i started with a tiger stick 1-4 oz blank that was bought from a friend on a striper board who wrapped it up years ago,the guides wrapping was old and needed replacing as well as the foam grips

I started by slicing off the foam carefully to bare rod,i cleaned up all the leftover foam and glue with ethyl alcohol and carefull filing and sanding.

i recoated the bare spots with 5 coats of clear laquer and then took the reel seat off using a hacksaw in a spiral cut then peeling it off and removing the tape.

to me the seat was to low and the handle was too short,also i wanted to change the line guide spacing and extend the butt so total length was close to 9 foot.

i had taken some aluminum tubing from an adjustable hospital can i had,i doubled it inside with tubing and a wood slug at the top for a stiffener in the tubing.

i epoxied the tubing itself and the slug then epoxied that into the butt end of the rod.the sizes matched thicknesses so no buildup was needed for the cork tape as well.

i just cork taped it and thread wrapped the ends of the tape,then epoxy was used as a thread sealant to make a smooth transition from grip to rod.

the 2 piece ferrule joiner was stripped down,polished bright again to the chrome carefully removing the old thread wrap and coating,i then black wrapped it up as well.each guide was sitting on a layer of thread as well to protect the blank then built up and each one epoxied over to seal them up.

the guides were spaced too far apart so i upped the closeness of them higher for distance and to match the rods load on the bend with the guides.

i had also resealed the rod entirely in a few thin coats of clear finish to cover up the old spots were the guides originally were and the old decorative wraps as well after steel wooling them down.

also i wanted it with the same number of original guides used plus to use a bigger reel as well for more line.

if the color of the guide rings are tossing you off theyre old glow in the dark fuji guides!these have long since been discontinued but i still get a glow after a charge with a spotlight for night plugging.

i just used a very basic no frills wrap approach on the guides,ferrules and tape joins.thats it,so simple and a custom rod feel and look at the length i wanted for fishing oncoast rock ledges and tight rock shore walled spots out back on the river in rough country.

electrical tape was used to hold the reel on for a nice smooth feel too.also one could use bicycle clamps or tommy tape but i use plain old electrical tape.the reel is solid so theyres no way of it loosing up on me or flying off.

here is the butt end with a simple split 2 piece grip of cork tape.i use this as a stand up and plug rod so it doesnt see a sand spike at all.for a spike use i wouldve wrapped it one piece from the buttcap to the fore-grip top tp protect the finish.not that the tigerstik shakespeare logo on the blank is lower and not marked on the middle of the rod! i had marked the rod with my name,date,1-4oz. rating and model number then sealed it over with the clear coat.also note the healthy electric tape wrap on the reel foot too,plus take a look at the finished thread wraps off the ends of the cork/rubber grip tape as well.i use the anglers workshop and the mudhole.com grip tape.
the rubber in it's matrix really akes for a nonslip grip with the cork,dries in no time when wet as well,it also has a cloth backing with adhesive so putting it on is simple,just twist it with each wrap on tight so it wont loosen in the future.go wrap over what you want then finish cut it even with scissors or a razor and thread wrap it,epoxy the wrap like you would a lineguide and it's done.take a look at the bottom,i ran out of tape grip so i just used the thread to taper over where i had installed the butt extension,looks ok for me.

here i had raised the last guide up above the ferrule for more distance between the spool of 31 inches.this will allow the line to travel more freely.spacing used from the rod top down is this spacing  : 7.5",7.75",8.75",11",13",the guides now support the line correctly on the blank cutting my loss of a lure or rig with a snapped line from too much pressure on an angle with a fish on.

The finished 2 piece tigerstik rod completed ready for striper plugging with a shimano spherex aero sp-5000f model reel.built for all day fishing to hurl plugs,metals and jigs and plastics with ,the quick dry cork tape and good looks to boot feels nice as well as provides a no slip prip even with messy or wet hands...