I played around with the Gudebrod butt wind; I felt it was just the kind of thing Chromeseeker would like on a rod. When I brought this one around, again, everyone noticed the custom grip and the butt wind. I also played around with the thread wraps; got a bit intricate and had to redo several along the way, but in the end it paid off.

One thing I got wrong here; insufficient color preserver application on the ferrule wrap lead to a splotchy result. On my next rod, Dave @ Creekside taught me a better method to apply color preserver.