Harrison Torrix custom vs factory made

[Andrew Jackson]

Hi all,

I've decided to get a Torrix 11 ft 1.75 tc and am trying to decide between a ready made (Johnson Ross Tackle) or a custom one. Would there be a noticeable difference in build quality or anything else between the two? If I do go for the custom, I'm considering one of the Vic Gibson ones (also from Johnson Ross). Does anyone have any experience with him? Also, I know of all the main rod builders - Tunley, Lumb etc and I know everyone has their favourites but in choosing one, do they differ very much in any way or are they all much of a muchness?

I saw a Calvin Hancock video in which he explains the process of finding the spine and the most relaxed part of the tip of the blank so as to eliminate twist and torque when casting. Is this something that all builders do and would an off the shelf Torrix have gone through this process?

Apologies if I've overloaded this post with too many questions. Any tips will be appreciated.

Hi Scott. I have an 11' Torrix 1. 75 from Johnson Ross. It's excellent. I doubt you'll be disappointed with the build. Nice short handle, very nice finish. Excellent rod. It was a good price. Doubt a custom rod would be as cheap if you're conscious of the price.

 

[Andrew Jackson]

Hi Scott. I have an 11' Torrix 1. 75 from Johnson Ross. It's excellent. I doubt you'll be disappointed with the build. Nice short handle, very nice finish. Excellent rod. It was a good price. Doubt a custom rod would be as cheap if you're conscious of the price.

One thing to note. The factory builds ( or atleast the ones I have) only have a very small piece of cork in front of the reel seat. Given a choice I like a good 2 - 3 inches. I fish with centrepins a lot and just find it more comfortable holding the rod in front of the seat. That's an advantage of a custom build. You can have it tailored to your exact preference.

 

[Julian Griffiths]

Hi all,

I've decided to get a Torrix 11 ft 1.75 tc and am trying to decide between a ready made (Johnson Ross Tackle) or a custom one. Would there be a noticeable difference in build quality or anything else between the two? If I do go for the custom, I'm considering one of the Vic Gibson ones (also from Johnson Ross). Does anyone have any experience with him? Also, I know of all the main rod builders - Tunley, Lumb etc and I know everyone has their favourites but in choosing one, do they differ very much in any way or are they all much of a muchness?

I saw a Calvin Hancock video in which he explains the process of finding the spine and the most relaxed part of the tip of the blank so as to eliminate twist and torque when casting. Is this something that all builders do and would an off the shelf Torrix have gone through this process?

Apologies if I've overloaded this post with too many questions. Any tips will be appreciated.

You won't notice any difference in my opinion. However I always go the custom route because I like the extra choices I can have incorporated into the builds reel seats rings thread colour etc. If I was buying with a budget in mind then I'd buy off the shelf Scott. The fish won't notice which build spec you went for
All decent reputable builders will know how to 'find the spine' & whip on the rings accordingly.
With M.T you can expect too add a good amount of money, but he is one of the best builders out there!

Incidentally get in touch with Roger @ Peregrine he's done me a few rods recently & I've been very impressed with his help & advice.
And a little cheaper than my normal rod builders price too. And I didn't have to wait 7 mths for my rods to be completed!

 

[Scott Emery]

Cheers guys, appreciate all the good info. Looks like I'll be making a few calls to the various builders!

 

[Richard Isaacs]

While people have their favourite, I for one can verify that you will not get a bad rod by using any of the top builders. The difference between them is split simply by other things.

What they are prepared to do
What they have and keep in stock
Price
Lead time.

One of the best that doesn’t get mentioned a lot in the specialist world but will always accommodate most things, keeps plenty of stock to reduce lead times, and has some of the best prices going along with absolute perfection when it comes to quality is Dave Lumb.

Don’t dismiss Dave when it comes to having a rod built that isn’t for pike. He will do most things including fantastic sight tip work. And he’s often a good lump cheaper than others.

Check out his work on my old C3’s

 

[Scott Emery]

Thanks Richard. Those look great. What rings are those? Ring choice is one of the main things I'll want to discuss with the builders. Ideally I'll be looking for some that are a bit higher spec than the ones that come as standard on the off the shelf rods but without going too out of control price wise.

