However, there's still plenty of room for buying a blank from anywhere, correctly identifying the spine and setting the guides so they make the line follow the blank for an Overhead reel.

 

Spinning reels are less of an issue given everything is underneath the rod.

 

That's one area that I overlooked when looking at the Acid wrapping thing. You can use less guides which means that you're not impinging the natural action of the blank. That explains why some guys are using it on their lighter rods and really liking 'em.