I found this on a UK dealers website. Now I found it both amusing and probably very true
I've cut some of it out but if you want to read it all you can do so at
http://www.spartonfly.dial.pipex.com/ and select catalogue, order index and then flyrods.
Enjoy!
Colin
THE SPARTON FLYROD RANGES
All Sparton Blanks are made from Newport 3 , HR40 , T800 HMG or even more advanced composite weaves under development and peculiar to the companies who make our blanks . Our own rods we build exclusively on British Blanks . We use assorted British , ( mainly Harrison ) blanks exclusively .
We have designed and built rods successfully for 18 years. Most of our work is Specialist Still and Saltwater based. We finish using Top Grade Corks and Rings . We use a No-Nonsense approach : fitting Single and Triple Leg Ceramics as Standard and inbuilding stub extensions as standard on all rods over 9'6" . If you want Snakes and an American Type of Build we will do it for you . Compared with other British Producers we aren't expensive ! Sadly there aren't many of us rodbuilders left in the UK , soon we'll be the last men standing !
We also supply a British Made Heavy Duty Rodbag with each of our rods .
You cannot beat our Heavy Leadlining , Lure and Bank Rods - nobody else has expertise in these fields to compare with us . Our Nymph rods aren't as sharp in action as Americans - we don't design for short accurate fairweather casting like Americans do for Americans - we design for 25 yards plus in the UK on Bad Weather Days !
LIFETIME GUARANTEE
If you want a lifetime guarantee from us you'll get one - just send double the price of the rod and we'll put you on the list !
Or if you'd like to give us £300 for something built in Korea and passed off as American we'll forget the Guarantee and just send you the six almost identicals you'd have got from Shakespeare's ( honest traders ! ) for the same money !
LOOMIS , SAGE , OTHER AMERICANS
You may be interested to know that we , along with all the other smaller Dealers got struck out by Sage a few seasons ago . We were very annoyed and it did take some effort to even get a thanks for your efforts letter out of them .
What more do you expect from folks whose golf team goes whacko on the 17th in the Ryder Cup !
Loomis then welcomed us with open arms. And we did ok building on their blanks.
But eventually we have decided after Loomis twice changed distributors in a very short time to formally discontinue any involvement with any American Blank or rod manufacturer .
There are other reasons - firstly that we have seen the steady development by Dr Harrison of British Made Blanks of identical tip actioned styles to those favored by Americans generally . Nowadays British rods are at least as good if not practically better than American and they are far far cheaper ! And we can build them with proper handles and top grade rings suitable for British conditions .
Secondly the growing realisation that Americans are pretty useless at all forms of Stillwater Fly Fishing - when will they even place at World Cup Level ? And when was the last time you met any normal American who could cast as far as you could !
So you had better ask yourself why do you want to buy rods from a nation of useless performers and do they know anything about stillwater rods at all except about cosmetising , advertising and marketting ?
Thirdly the movement of manufacture by Americans from America to the Far East . Not all major Americans are doing this yet but many very definitely are and prices of goods moved into and out of the USA have not been reduced to reflect alternative sourcing - no surprise there ! Recent Court Submissions in Forgery actions have revealed that even the longest established and ostensibly most respectable American Companies are not above having their finishing cheaply done in the Orient .
And finally American rods also suffer from the multiplier effect when bought in the UK - they are almost invariably twice as expensive as identicals bought in the USA . Frankly, if you really do want an American rod you are insane if you don't buy it in the USA .
It takes less than 2 hours of labour and £25 worth of components to make , fit , ring (and even provide a rodbag for ) an American Trout Rod of any kind in Carbon Fibre - the most expensive input is the tube they come in - and could you justify a price of £600 on that basis ? I won't any longer .
MESSAGE TO ALL AMERICAN ROD MAKERS - Honest - if you pay me for the consultation I will gladly advise you confidentially of how the British Market works and I'll even find you the right person to undertake your Importation or I'll tell you if you have no chance at all . I can't stand the series of pure cock ups that Americans have made in this marketplace over the last two decades . It has been really grieving me a lot ! They seem individually almost as clueless as their Foreign Policy wonks!
IMPORT DUTY AND VAT EVASION !
We live in the real World - we are well aware that most folks who travel across the Atlantic know how cheap it is to buy blanks in the USA , parts of Canada and Mexico.
Be aware that we are well able to build your blank up into the nice cheap rod you wanted . Since Sage dumped us we have built more Black Sage Imports than we ever used to sell straight - every one we build is a job they didn't get paid to do ! And we take a malicious delight in fitting better rings , reelseats and cork handles !
And that is why visiting Americans bring us Loomis , Sage and other blanks for building - they get a better job done cheaper here than they can at home !
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Topic: A British view of American rods, Amusing and true perhaps? (Read 5967 times)