Chris can you give the guide set up measurements?

What do you mean by "balance the rod"? Is it physically creating a balance point at the reel seat? Or, does it have more to do with maxing out the rod and reel drag capability etc.?

Balancing the entire assembly using the area at the foregrip as a fulcrum. The less tip weight hanging from the fulcrum the lighter it feels. Overcoming long rods tip weights to create a comfort starts from the reels seat location and wight of reel. I've built 11 & 12' rods using reel seats located 24" from bottom of seat & greater which coupled with a reel of size and it feels lighter than shorter rods because of the balance point. Mind you that not everyone can utilize a long butt comfortably to take full advantage of a "perfect" balance point. Remember when you threw a Lami 11363M and a penn 706. Nothing could balance that combo except muscle!!

To me balance is two things. One is the actual balance of the rod, with a ZX27 its ass heavy. The other thing i consider when it comes to balance is just how the reel feels on the rod in my hands. The reel seems to just be too big for the rod, hence, not balanced. If i was to max out the drag on that reel i would be looking into century's warranty on the rod, it would snap like a twig vs 40 lbs drag.

Thanks

I'm fishing a 10'6 mojo 2-6 with a VS250. It's so tip heavy, i don't even think a VS300 would balance it. When I first got it, I poured 7oz of lead into a but cap which balances it perfectly with a 2oz plug tied on. The butt cap also acts as a counter weight when working pencils but that's a lot of weight to add to a rod.

I'm curious as to what others do to balance things.

Yet another review after i caught my fist fish. I was testing it out on my lake and caught a 14" bass. I had the drag very loose and was throwing a cocahoe, what a fight. The first run pulled off about 12 yards of line. Seriously, the rod is light enough to throw a cocahoe nicely, it was really launching a jumping minnow. Very versatile stick. I am a bit anxious to see how it performs on 30+lb fish.