Do slightly out of line rod guides affect performance?

[Largemouth21]

My calamus rod arrived today, but looking down the rod, the guides look out of line. It’s not because the two pieces aren’t line up, because if I take the top half off and look down it, it still looks crooked. I’m not sure if this is a problem and I really don’t want to pay return shipping. Is this a problem that would affect performance or shouldn’t I worry

as you can see in the picture, they are slightly out of alignment 

[papajoe222]

Short answer is yes, especially when the reduction guides, or the tip are not in line. I've seen rods where it appeared the guides weren't lined up, but that was because of a bend in the blank. What you have there is a rod that needs to be returned for replacement.

[Largemouth21]

15 minutes ago, papajoe222 said:

Short answer is yes, especially when the reduction guides, or the tip are not in line. I've seen rods where it appeared the guides weren't lined up, but that was because of a bend in the blank. What you have there is a rod that needs to be returned for replacement.

So it looks to you as if the guides are for sure screwed up? I was hoping to take it on an upcoming trip but I geuss not and I’m not looking forward to the 20 S+H fee. That’s unfortunate but thanks for the help

[burrows]

That sucks man.

[Beetlebz]

Is the guide mounted off-set or was it mounted correctly and got bent in shipping? Especially light hardware on light tackle, I've had guides on UL and L rods years ago show up a little wonky from the bustle of shipping. Worth looking at anyway. 

[MickD]

I'm not sure you would ever detect a performance problem, but for me I'd see that misalignment every time I used the rod and it would grind on me.  Get it replaced and that won't happen to you.

[Further North]

11 hours ago, Largemouth21 said:

I’m not looking forward to the 20 S+H fee.

Would love to know what retailer would charge a $20 shipping/handling fee for defective merchandise so I know not to buy anything from them.

[Largemouth21]

12 minutes ago, Further North said:

Would love to know what retailer would charge a $20 shipping/handling fee for defective merchandise so I know not to buy anything from them.

Kastking...

if they don’t make this right I’m not buying from them again

everyone says their customer service is so great but not if they charge that ridiculous amount...

5 hours ago, Beetlebz said:

Is the guide mounted off-set or was it mounted correctly and got bent in shipping? Especially light hardware on light tackle, I've had guides on UL and L rods years ago show up a little wonky from the bustle of shipping. Worth looking at anyway. 

They don’t appear to be bent, they are just mounted on different places of the rod if that makes sense 

[d-camarena]

Wow thats bad, kind of glad i havent bought any kastking products

[.ghoti.]

I have a rod like that. Had it for years, and have caught a lot of fish on it. I never noticed any performance problems; either casting, retrieving or fighting fish. In fact, the only problem with the rod was it bugged the snot out of me. It now resides in my rod rack, and will remain there until I have time to strip it and re-wrap it smaller lighter guides. Which will be lined up!

[Tywithay]

It won't hurt anything. Especially being full sized guides on a spinning rod. If it were micros on a casting rod, maybe it'd slow the line down some. I'd be more upset that I paid for a new rod and received that quality of craftsmanship, but it will still work just fine.

[MickD]

Keep in mind that the first guide on a casting rod is the line guide on the reel, essentially a micro at the reel.  Comparing slight mis-alignments to this would lead one to believe that they won't affect performance much if at all.

[Largemouth21]

3 hours ago, d-camarena said:

Wow thats bad, kind of glad i havent bought any kastking products

Maybe I just got a bad one I don’t know. I am calling them tomorrow to see. I do know I will not pay that much for shipping on a rod that’s not worth that much

[LegendaryBassin]

1 hour ago, Largemouth21 said:

Kastking...

if they don’t make this right I’m not buying from them again

everyone says their customer service is so great but not if they charge that ridiculous amount...

They don’t appear to be bent, they are just mounted on different places of the rod if that makes sense 

This is a normal practice by most retailers. They shouldn't have to pay return shipping as it wasn't their fault it was the manufacturer. However, as a manufacturer Kastking should not charge the money for shipping. Sorry to hear. I'm sure KastKing will make it right. 

