I'm in the process of gathering parts to make myself a nice, vintage style trolling rod. Mesquite wood handles, chrome reel seat, chromed boat guides, etc. But one of the only things I can't find is the old style rubber butt cap or a chrome type gimbal. Does anyone have any vintage or copies of vintage parts laying around? and just to be clear, I'm looking for CHROME, not aluminum.
Hi Jeff, I am not sure how "vintage" you are looking for, but old school calcutta big game rods used to have chrome plated brass gimbles. You might want to contact the Southern California Tuna Club--the still do linen line tournaments, and use the vintage calcutta rods. I have restored a few (25 years ago) when I lived in California, and original parts are sometiimes available. The rods that I restored/rewrapped had badly pitted chrome reel seats and gimble...so it might be difficult to obtain a pristine new one.