I was looking at rods at the Bassmaster Classic and a guy comes over and hands me a rod and says how's that feel? I said like I'm holding air how do they make them so light? He starts tell me about the rod guides and other info on a 7'8" bass rod. I ask how much are these and he said they start at $550.00. I handed him the rod and walked away.....far away! (And I buy fairly high end stuff well for bass anyway)