Building heavy surf rod underwrap or not that is the question? What do you surf rod builder do

thank for the help
David Parsons

Not necessary, but probably not going to hurt it if you do.

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X2 Tom, isn't necessary. Make sure you clean all metal burrs off guide feet after grinding down. You don't want to etch the blank with a rough edge.

I would and do.
I had a rod (Lamiglass) break at the end of a guide foot where the guide had been ground too sharp by the supplier- one of my real peeves. I couldn't file it back much because it was already short and the only one I had at the time. Lesson learned.,
I underwrap , apply my trim rings and apply a coat of thin finish under my guides. I use size A thread for the underwraps and usually D for the guide wrap

I'm with Mark on this. You won't hurt the sensitivity on a "heavy" surf rod.

I underwrap surf rods. It's not necessary, but it adds a bit of extra protection from abuse. Surf rods, if they're used properly, get banged around pretty good. And the weight penalty from underwraps is pretty negligible on rods htat long and heavy.

I under Wrap all Surf Sticks. power casting with Heavier weights causes a great deal of Stress on blanks and Guides

Mark brought up a good point above. He believes his lami failed from the guide being ground to a point. Definitely don't shapes guides to arrows. Keep a rounded end that fits the blank diameter.
If you build the rod correctly won't need to underwrap guides. Look at all the high end surf blanks in tackle shops. Most aren't under wrapped. I haven't lost a blank yet to not being under wrapped. I caught over a hundred striped bass last season on surf rods with no problems. The biggest was 45" and over 30# on a 7'3" lamiglass xl with single foot minima guides and no under wraps.
Build a rod you are confident in. Good luck.

Unless you're underwrapping with Aramid thread......