Greenheart Rod

Question

GreenHeart   QUESTION: I came across a very old rod that I was told was a Greenheart rod.  The hardware on the rod is all brass and the snake eyes were all black from the looks of it.  The one thing I notice different on the rod from other rods was the stripping guide as you can see in the pics I have sent is that the hardware is of a double footing on each side. I am planing on stripping the rod and restoring it to new. I have had a new agate stripper guide specially made for this rod to look like the original and wanted to know if you might have seen a rod like this or be able to tell me alittle history about it and what you think the value would be on this rod like it is and after being restored? There is printing on the butt end of the hardware down by the reel seat that says :  Army & Navy G.S.L   Victoria SI S.W.1   Makers   One last thing..I believe the rod was once a 7'6" rod but the tip seems to be repaired and now it measures 7'3"  Thank you for your time and hope to hear from you soon :)

ANSWER: Hi Earle,

Only one picture came through...the one of the handle and reel seat.  If you have others, send them me at [email protected] and I'll take a look.

The rod does look like greenheart (what little I can see of it) and the butt section has the look of English manufacture.  I'll have to do some research on the inscriptions to see if I can find where and by who it was made.  It is likely pre-1900 or very early 1900s manufacture.

Pictures of the guides are very useful on this type of rod.  There is a difference between English and American style snake guides and the footing arrangements on guides helps as well.

Value will depend on maker, but the greenheart rods are not valued as highly as the bamboo rods in general.  I personally like greenheart rods and all of the other varieties of wood (not bamboo) rods from that era.

Send me the pictures.  This one might be fun to research.

Thanks,  Joe

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much Joe. I have sent you other pics and hope they come through. If you need other pics or anything closeup just let me know and I will try to get those pics to you.  After looking at the snake eyes on the rod at first I thought they were black but they were just dirty...lol  Seems like they are silver in color and the tip top looks like a regular tip top you would use on like a spinning rod but I am not sure but the center piece in the tip top is white and not sure if its a white kind of stone or what it is made of.  I know the rod was once re wrapped from the way it looks so I am not sure if someone might have replaced the tip top with something different.  I will send you a pic of the tip top to show what it looks like.  Thank you again for your time and efforts on this.  I am very glad I found this site....there arent too many sites you can go to and get expert advice like this.  Thank you so much again.....Sincerely Earle :)

Answer
Hi Earle,

I got the pictures and sent you an email.

The tiptop could be agate lined.

Many of the early rod builders hand made their tiptops and stripper guides which might be the case on this rod.

It looks like it will be a nice rod when you get it finished.

Thanks, Joe