Gary Loomis' New Blank Company!

[White Pine Tackle]

For those of you who build rods, you may or may not have heard that G. Loomis is, in the fall, no longer going to be selling rod blanks. They will just be selling the finished rod. Apparently Shimano (the now full owner of the G. Loomis name) isn't making enough money on blank sales and they just going to cut it completely.

With that bad news comes some good news, however. Garly Loomis, the founder and original owner of G. Loomis, will be designing and releasing a new brand of rod blanks in the near future. I'm sure these rods will be even better than the blanks we see from what is G. Loomis now and I, for one, am very excited about this news. I plan on selling the full line of blanks once they become available and hopefully we can help Gary build, again, his name in the rod building industry.

So, if you've been planning on building any current G. Loomis rods, now would be the time to buy the blank. Also, make sure to watch for the release of these new Loomis blanks!

[BrokenWing]

Please keep me informed when you have the new blanks.

Thanks
Rich

[JJ Mac]

Thanks for the info. Will they still be covering the warranties on the blanks in the future or will it only be available for finished rods?

I'm looking forward to see what Gary puts out.

[Westlakedrive]

That seems strange. If he wanted to sell blanks why did he sell to Shimano? Anyways I would think if they sell the line at all they would have to honor the warranties. I almost think they are shooting themselves in the foot. Why kill a good line of blanks? Rod builders are usually somewhat loyal but two mainstaiys in Lamiglas and Loomis are going by the wayside.
Do you carry any Rainshadow blanks?

[gilly]

I have often thought of trying to find a couple 5 foot 9 inch, medium power, extra fast action blanks to have made into rods as I don't build them. Can I save any cash doing so or would I end up with the same cost in the long run as buying them off the rack ready to fish?

[Westlakedrive]

You will not save money but will have a better quality rod with more specific charecteristics.

[White Pine Tackle]

That seems strange. If he wanted to sell blanks why did he sell to Shimano? Anyways I would think if they sell the line at all they would have to honor the warranties. I almost think they are shooting themselves in the foot. Why kill a good line of blanks? Rod builders are usually somewhat loyal but two mainstaiys in Lamiglas and Loomis are going by the wayside.
Do you carry any Rainshadow blanks?


That's kind of a mystery I guess. I've heard that it was a progressive buy out until they eventually owned it all. He was probably happy with the money he was getting at the time. Shimano didn't really do anything to enhance the G. Loomis blanks...they just used Gary's technology. Now I guess he wants back in. I don't completely understand, but I'm excited about them.

In terms of the warranty, I'm not sure. G. Loomis will most likely honor the warranty. They'll still have the blanks in stock and around, they just wont market and sell them unfinished.

I'll try to keep everyone updated as they become available. I still don't know too much about the company. I think they're still in court for intellectual property issues (regarding the name) but after that we should be seeing the blanks!

[White Pine Tackle]

I have often thought of trying to find a couple 5 foot 9 inch, medium power, extra fast action blanks to have made into rods as I don't build them. Can I save any cash doing so or would I end up with the same cost in the long run as buying them off the rack ready to fish?

I've saved money before building upscale rods, but the beauty is really getting everything that you want on your rod. Once you start building rods you realize that you can build a much nicer rod that what you see in the store. It's not really that hard either. I'd be more than willing to help you get started. I'm trying to plan some classes for the summer if you're interested.

Here's a blank that I found:

St. Croix SCIV 5'10" Med power, x-fast action, 8-12lb test. Sounds pretty close to what you're looking for.

[gilly]

How much was that blank? Sounds like the one I'm after. I would love to build a pair and catch fish on rods I built or had built. I appreciate the offer and would probably do so if you were closer to me as East Lansing is a good distance from me. Still, I am curious as to what I would have into a finished spincast rod with that blank.

[White Pine Tackle]

The MSRP of the blank is $127. The components are the variable part. You can go with decent Hardloy guides and a medicore grip (which will, of course, still get the job done just fine) for another $50 or so. You can also spend another $150 on smoother guides and a top-of-the-line grip/reel seat. For guides, you pay more for smoothness and low weight. For the grip and reel seat you pay more for looks. You can probably build this rod for as little as $180 though. That's $30 less than the completed rod's cost.

I'm going to start advertising classes here soon and if I get enough interest in the Detroit area I'll make a trip there to do it. I'll try to keep you informed!

