New Offering from TFO

[IdratherbePhishing]

I'd take a classic Scott g rod over any period. As for Asian sure the price is good but the quality isn't. Sure as hell wouldn't buy anything "lefty kreh" ever again. Respect him, but can't stand the guy. What I really want is a tfo professional with kool looking cork for 600.

 

[jrmyln]

DJBerg wrote:
Yeah I have to agree, really pricey for what they are, but if they can actually spec a rods flex to exactily what you want, thats pretty cool...

The big thing im seeing is its only for thier availble blanks now. I would love to see some of thier other rod legnths available as well. Heck id like to get my hands on an old 11' professional wih the switch/regular fighting butt changability...

PacBay makes the Quickline series blanks and they have an 11' 8wt. Unfortunately, it is rated for a SH 8wt, not a TH 8wt. It's an awesome deep wading rod. I just ordered a TH 6wt line to try on it since I have an extra switch handle built for it.

I had 2 of these rods built with REC components for less than 1 the custom TFO's.

 

[DJBerg]

I conpletely agree, and it seems that switch rod lineing can go either way as well.. so confusing.

One day sometime here im gonna build me a long 5wt. Just not sure which one yet...

And for the money tfo wants I could have a custom built mieser....

 

[FrequentTyer]

I think TFO makes some pretty nice rods for their normal price point, and having built on TFO blanks I can say that they do have an obvious spline and their factory guide spacing is not optimal, so a custom build on one of their blanks will give you a better rod. But I'm really surprised that they are taking this approach to marketing. It seems that they are basically admitting that their normal build process is flawed!
On the cost, I don't think you could get a custom build on one of their blanks with all the bells and whistles for much less than $400. So they are overpriced, but not as much as you might think. My biggest concern is that you would be paying for the illusion of a custom build rod but really just getting a somewhat better TFO factory product.It looks like the custom work really comes down to cosmetics and a standard "blueprinting" (which is ridiculous) and the more important things you want customized are things like the fit of your hand to the grip or the placement of the stripping guide to match your reach.
I guess somebody will buy them.
Mike.

 

[PennKev]

FrequentTyer wrote:
.It looks like the custom work really comes down to cosmetics and a standard "blueprinting" (which is ridiculous)...

blueprinting = buzzword

I can't think of anything they could possibly do to fine tune the action of a blank once it is rolled and baked other than selectively sand areas of the blank.

How about they just improve the quality of their blanks?

Also, still can't forget the time I saw a brand new TFO sitting on the rack with a *hole* in the blank.

Never seen a TFO with decent cork either. At least that would be corrected in a custom build ( I would hope).

 

[slumdumb]

I can't think of anything they could possibly do to fine tune the action of a blank once it is rolled and baked other than selectively sand areas of the blank.

Exactly
Done by one of the top designers to eliminate dead spots and create a more efficient rod




Someone mentioned mesier
Which is the same as what we are talking about with TFO
(Asian blank with a USA assemble)
Expect the TFO blueprinting and the work is done by someone with 3 times the amount of experience

 

[PennKev]

slumdumb wrote:

Exactly
Done by one of the top designers to eliminate dead spots and create a more efficient rod

The irony of this is that amongst rod builders, sanding through the carbon material of a blank is generally considered a bad idea.

 

[FrequentTyer]

PennKev wrote:

slumdumb wrote:

Exactly
Done by one of the top designers to eliminate dead spots and create a more efficient rod

The irony of this is that amongst rod builders, sanding through the carbon material of a blank is generally considered a bad idea.

You would think that it would create more problems than it could possibly solve. I find the whole thing to be confusing. They should have near perfect control over how the blank turns out, so why would they need to go back and tune it. It is a predictable and homogeneous synthetic material.
I think my confusion is just further evidence that I would never make it in the world of marketing.

 

[PennKev]

FrequentTyer wrote:
[ They should have near perfect control over how the blank turns out, so why would they need to go back and tune it. It is a predictable and homogeneous synthetic material.

This may be true of the raw carbon cloth, but the cloth still needs to be cut, rolled, etc. by a human. Blanks are rarely perfectly (or near perfectly) straight for instance.

I seriously doubt that they are doing anything post-production to noticably alter they performance of their blanks.

