DLaMar

Mike Don't know what you mean by in or out; traditionally the spine is either up (opposite the guides for spinning and fly rods or on the spine for bait casters) or less frequently seen the other way around (the guides are mounted opposite the spine for a bait caster and on the spine for fly and spinning rods). And some folks think it OK to mount the guides 90 degrees to the spine. I'm an admitted traditionalist and build with the spine up. However, I strongly suspect it it makes very little difference if any at all because the forces for casting and fish fighting (with the exception of the heavy, blue water rods) easily over powers the spine's influence. If your in or out question was in reference to the inside or outside of a blank's natural curve, the outside of the curve is the spine, and, again, fly and spinning guides are traditionally mounted on the inside of the curve.