This one's for the rod builder folks.....of which I am definitely not....

 

I have a dedicated spinning rig that I'd like to put the microwave guides on. The rod has existing guides, which aren't in bad shape, I just look at some of the research and feedback on these odd looking guides, and a lot of folks say they're pretty effective, so I'd like to try them.

 

My question is, can you take off old guides and put on new ones and still look good? Basically, what's expected on finish when you replace guides, is it a nice neat job?

 

This would be something I had done, I'm not going to try it. A guy here in town builds and sells rods at our local shop and they're gorgeous. I figured I'd have him do it.

It depends on the finish that's on there. If it's a bare graphite the old guide placement may be only slightly noticeable. If it has a painted finish expect a less than pristine look but maybe not horrible depending on how the current guides were applied and how much care is taken in removal. Unless this is a real high end blank the labor involved in rewrapping a rod can easily exceed the cost of a simple ground up build. Only the builder you choose can tell you for sure what to expect and options. The Micro Wave system is extremely effective, easy to employ and forgiving if swapping reels and line often. 

This is on an older Shimano Compre rod. Its not a perfect condition rod, but it does have a slightly shiny finish. I don't know much about guide installation and such, so I would hope it would look okay.

The Stripper will go 19.75" from the reel spool face and the reduction guide will go 11" in front of that. So you can compare that to the current placement. Running guides may/ may not be placed as the current ones are. Static testing is required to check that.

Just do it.  It's an older rod so no big loss if the finish ends up marred.  I had this done to 2 older Team Daiwa Power Mesh crankin' rods.  Turned out pretty good, some slight bubbling in the finish but didn't affect rods performance at all that I can tell.  Because I like the rods, it was worth it to put better guides (Alconites) on them. 

I just got a custom drop shot rod with the Microwave System I can sling it a country mile with 20 pound braid

If you have a good builder remove and replace guides it will cost nearly as much as a new build.  I suggest keeping the old rod for when you want to use a setup that requires knots to go through the guides.  The new rod could be a blank optimized for a different technique than your current rod and you would have two different rods for two different techniques.  It really does help to have technique-specific rods.  Drop shotting and cranks need different actions, for example.

 

Also, it is not a given that the optimum spacing of the guides will be the same for the different types of guides.

 

I think rebuilding compromises too much for little savings.

 

Finally, you just cannot have too many rods.  It is impossible.