Completed my first Point Blank build...

When production rods are not enough, it's time to go custom. Come share your experiences building and/or ordering a custom rod and tell us if you'll ever go back to off the shelf.
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5bites
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Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by 5bites » Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:05 am

....and fished it at Stockton Lake on Saturday. I was dragging a 5/16 finesse jig with Zoom critter craw. The blank is a pb731mxf. It is what I believe is the very best finesse jig rod period. Not necessarily my build because I’m nothing compared to you other builders here. Anyway it finished at 3.48oz but I believe it’s possible to build it to 3.0-3.1oz if you really wanted. The weight and balance with the aldebaran I have on it is absolutely amazing. My first cast produced a keeper lm. The bite literally felt like someone flipped the tip of the rod. Sensitivity is not a problem this rod has. Hookups on long cast weren’t a problem but despite having a very fast tip it loads nicely into the blank. I did little pitching or roll casts but when I did I loved the action of the rod for this. It’s going to be a great dock rod. I believe this will be a good underspin rod too.

You guys may remember I ended up with this blank by accident. I’m glad I did. I have it’s bigger brother (pb731mhx) that I’m looking forward to finish up. It should also have the tip to use a 5/16 jig if I get in a situation where more power is necessary but I imagine it’ll be dragging a football jig or big worm most of it’s days. We’ll see.

Also I’ve bought a couple of the mhx elite-x blanks lately. They’re light and feel good. I will add though that with nothing on them they don’t feel balanced. Basically the weight of the blank is carried forward. This will balance out some when it’s built of course but it’s worth noting. The two Point Blank blanks I’ve handled didn’t have this problem and they feel livelier. Hard to explain but you know it when you feel it.

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Hogsticker2
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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by Hogsticker2 » Mon Oct 15, 2018 2:30 pm

You know it when you feel it. It's somewhat difficult to describe a Point Blank until you've fished with it. I'm glad you weren't disappointed. How about some pics?

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5bites
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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by 5bites » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:16 pm

You’d just be disappointed. My skills are not like you alls skills. To top it off I just struggled on this one. I need a better setup for applying finish. I spin it by hand and really need a motor with a slipper to help I think. The other thing is my decal didn’t adhere as well as I’d like. I wouldn’t be surprised if I redo it this winter.

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MardukFIN
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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by MardukFIN » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:21 am

Big butt blanks balances nicely. 8-) MagBass usually..

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5bites
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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by 5bites » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:53 am

Exactly. A bigger percentage of the overall weight is toward the rear. So while the small diameter elite-x blanks may be equal in weight they just don’t balance as well or feel as nice. Basically they should be lighter. Nevertheless if the application calls for it I’d buy another.

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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by mobass11652 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:43 am

5bites, I was down there this past weekend fishing the TBF District 7 National Semifinals. Hope ya got into some good fish. We had a 7.12 and an 8.81 brought in.

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5bites
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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by 5bites » Wed Oct 17, 2018 8:48 am

There was definitely no shortage of boat traffic Saturday which is odd for Stockton in the fall. I was told there was four tournaments last weekend. We caught several 15-17” fish but no big ones. Nevertheless my son and I had a good day in the pond.

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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by MikeK » Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:12 am

Also I’ve bought a couple of the mhx elite-x blanks lately. They’re light and feel good. I will add though that with nothing on them they don’t feel balanced. Basically the weight of the blank is carried forward. This will balance out some when it’s built of course but it’s worth noting. The two Point Blank blanks I’ve handled didn’t have this problem and they feel livelier. Hard to explain but you know it when you feel it.
I measure balance on most of the blanks I get by balancing them on a wooden dowel and measuring from the butt to that point. Divide by total length to get a fraction; the lower the fraction, the more weight is in the butt. Averages from several manufacturers bear out what you are saying.

Mfgr Count Avg
CTS 3 0.283
Point Blank 4 0.307
ATC 3 0.313
American 19 0.320
Phenix 2 0.320
Liberty 3 0.322
Lamiglas 46 0.323
Pac Bay 8 0.326
St. Croix 10 0.326
All Star 5 0.327
Batson 53 0.328
G. Loomis 6 0.329
NFC 5 0.329
Rogue 6 0.331
Hydra 1 0.332
MHX 21 0.332
Sarge 3 0.335

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5bites
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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by 5bites » Fri Nov 02, 2018 11:13 am

That’s pretty interesting. Have you broke that down to series’ within those manufacturers?

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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by MikeK » Fri Nov 02, 2018 12:23 pm

Haven't broken it out like the list I posted but if I link a couple of spreadsheets it will be easy to do.