What rings have everyone gone for?

 

[Julian Griffiths]

Thanks Richard. Those look great. What rings are those? Ring choice is one of the main things I'll want to discuss with the builders. Ideally I'll be looking for some that are a bit higher spec than the ones that come as standard on the off the shelf rods but without going too out of control price wise.

What rings have everyone gone for?

Fuji Alconites are my choice for what it's worth, although I beleive they're phasing out black colours in that pattern unfortunately....

 

[Richard Isaacs]

Fuji Alconites are my choice for what it's worth, although I beleive they're phasing out black colours in that pattern unfortunately....

Phased out the black a good while ago now julian. The BC colour is nicer anyway imo.

Thanks Richard. Those look great. What rings are those? Ring choice is one of the main things I'll want to discuss with the builders. Ideally I'll be looking for some that are a bit higher spec than the ones that come as standard on the off the shelf rods but without going too out of control price wise.

What rings have everyone gone for?

Fuji K series guides. By far my favorite shape to be fitted to specialist rods. You can get them in titanium if you’re prepared to wait for them and pay north of £200 for a set.

Mine are BC colour with alconite inserts

 

[Terry Harman]

Had two barbel seekers built by vic Gibson …..absolutely superb …if you are having them custom built at Johnson Ross state that you want vic to build them as they do use another rod builder now

 

[Jeremy Cronin]

While people have their favourite, I for one can verify that you will not get a bad rod by using any of the top builders. The difference between them is split simply by other things.

What they are prepared to do
What they have and keep in stock
Price
Lead time.

One of the best that doesn’t get mentioned a lot in the specialist world but will always accommodate most things, keeps plenty of stock to reduce lead times, and has some of the best prices going along with absolute perfection when it comes to quality is Dave Lumb.

Don’t dismiss Dave when it comes to having a rod built that isn’t for pike. He will do most things including fantastic sight tip work. And he’s often a good lump cheaper than others.

Check out his work on my old C3’s View attachment 29836

You are right about Dave Lumb I bought a second hand pair of Torrix 2.25 rods and they are superb quality rods. I also have 4 of Mark Tunley’s rods that I had built, they are beautifully made rods with 2 of them being 11ft Avon rods and 2 of his dark carbon float rods. I think all these rods are keepers and meet all my needs on the rivers now.

 

[Steve Shenfield]

The rings where to small for my liking the rod was built amazingly well couldn't fault it tbh ..it just me I'm very picky

Surely if it was custom built by Mark Tunley, the rings on the rod would have been your choice, that is unless you bought one of his 'off the shelf' rods. I have had lots of rods built by Mark and I can say hand on heart, they are things of beauty.

 

[Julian Griffiths]

One thing to note. The factory builds ( or atleast the ones I have) only have a very small piece of cork in front of the reel seat. Given a choice I like a good 2 - 3 inches. I fish with centrepins a lot and just find it more comfortable holding the rod in front of the seat. That's an advantage of a custom build. You can have it tailored to your exact preference.

Totally agree! All my rods seem to have at least 2 inch of cork in front of the reel seats, feels more comfortable whilst playing a decent fish.

I'm still a bit old school and love cork handles. But I do like the look of what they call Japanese shrink wrapping on the handles especially the slim profile look to the rods. Not entirely sure how they feel in use though.

 

[Joe Winstanley]

While people have their favourite, I for one can verify that you will not get a bad rod by using any of the top builders. The difference between them is split simply by other things.

What they are prepared to do
What they have and keep in stock
Price
Lead time.

One of the best that doesn’t get mentioned a lot in the specialist world but will always accommodate most things, keeps plenty of stock to reduce lead times, and has some of the best prices going along with absolute perfection when it comes to quality is Dave Lumb.

Don’t dismiss Dave when it comes to having a rod built that isn’t for pike. He will do most things including fantastic sight tip work. And he’s often a good lump cheaper than others.

Check out his work on my old C3’s View attachment 29836

Agree 100%

Dave Lumb would be my first choice of a custom rod builder. First class service, no-nonsense advice and input and he will often recommended cheaper options etc which obviously means less profit for him.

