Zziplex Dream Machine help required

[jazz09]

Hello all,

 

I was just wondering what size the zziplex dream machines were. I know they were remade but has anybody any idea the sizes of the butt/tip of the origional ones?.

 

Would be great help if somebody has one of them & could also tell me if they are really flexible, like have a quite a bit spring in them as i purchased what was supposed to be one & i am unsure if it really is what it's meant to be. It has no stickers but i guess it may have been built from a blank.

 

Help is much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[H.A.]

From Tony's early 80s leaflet ...

 

"DREAM MACHINE

 

A FAST TAPER carbon/glass blank suitable for F/S use as well as coupling well with a multiplier comes in the form of a Dream Machine.

It is suggested to be used with longer carbon and high carbon butts."

 

Dream Machine + Carbon Butt £70 (blanks only)

Dream Machine + High Carbon Butt £129.63

 

Dream Machine 'S' + 5' Carbon Butt £118.95

Dream Machine 'S' + 5' High C Butt £147.16 (Complete with rings etc ... add £35)."

 

 

 

There is no mention of lengths or diameters, although 13' was considered a long (fishing) rod in those days.

Most were 11'6" - 12'6".

I'd guess that the tip was 7' long. 3.5mm was a standard tip dia and 26mm was a standard C-butt.

(28mm was common for aircraft-grade aluminium tubing which was much cheaper (and heavier!).

 

You might be interested in this link -

 

http://www.zziplexrods.com/about/

 

[Brian Carragher]

You have'nt said if you've bought it second hand althought I suspect you have as you know little of its history, you would be better off asking the person you bought it off who built it and then asking the builder as to its original manufacturer

 

Most custom rod builders tend not to use any of the manufacturers logos for pretty obvious reasons so its perfectly natural for new builds on well known blanks to not have any ID marks

Edited November 29, 2009 by Brian Carragher

[jazz09]

You have'nt said if you've bought it second hand althought I suspect you have as you know little of its history, you would be better off asking the person you bought it off who built it and then asking the builder as to its original manufacturer

 

Most custom rod builders tend not to use any of the manufacturers logos for pretty obvious reasons so its perfectly natural for new builds on well known blanks to not have any ID marks

 

 

Yeah it is 2nd hand & the bloke i bought it off "says" its a zziplex dream machine which was the reason i bought it. Anyway, the butt section is just under 4ft & the top section just over 8ft. The butt is alluminium with red shrink. The top section is VERY springy & cannot handle a 6oz lead. A 4oz is OK but maybe it is made for a fixed spool or would this make no difference.

[Newt]

If the rings are much larger toward the butt and the reel mounts so it hangs under the rod, it is designed for fixed spool rather than for a multiplier.

 

That should not make a difference in the casting weight it enjoys though.

[jazz09]

It has no reel mount fixing, only jubilee clip type of fixings. Looking at the rings looks like it is set for a multiplier.

 

I think the only way i am really going to find out is if somebody else has 1.

[H.A.]

Anyway, the butt section is just under 4ft & the top section just over 8ft ...

 

now, there was a 'special blank' made for F/S with a 'throughy action' (I'm not thinking of the 'Spooler') at around the early 80s.

 

I thought it might have been called an 8500 or something equally meaningless; but come to think of it, I think it had a nasty 9' tip section.

 

Yeh, 8' + 4' was probably the standard DM and it would have been rated at 4-6oz, although 6oz was 'top of the scale'. With a lot of use even 'S' class glass fibre/carbon mix will soften.

 

[Brian Carragher]

I would guess that with that combination of ali butt and carbo/glass mix for the tip that you've got one of the early jobbies so it probably makes the rod about 25 year old maybe even more any thoughts from the early zippy users

[jazz09]

Finally got the answer i needed. I called Terry at Zziplex & gave him a full description of the rod including full dimensions & they were spot on. I asked about the flexability & he says they were very flexible. It turns out that i have an origional Dream Machine which is around 23yrs old & was the 1st pendulum casting rod with casts made over 250yds. He is even going to send me some stickers out for it which is very kind of him to say the least. Now that i know i bought a genuine dream machine i am a very happy man, just need to practice my pendulum casting.

 

Thanks for the help lads.