I plan on purchasing a rod through a local builder and also building my first under his guidance (he's a good friend). I have a budget of ~$100 max (preferably under) for the blanks. Leaning towards the MHX or HM-MHX blanks due to price and reputation. Would be open to other suggestions but after doing my "research" (i.e. searching on forums ) it seems like the MHX may be the best bang for the buck. A few questions:

1) How do the HM-MHX blanks stack up to the regular MHX? Could anyone compare the two, or even better compare them to other manufactured rods? Something like: MHX~=Savvy/GL3 and HM-MHX~=Champion, IMX etc. I know so much of the finished rod's performance will be based on components and placement but it would be nice to get a rough idea what range it will compete with.

Final two questions are regarding blanks. Will be starting off with two rods, here's what I'm looking for:

2) Weightless plastic rod. 6'6-7', medium, fast-xfast. Soft tip to throw lighter lures with good backbone, Cumara 6'8 M/XF would be a good example. Throwing weightless 4" flukes & senkos, shaky heads, finesse jigs, maybe some light topwater/jerkbait/crank. Looking at the HM-MB782-MHX (wish it were 6'8, and why is the MB842 a Med Lt??) or HM-SB812-MHX. The stats on the SB812 seem to be exactly what I want, but looking at the lure range and weight seems like it may be closer to a MH.

3) "All purpose" rod. 6'6-7', MH, fast. Plenty of good rods to use as an example. Basically if you were only able to grab one rod for a day of fishing this would be it (sure everyone has one). Considering the MB783 or MB843 (both HM).

Would appreciate any advice BR has to offer. There's so many models just within the MHX brand it can get confusing, and when you add different manufacturers there's just a lot of blanks out there.

I use the standard MHX blanks. One of the gentlemen who works there, I believe it was Scott, told me there are based on G. Loomis IMX rod blanks. My favorite blank is the SJ842. I fish a lot of finesse techniques- shakey heads, wacky rigs/ flick shake, weightless worms, drop shots-- and it is absolutely a perfect rod.

If you are looking for a "do it all rod" you can't go wrong with a MB843 blank and they make it in the high mod too. Though, I am partial to a 7' rod. The main difference between the HM and standard MHX blanks is, obviously, the High modulus graphite. The HM are probably more like the GLX blanks as far as quality of blank. But, you really can't go wrong with either one. The standard blanks has much more options to offer and the HM is rather limited. For the price, I would say go with the standard MHX blanks because they are about half the price tag of the HM.

I use all MHX rods now, from spinning rod to flipping rod. It has saved me a ton of money to make my own rods and use MHX blanks. They are super lightweight so that helps with sensitivity and I also use micro guides so its like putting radar in your hands when you use a good fluorocarbon line.

You really can't go wrong with any blank. If you are looking for one rod, go with the MB843 or MB844, HM or standard. If you concerned about budget, then go with the standard MHX blanks, they generally run around $50 give or take a few bucks. Other than my long crankbait rod and flipping rod, I can get one made for around $95 with alconite guides. The HM are gonna take up most of your budget if you have $100.

The MHX blanks are great bang for the buck. They perform like blanks cost 3-4x as much. As far as whether the HM are worth the extra, that depends totally on your budget. The standard MHX is a high performance blank to begin with. The staff there is very helpful as well if want more blank suggestions for your application.

If I were wanting to build on blanks that acted like the OLD Gary Loomis blanks, I think I would goto Gary's new shop site NFC (North Fork Composites) looking at what he is doing now and comparing.

North Fork Composites

Tight Wraps All!

The North Fork blanks are pretty good from what I have been told but they are still very expensive. I mean after they are still G Loomis blanks. I don't think it is a justifiable expense when you compare the two. MHX blanks run in $45 to $75 range and NFC blanks are three times that, starting around $150 and going well over $200. The MHX, even the HM blanks, are well worth the money and perform just like G Loomis IMX rods. I know everybody has there own likes and dislikes, but MHX offers incredible perform at a budget price.