It appears I have a choice of several thread sizes, marked A B C D and corresponding with thousands of and inch .006 and so forth. What size is the "this is your basic do everything size"?

 

I have an Abu Black Max rod that has a running guide broken. I want to replace the guide.

 

Eventually I will add or change the hook keepers on a rod.

I don't think I'll be getting into building rods. I just don't have a passion for that. I just want to repair or modify my gear.

I use A for nearly everything.

I use "D" most of the time.

D is substantial bigger, especially on the tip section where your eye does natural comparisons of ratios. It wraps a bit faster but not any stronger due to the number of wraps per inch difference evening things out. G Loomis and many others use B thread and have done so for many decades, I found B thread to be handy when I was doing decorative wraps. A thread is far easier to come by and is similar to 40 wt. polyester embroidery thread if you are looking for a increase in color variety, many more colors in metallics there, Fuji thread is a poly, much more UV protective and they hold colors much better than nylon. NFC by the way is selling Gudebrod thread in an agreement with the family to produce it, not all the colors are there yet, but there are quite a few popular ones back.

A for basically everything. D is fine for an underwrap on a double wrapped guide but that’s not a bass rod. I’ve used 2/0 on some really fine fly tips also. 

4 hours ago, spoonplugger1 said:

D is substantial bigger, 

I guess you could call .004" substantial.

 

4 hours ago, spoonplugger1 said:

... but not any stronger due to the number of wraps per inch

Not true, "D" would have a lot more holding power (per inch)...but it doesn't matter and size A thread is more than sufficient to hole a guide on.

Past discussion

The main reason I use "D" is because its way easier to wrap a guide with...plus when I originally got into rod building I inherited a ton or thread...all "D".

My do-everything thread is Justace size C.  Majority of my builds use this.

 

A is smaller, D is bigger.... Getting away from technical discussion, I'd recommend B or C simply because they are very user friendly and will work well on any rod in the bass fishing realm.  

 

A and D are the most common though, so if that's all you can find, D would likely be easier than A for a beginner to work with.  

 I appreciate all the advice and suggestions.

I've used A for all my builds until this year. For my decorative butt wraps, I've switched to B and found it much easier to work with. When burnished, the result looks more like paint than thread.

I use 65 lb braid lol

1 hour ago, Pat Brown said:

I use 65 lb braid lol

I've had a few rods in for repairs that had on the water repairs done with braid and finished with super glue.  They were just fabulous to remove the guide and clean up the blank!

I use primarily A, B is easier to work with. I don’t care for the looks of D on bass and fly rods but to each his own on that