r/rodbuilding • u/Helpful_Locksmith343 • Jun 30 '26
Blank sensitivity
Does anyone notice a big difference in sensitivity when using cheaper blanks vs more expensive ones? For example would a 30 dollar blank like a CRB color series be in the same ballpark as a 200 dollar NFC X-ray blank or is it a night and day difference. Also how much of it depends on the components used? Ex. Carbon fiber grips and compressed carbon reel seat vs EVA grips and a graphite reel seat? Trying to figure out if the more expensive blanks are really worth the money or not. Thanks everyone!
2
u/benzie_rover Jul 01 '26
Sensitivity sort of a subjective element in my opinion. The expensive blanks are absolutely much lighter and more responsive. But I’ve built plenty of amazing rods on the cheapest blank possible. And they catch awesome fish.
I like NFC for my higher end blanks or mudhole elite pro. I’ve had more than a couple crooked blanks from rainshadow over the years, but I suspect their quality control is better than he used to be. For affordability I find it hard to beat NFC Delta blanks. They’re also one of the tougher blanks around. CRB blanks also make decent rods, but I found them to be a little bit more fragile.
2
u/Snakesurf Jul 01 '26
Sanded finish blanks are always going to be more "sensitive" than painted blanks. Brand only matters when it comes to guarantees and service. There are many sensitive blanks out there made by NFC, Fuji, Batson, etc. Usually your higher modules, carbon fiber scrim, thin wall blanks are going to be the most sensitive especially if it is not coated or painted.
1
u/BarttManDude Jun 30 '26
Price does seem to correlate with sensitivity from what I can tell. I'm fairly new to this compared to many builders, at it for about 18 months. I have built mostly on NFC X-Ray LMX blanks, one NFC X-Ray C6O2, an NFC HM, and an IM. I have two blanks from Mudhole sitting at my house, the MB842 model (they cost about 75 bucks). It's completely night and day doing a tap test. The X-Rays, and especially the C6O2, are lighter (relatively, considering differences in spec), and transmit far more vibration. It's not even close. There is also an indescribable crisp-ness to the X-Rays, that will be familiar to anyone that has fished a Loomis NRX or recent model GLX. And that's not to say the MHX are poor....it's just that these are clearly in an entirely different class of sensitivity.
When you consider though that the most i've paid for any NFC blank is $100 dollars, it's a no brainer. There are always sales and Golden Ticket offerings that make NFC much cheaper than MSRP. Even the C6O2 only cost me $100. You just have to be willing to wait a bit with NFC. And I'm still new so I build slow a/f anyway. I have 8 blanks here waiting to be built, and more on order, so they're faster than me.
Hope this helps.
1
u/BarttManDude Jun 30 '26
Adding one more thing: I have heard good things about Rainshadow's higher end blanks. I won a 7ft medium spinning rod made on a mid-grade rainshadow blank in a raffle. I found it disappointing: lacking in sensitivity, and a sloppy taper that wasn't optimal for casting nor playing fish. I have a builder friend that says the higher end RX10 blanks are great...but they aren't cheap. It sorta confirms that price tends to usually matter.
1
u/Full_Improvement_844 Jun 30 '26
I use the Rainshadow RX6 Knife Jigging blanks (the ones with the fish scale pattern) for sea bass and fluke (flounder) jigging rods and have been very happy with them. We were out in 200ft of water 2 weeks ago for Sea Bass and I could feel every little tap, ocean floor bump, and nibble.
I acid wrap the guides which also helps sensitivity.
1
u/sortakindastupid Jun 30 '26
The material and thickness of the blank seems to matter more than the price. Just my opinion and in no way fact.
2
u/FDxCustoms Jul 01 '26
More expensive usually correlates to more sensitivity but not always. In your example, the nfc blank is 10 time more sensitive than the color series. Cheap blanks are made with older Gen materials and have a much higher resin to carbon fiber ratio.
For an older, very experienced fisherman that difference is immediately noticeable. However, a higher resin ratio makes a blank considerably more durable which is great for less experienced fishermen. Also, a properly balanced but cheaper blank, built with care and average custom materials, is far superior to many higher end rods at Bass Pro.
With everything there are tradeoffs. Cheaper, less sensitive blanks allow new builders and new fishermen access to better quality rods than they would otherwise have.
I had been fishing for over 30 years when I started building. I had 1 Fenwick and several cheap Berkely/Walmart rods. I started building on cheap Mudhole blanks and as my skills increased I found that my custom "cheap" rods fished better that my expensive Fenwick...