[MickD]

Unless I'm mistaken, I have not seen where any attempt to allow Kastking to react to this issue has yet been made.  Might be a little premature to start giving them bad reviews.  Every maker has at least a little problem now and then.

 

[Largemouth21]

1 hour ago, MickD said:

Unless I'm mistaken, I have not seen where any attempt to allow Kastking to react to this issue has yet been made.  Might be a little premature to start giving them bad reviews.  Every maker has at least a little problem now and then.

 

Good point, I will report back as to what they say tomorrow on the phone. If I’m going to be charged, I will not pay that because that’s 1/3 of the rod price... I get defects happen but they shouldn’t penalize the buyer (not if they want repeat customers anyway)

[d-camarena]

I agree, i does not affect its performance. But it would bother me a lot everytime i saw it like that

[CrankFate]

All I can say is unless you personally inspect them in a store buyer beware.  I’ve seen all kinds of defects and mistakes in the stores. Sometimes they’re even 1/2” or more shorter or taller!

[Scott F]

I use a spiral wrapped bait casting rod. NONE of the guides are lined up. A rod with slightly misaligned guides isn't going to hurt anything. It's not something I'd spend $20 to get replaced.

[burrows]

49 minutes ago, d-camarena said:

I agree, i does not affect its performance. But it would bother me a lot everytime i saw it like that

^this^ 

call them on the next business day until then try not to worry about it.

[The Bassman]

It could be said that we all have bigger fish to fry but honestly it would bug me too. I bought a JDM Zodias spinning rod for a great price that had one guide slightly askew.  My OCD had me looking at it all the time but after much use the preoccupation with it wore off.

[Further North]

5 hours ago, LegendaryBassin said:

This is a normal practice by most retailers. They shouldn't have to pay return shipping as it wasn't their fault it was the manufacturer. However, as a manufacturer Kastking should not charge the money for shipping. Sorry to hear. I'm sure KastKing will make it right. 

Don't take this as a criticism of your post, but that's nuts.  The retailer sold it, they need to step up and make it right for their customer...

5 hours ago, MickD said:

Unless I'm mistaken, I have not seen where any attempt to allow Kastking to react to this issue has yet been made.  Might be a little premature to start giving them bad reviews.  Every maker has at least a little problem now and then.

 

I agree, I've said the same often...but asking the customer to foot the bill for shipping back defective product is nuts, particularly when the product is new...

 

Take it out and use it a few times...fine.  Damage it and send it in for repairs/replacement...fine.  But new in the box and not right and they want $$$ to fix the problem?  THat's not taking care of customers...

4 hours ago, Largemouth21 said:

Good point, I will report back as to what they say tomorrow on the phone. If I’m going to be charged, I will not pay that because that’s 1/3 of the rod price... I get defects happen but they shouldn’t penalize the buyer (not if they want repeat customers anyway)

That's how I'd look at it...

[Drew03cmc]

Really? You're worried about guides that are barely 10 degrees off? Fish the rod. It'll fish like it should. The size of guides there are such that they will not affect performance. Use it. It's a $60 rod. You didn't pay for an NRX, to expect perfect guide alignment is a bit much. I've used fly rods that are more out of whack than that and those guides are smaller, line bigger and more sensitive to guide placement as a result. So, if a fly rod didn't make a difference, this certainly won't. 

[GReb]

I have a st croix legend bass that I got from their online sales rack that has minor guide alignment issues. Figured that’s why it was $180 and haven’t noticed any issues. Had it been full price it would’ve perturbed me

[Largemouth21]

14 minutes ago, Drew03cmc said:

Really? You're worried about guides that are barely 10 degrees off? Fish the rod. It'll fish like it should. The size of guides there are such that they will not affect performance. Use it. It's a $60 rod. You didn't pay for an NRX, to expect perfect guide alignment is a bit much. I've used fly rods that are more out of whack than that and those guides are smaller, line bigger and more sensitive to guide placement as a result. So, if a fly rod didn't make a difference, this certainly won't. 

If it wouldn’t bother you that’s okay, BUT I have had 15$ zebco 202 combos that had guides better aligned than that... there is no reason especially with the precise equipment of this day and age that I should get a brand new rod that looks like this