I've never been anything other than 100% happy with the work Dave has done.

 

[Garry Hall]

Hello Scott
I have a couple of Harrison 11ft GTi rods built by Peregrine Rods and cannot fault them.

You can call Roger and tell him what you want.

I ordered a second quiver top also

 

[Scott Emery]

Hello Scott
I have a couple of Harrison 11ft GTi rods built by Peregrine Rods and cannot fault them.

You can call Roger and tell him what you want.

I ordered a second quiver top also

Thanks Garry, I will have a chat with him.

 

[Ady Brayshaw]

I've purchased all of my custom builds from the one rod builder (Dave Lumb). I knew of him before the first purchase. It was based on his reputation as a rod builder and as an angler. The latter is certainly a plus to me. The ring spacing and handle length for the blank are probably two of the more important specifications that I consider. An angling rod builder will know about that. That's part of what I pay for. I would have thought that the standard factory build will probably be not that far off the standard custom build.

With the custom build you have the flexibility of choosing the ring type (important to me), cosmetic specifications like the whipping colour and the type of reel seat (not important to me).

 

[Scott Emery]

Cheers Andy, good info.

 

[Richard Parsons]

I can also vouch for Dave Lumb as an excellent rod builder. His standard build is no-frills and practical.
Andy Sliwa is also a top builder - I've recently received two new Evoke 12' builds that are superb quality.

 

[Christian Tyroll]

Thanks Richard. Those look great. What rings are those? Ring choice is one of the main things I'll want to discuss with the builders. Ideally I'll be looking for some that are a bit higher spec than the ones that come as standard on the off the shelf rods but without going too out of control price wise.

What rings have everyone gone for?

Hi Scott, one piece of advice I would have is to make sure everything is ironed out completely. I.e how many eyes and what sizes, what exact guides as well. And clarify the size of the reel seat etc. Don't take it for granted that they will make a sensible decision if you are not specific.

I used to order all my custom rods through one rod builder and had nothing but positive experiences for 5 or 6 rods (over 10+years). For the eyes, I would normally specify whether I wanted the standard build ones or something else. On the last rod I said 'Fuji sic' and 'the reel seat from this picture' (supplying a photo of another build he had done from his website).

What I received had a carp rod sized reel seat on a Chimera 1.25lb and the eyes were absolutely nothing like Fuji sics that he had put on my previous rod. They were a K series I think, which is not something I had asked for, but in hindsight I had also not for another specific model.

The rod was horrible. I took it to someone else to help sort it out and he couldn't believe it had been built.

I am reluctant to name the builder as I take some responsibility for the outcome, although it is one of the oft recommended names on here. So just a word of warning to make sure you leave no room for interpretation as I had complete faith in this guy and it turned out to be a total shocker.

 

[Paul Richardson]

The following are both Chimera 3s
Rod on the right hand side of the image was made by Dave Lumb - his standard build plus an isotope
Rod on the left isn’t a Dave Lumb build
I bought a pair 2nd hand just for the blank TBH - a back up pair just in case.
Compare the reel positioning/ handle length
Doesn’t look significant but makes a huge difference in my hands. The DL rod intuitively becomes an extension of you making casting overhead and especially underarm effortless
Playing fish , the butt falls into line and you’re concentrating on what’s in front of you not fiddling for a comfortable grip under your elbow
The other rod just doesn’t feel right for me and I noticed this using it rather than looking at it

Then there is the ringing
The DL rod is done perfectly IMHO - lets the blank do its job
The other one , although lovely Fuji K series rings - well I don’t quite know what to say?
DL rod on the right

And to me little things like hook keepers are important. Small neat one on the DL, had to put an aftermarket one on the £300 all singing all dancing!

So some pointers that the devil is in the detail and a reputation might mean a beautifully crafted rod but not what you want
Caveat Emptor.
This kinda also covers another thread about upgrading
Theoretically the non DL rod is an upgrade- burl cork, ALPS reel seats, Fuji K rings.
But for me it’s not as at some point I will get it fettled which will cost a few quid but it’s the blank I’m interested in.
Hope this helps