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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by toddmc » Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:09 pm

MikeK wrote:
Also I’ve bought a couple of the mhx elite-x blanks lately. They’re light and feel good. I will add though that with nothing on them they don’t feel balanced. Basically the weight of the blank is carried forward. This will balance out some when it’s built of course but it’s worth noting. The two Point Blank blanks I’ve handled didn’t have this problem and they feel livelier. Hard to explain but you know it when you feel it.
I measure balance on most of the blanks I get by balancing them on a wooden dowel and measuring from the butt to that point. Divide by total length to get a fraction; the lower the fraction, the more weight is in the butt. Averages from several manufacturers bear out what you are saying.

Mfgr Count Avg
CTS 3 0.283
Point Blank 4 0.307
ATC 3 0.313
American 19 0.320
Phenix 2 0.320
Liberty 3 0.322
Lamiglas 46 0.323
Pac Bay 8 0.326
St. Croix 10 0.326
All Star 5 0.327
Batson 53 0.328
G. Loomis 6 0.329
NFC 5 0.329
Rogue 6 0.331
Hydra 1 0.332
MHX 21 0.332
Sarge 3 0.335
Thanks for the solid info. Most of my customs over the last few years consist of the MHX High-Mod that the Elite-X replaced, and Point Blank. I usually use the Point Blank rods for bottom contact and the MHX blanks for reaction baits because they have more weight towards the tip. I have had so many custom rods over the last three decades that I can find the right niche for a new build as soon as I pick it up.
The MHX High-Mod (now Elite-X) blanks are very sensitive. They just need more weight than the Point Blank at the butt if you want to have them balanced for bottom contact baits. I've got a new 7'3" Heavy Elite-X build in the works to see how similar they are to the MHX High-Mod.

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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by 5bites » Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:11 pm

Mike I’d be interested in that spreadsheet.




Todd I just built the 873.5 It actually had more power than I expected. It’s a versatile rod though for heavier stuff. I have a 6’9” elite-x drying now. I’m not as happy about it’s balance and weight. It’s heavier than advertised and about .1 of an ounce of the 873.5 weight.

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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by toddmc » Fri Nov 02, 2018 9:01 pm

5bites wrote:Mike I’d be interested in that spreadsheet.




Todd I just built the 873.5 It actually had more power than I expected. It’s a versatile rod though for heavier stuff. I have a 6’9” elite-x drying now. I’m not as happy about it’s balance and weight. It’s heavier than advertised and about .1 of an ounce of the 873.5 weight.
I've got a High-Mod 874 and 822 spinnerbait rod. The 874 has tamed a ton of big fish for me on the bladed jig. I had the 822 built with a lighter build (SKT seat and microguides). It is pretty light for a full rear grip rod. I throw a lot of 3/8 to 1/2 ounce topwater and jerkbaits with it. It too bad that blank that you have is heavy.

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5bites
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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by 5bites » Fri Nov 02, 2018 9:35 pm

I should have mentioned the 873.5 was an elite-x but you probably knew. I wonder if the elite-pro blanks actually balance better?

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Re: Completed my first Point Blank build...

Post by MardukFIN » Fri Nov 02, 2018 10:05 pm

toddmc wrote:
MikeK wrote:
Also I’ve bought a couple of the mhx elite-x blanks lately. They’re light and feel good. I will add though that with nothing on them they don’t feel balanced. Basically the weight of the blank is carried forward. This will balance out some when it’s built of course but it’s worth noting. The two Point Blank blanks I’ve handled didn’t have this problem and they feel livelier. Hard to explain but you know it when you feel it.
I measure balance on most of the blanks I get by balancing them on a wooden dowel and measuring from the butt to that point. Divide by total length to get a fraction; the lower the fraction, the more weight is in the butt. Averages from several manufacturers bear out what you are saying.

Mfgr Count Avg
CTS 3 0.283
Point Blank 4 0.307
ATC 3 0.313
American 19 0.320
Phenix 2 0.320
Liberty 3 0.322
Lamiglas 46 0.323
Pac Bay 8 0.326
St. Croix 10 0.326
All Star 5 0.327
Batson 53 0.328
G. Loomis 6 0.329
NFC 5 0.329
Rogue 6 0.331
Hydra 1 0.332
MHX 21 0.332
Sarge 3 0.335
Thanks for the solid info. Most of my customs over the last few years consist of the MHX High-Mod that the Elite-X replaced, and Point Blank. I usually use the Point Blank rods for bottom contact and the MHX blanks for reaction baits because they have more weight towards the tip. I have had so many custom rods over the last three decades that I can find the right niche for a new build as soon as I pick it up.
The MHX High-Mod (now Elite-X) blanks are very sensitive. They just need more weight than the Point Blank at the butt if you want to have them balanced for bottom contact baits. I've got a new 7'3" Heavy Elite-X build in the works to see how similar they are to the MHX High-Mod.
They dont feel same as HM Gen2 did. :oops:

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