Are Microwave guides worth an upcharge?

[Chance_Taker4]

A few of the rods I am looking at offer Standard Fuji guides or Microwave guides. However the exact same rod with microwave guides have a $40 upcharge. Are these guides really worth such a high upcharge?

[riverbasser]

If they heat up your food then yes!

[Turtle135]

I know some anglers who swear by them for spinning rods. I can't see how they would improve the performance on a baitcasting rod however.

[fishnkamp]

I agree with Turtle135. I have a friend that builds custom rods and he swear by them on spinning rods. Kris, one of our members and a friend of mine,  fishes one of Tom's custom rods with those guides and loves them. I definitely would pay the upcharge.  Try watching this video.

 

 

[Chance_Taker4]

4 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

I agree with Turtle135. I have a friend that builds custom rods and he swear by them on spinning rods. Kris, one of our members and a friend of mine,  fishes one of Tom's custom rods with those guides and loves them. I definitely would pay the upcharge.  Try watching this video.

 

 

So I see paying the upcharge on the spinning rod I'm looking at but not really worth it on a casting rod. Am I right?

[fishnkamp]

I would say it this way. I know guys that are fishing them on spinning gear and love them.  My next rod will be built using them. The Microwave guides are built a little differently for baitcasters. I am not sure they are as beneficial as they are on spinning rods since the line comes off straighter on a baitcasting reel. Unfortunately i have never had an opportunity to cast a baitcasting rod with them on it.  If you would like to you could give Tom an email or call and get his opinion since he uses these guides I am sure he has built someone a rod with them.  Here is Tom's website.

http://www.tomscustomrods.com/

i am sure he would be happy to give you his opinion.  Of course I would also think about getting one of his rods. They are awesome to look at and to fish.  He will build you anything you want.

[riverbasser]

Guess the jokes on me I thought you made a typo about micro guides. 

 

Never heard of microwave guides.

[fishnkamp]

Doug Hannon "the Bass Professor" designed them.  

[MickD]

In my opinion , and that's all you're going to get from anyone, they are not worth a $40 upcharge.  They are in fact about average for cost for most guide sets, and certainly nothing approaching a $40 premium.  They are easier to wrap since their spacing is dictated by AmTac-no design time needed for the first three guides.  While they work well, so do other guide set designs.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Their biggest advantage is consistent performance when reels are changed. I use them as a selling point but not as an up charge 

[S Hovanec]

While they're good guides and do work as advertised, they're actually cheaper than the Fuji Alconites I usually use.  No reason for the upcharge unless they're the titanium framed ones.

[Chance_Taker4]

9 hours ago, S Hovanec said:

While they're good guides and do work as advertised, they're actually cheaper than the Fuji Alconites I usually use.  No reason for the upcharge unless they're the titanium framed ones.

These are the titanium framed I wasn't aware that they made non titanium guides.

[moguy1973]

I have one on my new Lew's spinning rod I bought.  It definitely straightens out the line past that guide compared to my rods that don't have it.

[fishwizzard]

I have a pair of spinning rods with Microwave guides on them.  The builder recommended them as I was still bouncing around reel ideas and for increased casting distance.  One of my rods is a 6' ML and when I first got it I had a 7' ML with standard guides.  The 7' would still cast further, but the 6' w/Microwaves was surprisingly close and for middle distance casting the Microwaves seem to let me use less force to get a lure out the same distance, but with the greater accuracy a short rod will give.  

[Tim Kelly]

I built one rod with them and I think they work really well for casting. I have a slight question mark about them though as I sometimes get a sort of creaking of the line (mono) when the rod's under load with a fish on, almost like there's friction in the guide train for the line. It might be that following the spacing instructions was a mistake and a static load test would have put more guides on and stopped the creaking, or it might be something to do with the design of the runner guides. In an ideal world I would like to use their reduction and step down guide and some fuji #5 or 4.5 runners, but you can't just buy parts of the system, other than extra runner guides. 

[S Hovanec]

6 hours ago, Chance_Taker4 said:

These are the titanium framed I wasn't aware that they made non titanium guides.

 

retail pricing on Microwave spinning sets.

 

Black or Chrome:

 Duralite rings: $33.45

 Nanolite rings: $43.19

 

Gunsmoke:

 Duralite rings: $37.34

 Nanolite rings: $47.93

 

Titanium:

 Duralite rings: $48.20

 Nanolite rings: $57.93

 

Airwave:

 Chrome: $10.78

 Black: $15.75

 

Not sure what Fuji guide they're pricing, so an upgrade to Titanium Microwaves may warrant a $40 upcharge.

[Tim Kelly]

I think their titanium guides are titanium coated (steel?) rather than pure titanium, so I'm not sure what the advantage of them might be?

[S Hovanec]

4 minutes ago, Tim Kelly said:

I think their titanium guides are titanium coated (steel?) rather than pure titanium, so I'm not sure what the advantage of them might be?

 

I believe you are correct.  I have a set of limited run gold ringed microwaves and I believe they are titanium alloy frame, but not the entire set.

[Chance_Taker4]

1 hour ago, S Hovanec said:

 

retail pricing on Microwave spinning sets.

 

Black or Chrome:

 Duralite rings: $33.45

 Nanolite rings: $43.19

 

Gunsmoke:

 Duralite rings: $37.34

 Nanolite rings: $47.93

 

Titanium:

 Duralite rings: $48.20

 Nanolite rings: $57.93

 

Airwave:

 Chrome: $10.78

 Black: $15.75

 

Not sure what Fuji guide they're pricing, so an upgrade to Titanium Microwaves may warrant a $40 upcharge.

the Fugi guides are the Black alconite K guides.