It seems that the general consensus is to place the stripping guide at 0 degrees on a spiral wrapped casting rods (for bass, stripers, musky etc)

Why start the spiral straight out of the reel?

The only problem I can see is that if the stripping guide was high framed, the reel narrow and the guide spiralled so many degrees that the contact point of the the line through the guide was wider than the travel of the reel's levelwind, the line might not lay evenly on the reel.

I'm interested in anyones experience with this.

Thanks

I meant,

Why NOT start the spiral straight out of the reel?

There is an article in Rodmaker that deals with placing the stripper guide at aprox. 45 deg. and no closer then 15" to the reel. See if you can get the back issue.

I have seen a spiral wrap where the first guide was actually on the 90 degree axis and the next one at 180. Looked great although I do not know how it fished. I would think the main problem might be line stacking to one side of the reel if you went that far right off the bat.

I built 2 spiral wrapped rods using Ralph O'Quinn's method of putting the stripper guide at 45 degrees and they both work very well. I use a Calcutta 250 on both rods. I tried and tried to put the stripper somewhere other than 45 deg. but the line didn't go through properly. Ralph's method works for me. The stripper is a bit over 16" from the front of the reel.

The O'Quinn method emphasizes a smooth transition and it helps the spiral get strated by rotating the stripper guide to around 45 degrees from vertical. This is not written in stone. A lot depends on the guide height, ring size, action of the blank, height of the reel, and width of the reel.

Mr O'Quinn doesn't recommend going less than 16" from the reel face precisely because a shorter distance would result in line stacking to one side of the spool. Remember, the 45 degrees is only suggested. Try taping the guides in place and fiddling with different rotations to see which best fits your rod's action and your component selection. Remember to test all possible line positions with the reel that you'd be using on the a loaded rod.

Line rub = bad thing.

I've done two blanks with the O'Quinn method, a Mag Bass rod and a Muskie rod. Both perform very well. I'm sure you could get a rod that started on the 0 degree axis to perform well too. Probably anything in between the 0 and 45 would perform well.

Why put it on the 0 axis. Lets put it this way. We do static deflection tests to ensure that the guides are spaced properly and the line makes a smooth transition without any tight direction changes. If your gonna spiral from the top of the blank to the bottom you want to accomplish the same thing. With the butt guide at the 0 axis it would be very hard to make that smooth transition in the next three guides. I've seen some of those spirals with the wrap made quickly from 0 to 180 in three guides. They just don't look natural. Ralph O'Quins method makes the most sense. I build most of my casting rods 45, 90, 135 degrees and 180 the rest of the way down. They cast extremely well and I have never had any line pile up. All of the butt guides on 6'6" and 7' rods end up around 20". I think this is the key to no line pile up. The only problem I've had is using Fuji's BUNAG bridge guides with the Concept System. The feet are just too short and even with a security wrap there is no lateral support for the height of the guide and they come loose when laying on the deck of a bassboat. I've gone to making the third guide a doublefoot and the fourth the first fly guide. Problem solved.

Most of the time, I will put the butt guide slightly off the zero axis and less than 45 degrees. It works well, most of the time for casting performance and distance. But, one thing is to use good smooth ring guides for best line transition. I think ring size also makes a difference going through the spiral and this is something not set in stone either and best determined for each blank and each rod's purpose. Stay within the concept of using smaller guides especially after the butt out to the tip, but still allowing smooth line transition.
Should the guides of the spiral be double foot? good question and some would advocate the use of single foot guides is all that is necessary for ordinary bass type rods. For heavier rods, I like using double foot guides.

Rich
Solyrich Custom Rods