I am a first time rod builder. My question involves mounting a Struble U6 reel seat to a GL3 9' 7 wt. I am concerned about the amount of blank that is going to be within the seat. The U6 has a removable fighting butt which will take up about an inch within the seat leaving about 3" of real seat to blank connection. Is this ok and will it change the guide spacing. Just want to do it right! Thanks!

What you need to look at is how long do you want the finished rod to be. If you intend it to be just 9', then you need to cut off the amount of rod that would keep it at that length. If you just want to put as much seat on the blank as possible and not cut anything you can do that too but the finished rod is going to be longer than 9'. If the seat is 5" long and I can only get 3" in the seat, I would probably remove 2" of blank so not to alter the length any. But either way would be okay.

On the 3" of blank inside seat being enough, I am not qualified to answer. But if Struble builds them that way I would assume they must work.

Your guide placement should be done with a static stress test and it will give you the perfect spacing whichever way you choose to go with that seat. Good luck!

Larry
I have used this seat on 4or 5 salt water fly rods that I have built. I have not had any problems with them.And they have caught some
big fish. 8wts and 10wts.all 9' and I did not cut the blank so If you
order a rod tube it has to be for a 9'6" rod .
Hope this helps e-mail if you have any other questions.
Barry

built a st croix sciv 9'9" 8 wt not too long ago with the same set up, except I used angler's workshop house brand fighting butt(don't know who makes it, but it looks pretty much the same as the struble) the little tange part that covers the threaded section of the removable part, actually fit inside the butt of the blank, adding about a half inch more I could get into the seat, plus the whole deal was then interlocked end to end, which seemed to me made it pretty darn strong. I hope someone will tell me if there is a reason not to do it this way.

Larry,from your post I get the impression that you are baseing your guide spacing on a manufacturers chart or something you found on a web site.Just remember that guide spacing charts are best for general guidelines.Each blank is unique unto itself and each "Custom" rod should take things like handle makeup into consideration for guide spacing.Play around with your spacing until you find what works best for you,casting wise.Move your stripper guide around till you find the best location for shooting the line through the guides.Then fine tune the rest of the guide placement to best follow the curve of the rod in a fish-fighting position.You are trying to eliminate sharp angles and flat spots.Good luck.