouldn't pick one that had a hitch.  Would you? 

    At any rate the retailer has worked with me and put me in contact with megabass.  Megabass was great because they agreed to replace the rod.  I'm just out the cost of shipping it to them.  I'm completely satisfied with how things went down and will definitely purchase megabass rods from this retailer in the future.  I think I just got a fluke.  They are beautiful rods and plan to get an emtf.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Can you explain this a bit? I would have thought building on the spine would be preferred.

We don't fish a rod on one plane, it gets pressure applied from all angles so there's no benefit in orienting in to bend in any one direction. In addition there have been deadlift experiments conducted by Tom Kirkman that showed no advantage to building on the spine and in fact deadlift capacity was less. No bass rod would be stressed like that under normal circumstances anyway but it was interesting. There are tons of threads regarding this topic on the rod building forums. I still spine blanks but end up building them on the straightest axis, bend up. Adding the tip and running guides pulls it into line..

[WRB]

It doesn't matter if it's functional, the new rod has a flaw that bothers you, contact the rod makers and they should have a 30 to 90 day free return clause. Exchange the rod and make sure it's inspected before shipping.

It's your money and you shouldn't be having this issue and you will not be happy later on.

Tom

[.ghoti.]

a little curve doesn't bother me. a lot of rods have a little curve near the tip. However, when looking down the rod, if i see slight "kink" instead of a curve, the rod is going back.

[boostr]

I recently got into bass fishing and started using Cabelas higher end gear because of budget constraints plus I'm not a profesional angler. The rods I've recieved from them thru the Internet have been straight as an arrow, except the last one I ordered. When I recieved it it had a slight bend towards the tip.  Stuffed it back in the mail tube sent it back, they sent me a another one of the same model and it was perfect.  I'm pretty anal about stuff like that, so its your right especially after spending that kind of cash to return it and get another thats perfect or close enough.