[BrokenWing]

I would be interested in the classes based on the prices, location and timing of course

[MSUICEMAN]

That seems strange. If he wanted to sell blanks why did he sell to Shimano?

$$$$$$$$$

[thedude]

at one point i think he had to sell to shimano or go under. Hopefully his new company will take a hint and stop overcharging by 200$ per blank :lol:

[Benzie Rover]

White Pine - Do you have any idea if Gary will be bringing back any of the much sought after longer models for steelhead/salmon that have been increasingly discontinued over the last 10 years or so?? The 11',6" IM6 and IMX as well as the 13' IMX were huge sellers out here in the midwest but the company discontinued both models and refused to even consider bringing them back. If you have any insight on the new models and if they have anything over 10',6" with a moderate-high strain rate graphite, the info would be very much appreciated. And do you know if he is going to just design them and have them baked over in China or wherever like Rainshadow does? If so, then the cost will go way down, but if they are going to be designed AND rolled and baked here in U.S., then surely the price will stay up where it is.

thanks,

Matt

[BrokenWing]

I for one will and do pay more to keep my friends in jobs.

[White Pine Tackle]

BrokenWing,

I'll keep you informed about classes as well. The price will probably be the retail cost of the components and maybe just a little more for the drive and the time. It won't be bad though.

Benzie,

I'm not too sure what Gary's plans are at this point and I have no way of finding out untill they go on sale. I remember about 5 years back I built an 18' custom IMX for a guy. I think Dick Swan contacted Loomis and had the blanks specially made. Many blank companies do indeed make blanks to your specifications. You just have to order a certain amount of them to make it worth their time. Maybe if you/we could generate some interest in a certain model we could have one custom made. Just a thought...

[Alpha Buck]

Thanks for the info. Will they still be covering the warranties on the blanks in the future or will it only be available for finished rods?

I'm looking forward to see what Gary puts out.

If they still offer the blank that you are claiming under warranty they will exchange that with you, but if it is a discontinued blank then you are pretty much screwed. I had a 13ft IMX and they said that the best they could do was to give me %50 off from a factory rod of my choice. I asked if they would swap the $300 blank for a $250 factory rod and they said that they would give me %50 off from the $250 rod and then I had to pay the $50 fee on top of that.:dizzy:

I did find out that Loomis Canada will take care of your warranty a little better with the longer rods though. They are going to send me a new GLX factory rod in its place for the expiditor fee cost ($75 canadian). If I were to exchange the rod to the US Loomis company for the same rod it was going to cost me around $350.:mad: I do not know why Loomis USA is trying to screw over the customers while the Loomis CA is not?:confused:

[Benzie Rover]

Alpha,

I hear ya on Loomis... I have been there and done that with my 13' IMX as well... Loomis US is big time rip off on their 'warranty' on discontinued blanks compared to other high end blank manufacturers... Sage in particular will work with you and try hard to hook you up with an out of production blank if they can find one... My buddy got a 10,6" spinning blank top half from them last year and that was several years after it was out of production... And on Loomis Canada I was the one that dropped the ball big time and waited a year and half before I tried to send to back my broken IMX and when I packaged it up and tried to send it back this spring the dude in Ontario told me they no longer have the 13' IMX blanks and there was no way of getting anymore, so I am still searching on that one. So did you have a 13' IMX blank that they agreed to trade in for a GLX for just the expeditor fee?? If so that is something I will look into for sure.

whitepine - we have tried that trick with Loomis in the past, back when the first stopped producing the 11,6" and we had a couple dozen ready to order but they would not budge and roll up anymore of those blanks... Maybe for Dick Swan I can see it happeneing... but otherwise you pretty much have to know someone that works there. I grew up fishing next to Dick and he used to use some long noodles, but usually not more than 12 or 14.... now, 18'... dang... now that is one big C!! Did he use SICs too? that would cost about $300 in guides alone!

[White Pine Tackle]

Alpha,

whitepine - we have tried that trick with Loomis in the past, back when the first stopped producing the 11,6" and we had a couple dozen ready to order but they would not budge and roll up anymore of those blanks... Maybe for Dick Swan I can see it happeneing... but otherwise you pretty much have to know someone that works there. I grew up fishing next to Dick and he used to use some long noodles, but usually not more than 12 or 14.... now, 18'... dang... now that is one big C!! Did he use SICs too? that would cost about $300 in guides alone!

I guess it makes sense that they might only do it for Dick. I'm trying to find the company that said they'd make a custom blank for you. The more I think about it the more i think it's either Rogue or Pac Bay. If it's Rogue they'd probably end up being just as nice as a Loomis in my opinion.

That 18' was definitely a sight to see. I was afraid I'd break it because it was so long and noodely...it seemed more like something that you look at rather than fish with. I think I put Alconite guides on it (can't remember, but those are my go-to guide) but enough of those does get expensive. It's the only 3 piece rod that I've had to pay oversize charges to ship...haha.