Anyone have pictures, especially close-ups, of black Snake brand guides on a rod? Just wondering what they look like. Are the plated, or painted? or something else? I wanted to do bronze guides, but Snake doesn't list bronze tops on their website. That sux...

dave

Recently, I built a rod with black single foot guides. I personally didn't like the black...no contrast against the dark blue blank color. Thread was dark blue/light blue. I prefer something with a bit of contrast. Mudhole and others have some nice gold guides, stripper guides, and tip tops. Also other finishes available.

Here are a few Dave:





The guides are more of a dark gray than black and look very nice. I'm not sure of the process used to color the guides but it is extremely durable.

You are correct that Snake doesn't make a bronze tip, but you can get bronze tips from PacBay. They are close though not quite the exact same color. They have a touch more orange to them than the Snake guides. Snake also doesn't make bronze agates so you'd have to bronze those yourself.

Here are the bronze guides and PacBay tips:

Snake Brand does sell Bronze guides on their web site. Simply add the snake guide to your cart and select the appropriate size and finish.

Jim

The black snake guides are just like a blued or darkened nickel silver -- a nice shiny dark grey.

Chris, thanks a bunch, that's exactly what I wanted to see. I'm going with the black.

I wish I could get my wraps that smooth...

That first rod, are those Heddon #20 colors? How did you treat the ferrules, or is that a refurb?

Dave

The wraps in the first and second photos are done with color preserved Pearsall's cardinal w/ antique gold tipping.

I blue most of my ferrules with a gun cold bluing solution called Black Magic. Those are standard truncated step down ferrules from CSE.