Kev

 

[slumdumb]

That's exactly what this blueprinting process is...

Post production altering of the blank to create a more efficient casting rod.

 

[gfen]

This thread is stupid. Its full of stupid. TFO's cash in is wickedly smart in cashing in on stupid.

The only "blue printing" they're talking about is splining the rod.

Beyond that, you're able to shave off how much of a fraction of a nanometer of clear varnish over the cloth? And you expect some elite rod maker is able to tell you how that will make a difference in an unfinished rod that lacks all the crap you glue on it which changes the dynamic of the whole damned affair, anyways.

Why I'm bothering to say this is beyond me, because stupid.

"Blueprinting." Sweet Jebus. I bet you own a tactical fly rod.

 

[jdaddy]

slumdumb wrote:
That's exactly what this blueprinting process is...

Post production altering of the blank to create a more efficient casting rod.

How about pre-production doing it right?

See Sage, Winston, Orvis, Scott, et al ?

 

[allan_s]

Next thing you know Redington is going to come out with their custom line lol Seriously, if your going to pay over 500 dollars for a rod, why would you buy it from a bargain company?

 

[PennKev]

slumdumb wrote:
That's exactly what this blueprinting process is...

Post production altering of the blank to create a more efficient casting rod.

Yeah and it's marketing nonsense. There's not a whole lot you can do after the blank is rolled and baked to alter it. Only two things really, and they both have potential trade-offs/

1) Build the rod according to spine. Which, on all but the best blanks is likely to roduce a rod that is not built on a straight axis. Thus your ultra-expensive TFO could look crooked when you sight down the blank.

2) Sand the blank. Could work, but the question is can you do this enough to alter the action of the blank without also compromising it.

TFO throws out a catch phrase like blueprinting to get everyone thinking about guys in labcoats with micrometers and microscopes. The beauty of this marketing blabber is that the improvements they claim can't be measured or noticed by the consumer. You have to take their word for it.

 

[ratgunner]

I don't like the looks of the grip....yuck.

 

[slumdumb]

Actually the blueprinting process was something that was developted independent of TFO. It was being done for some time. The TFO Custom rods just came about over the summer.


"Doing it right like sage, Winston, orvis, Scott"
All of which have been beaten out by Asian and TFO rods in the Yellowstone shoot outs and other independent rankings. Also those production rods reach 50% more than the 500 custom TFO.


Lots of doubt being thrown around with no factual basis
Funny that the critism is price, only to bandwagon on the expensive brands. Nothing based on performance.

Remember when sage wanted 1300 (500 upcharge) for a ONE with upgraded hardware?

 

[JasonS]

slumdumb wrote:


"Doing it right like sage, Winston, orvis, Scott"
All of which have been beaten out by Asian and TFO rods in the Yellowstone shoot outs and other independent rankings. Also those production rods reach 50% more than the 500 custom TFO.

#REALTALK

BVK>>>Sage, Winston and Scott

 

[gfen]

slumdumb wrote:
Remember when sage wanted 1300 (500 upcharge) for a ONE with upgraded hardware?

Yes, that's just as stupid as this thread.

 

[JasonS]

Translation for the non-hipsters:

Every rod that doesn't look like it was crafted out of the handle of a hobo's bindle=stupid.

 

[moon1284]

penkev- My Phone Messes Up The Spelling And CapitalizEs Every Word, I Don't Know How To Fix It. I Own, And Have Built A Lot Of Rods, Own About A Dozen, Have Built Probably 15 More. I Have No Experience With The Hardy. I,May Not Be The Best Fisherman, But I Know A Lot About Graphite And GlaSs Rods. I Am On A Scott Kick Right now. I Have 8 Graphite Scott PowR Plys And One GlaSs Powr Ply. I Own Or Have Owned Or Have Built onSt Croix, Loomis, Sage, Orvis, Lamiglas, Batson, Dan Craft,Fenwick, All Star, Tiger Eye, Cts (paddock), Steffen, kabuto And More Private Label No Name Blanks. Below Is a Handfull I grabbedand Took A Pic Of. The Ones Out Of The Case Are The Paddock And Kabuto. I Stand By My Statement That Us Made Blanks (An Cts, And Probably Gatti) Are Far Superor To Asian Made Blanks, Case Closed Cw.