Alx Rods

[JLewis134]

Previously heard how Alx builds there own blanks in Aiken. I heard from a reliable source that they are in fact not at all made by ALX but instead he said hes almost certain they are produced by Ark rods. Not sure if that's true but he believes ALX blanks are manufactured by Ark then finished in Aiken. Anyone able to confirm/deny? 

[LionHeart]

Ikos blanks are farmed out, Zolo and above blanks are made in house.  This is what the owner told me, and I believe him.

 

Have ordered two custom rods from ALX.  Top notch company to do business with, and Alex is in a league of his own.

[JLewis134]

On 7/27/2019 at 10:30 PM, LionHeart said:

Ikos blanks are farmed out, Zolo and above blanks are made in house.  This is what the owner told me, and I believe him.

 

Have ordered two custom rods from ALX.  Top notch company to do business with, and Alex is in a league of his own.

I'd be curious to see a factory tour. I'm skeptical after hearing that he is using another companies blank built to his spec (not saying it's not true just curious). Found online many other people saying something similar. 

 

Very few companies manufacturer blanks especially in the US. Glad to hear you like them though. Thanks for the response LionHeart.

[rangerjockey]

I think your reliable source is confusing Ark rods in Florida which are made in China and Ark Rod of Harrison Arkansas, a blank manufacturer .Arc rod in Harrison used to make the blanks for falcon and I believe they also assembled them when they were made in the U.S.

I would say call Alex at a Alx and ask him.

[JLewis134]

The man I received the information from is within the industry which is why I am so intrigued. NO,  Ark rod in Arkansas is whom he is referring to that manufacturers ALX blanks.

[JLewis134]

On 7/27/2019 at 10:30 PM, LionHeart said:

Ikos blanks are farmed out, Zolo and above blanks are made in house.  This is what the owner told me, and I believe him.

 

Have ordered two custom rods from ALX.  Top notch company to do business with, and Alex is in a league of his own.

Asked the owner and he stated they don't build any of there blanks. They have 5 different factories build there blanks.

[WRB]

I was referred to Alex by Lamiglas when Shimano bought them and stopped biulding custom rods. 

Before ALX offered off the shelf rods Alex had a line of rods he made for local tackle shops, mostly redfish anglers, not sure what blanks he was using.

Like Dobyns who started with Lamiglas rod blanks ALX was using blanks either made to his specs or off the shelf blanks that met his customers requirements and don't recall ALX making thier own blanks.  Alex was a custom rod builder and distributor of Kagin guides who has become a rod company from good workmanship and excellent customer service.

Tom

[LionHeart]

10 hours ago, JLewis134 said:

Asked the owner and he stated they don't build any of there blanks. They have 5 different factories build there blanks.

Hmm.  That is very interesting.   I have no idea what it takes to manufacture a blank but I was very much under the belief that Zolo and up models were 'in house.'  

 

It is possible that I am mistaken.   I do that sometimes

[cidgrad96]

Hopefully the forum will accommodate this post even though I am not a sponsor. I know a little about this topic since I own ALX Rods.

 

What you have been told is partly correct, and it sounds like someone is also pulling at straws to stir things up.

 

Yes, there is a major difference between rolling blanks and not. There is also a difference in outsourcing the manufacturing of proprietary blanks and using off the shelf blanks such as from a Batson, MHX, PacBay, etc.

 

We do source our rod blanks from 5 different factories. This includes both US and overseas facilities. ArkRod in Harrison, AR has never been a supplier of ours. ArkRod is now closed and has produced rods for other brands in the past, notably Falcon. Anyone using ArkRod is looking for a new blank company. 

 

Our rod blanks are proprietary and built to our specs based on the type of fiber and actions we want. Certain companies specialize in certain things. We benefit immensely in being able to source blanks from companies that we feel make exactly what we want for a given rod model. Each one of our rods are assembled in house here in our 3,000 sq ft Aiken, SC factory.

 

So why do we not roll our own blanks? Several reasons. One - capitol. You are looking at over a half $M investment in equipment alone. As many of you know, ALX is a family owned operation that has been bootstrapped over the past 10 years. We have never had investors nor taken out a single loan. This means we have zero debt and we can run the business the way we want. A second reason is the benefit I mentioned... we benefit immensely in being able to source products from factories that specialize or excel in what we want. Great example - our new ENOX blanks required a unique cello layup to achieve the finished product we wanted. That would have required a big investment in equipment if we did everything in house. That same line may not be so good at glass blanks. Well, we want to offer both.

 

We do use off the shelf blanks and middlemen companies for our private label customers. These are other rod companies where we manufacture the finished rod for them. This may be where some confusion comes in. We use “off the shelf” blanks for these customers as their volume is typically unpredictable and rarely do these customers know how to design rod blanks or can they meet the minimum quantities required to produce proprietary blanks.

 

At the end of the day it's important we put out a good product and serve our customers the right way. We feel like the way we are running today accomplishes that better than anyone else out there. 

 

We do tours by appointment.

 

Thanks!