freeline-98 - Flipbook - Page 172
LEE GRIFFIN
BILL
DICK
PHILLIPS
GAYNER
They duly arrived, were hastily unwrapped, and I could confirm
t h at not only were they a p a i r o f ‘A s h by S p ec i a l s ’ b e a ri n g Vi c ’ s
n a me, in Mike’s hand, but t hey we re co n s e c u t ive ly n u m b e re d .
Ro ds 5, 6 and 7 were back to g e th e r ! T he te rm s e re n d i p i to u s
c a me to mind. I couldn’t b e l i eve i t an d s t i ll d o n’ t . J u s t wh a t
a re the chances of this hap p e n i n g? I sh o u l d h ave g o n e o u t a n d
b o ught a lottery ticket the re a nd t h e n!
The condition of this pai r wa s n o t g re at ; t h ey h a d h a d m o re
u s e, but it was purely co s m et i c . I s o o n we n t a b o u t a ge n t l e
re furbishment so as not to re move t he ‘ ha n d s ’ t h a t o r i g i n a l ly
b u ilt them, not even remov i ng t h e s l i gh tly b u b bl e d va n i s h .
T h e only alteration was to re p la c e th e o r i g i n a l f ly ro d ty p e t i p
r i ngs, which I guess Vic had s p e ci f i ed , wi t h m o re co nve n ti o n a l
o n es which are less prone to t a n gl e wh en ca s t i n g . On e s l i gh t
d i f ference in the rods was th a t t he wh i p p i n g o n t h e t i p s ec t i o n s
was a slightly different co l o u r to t h e b u t ts . I t was n o t fad i n g ,
a n d they are all the same. M y g u es s i s t ha t Br u c e wh i p p ed t h e
t i ps and Mike, who also tu r n e d t h e co rk h an d l e s , wh i p p ed t h e
b u tts, and the silk didn’t m a tc h, b u t we wi l l n eve r k n ow fo r
s u re, and it just adds to th ei r c ha ra cte r.
So what was their history o t he r t h a n wh at we al re a dy k n e w ?
F i rstly, they were what we t hi n k a re t he t h ird i n car n a t i o n o f
t h ese rods, being slightly m o re p owe r f u l th a n t h e o ri g i n a l s a n d
s i x inches longer. The first o f t he s e ro d s we re t h e i c o n i c ‘ ye l l ow ’
b l anks, built by Conoflex to B r uc e a n d M i ke ’ s s p e c if i c a t i o n . I
h ave to admit that when I wa s sh ow n th e s e ro d s by B r u c e a n d
M i ke years ago, I thought t h ey we re h av i n’ a l a u gh , a s t h ey
were so soft , and I mean S O F T. T h e ro d s I h ave , t h e b l a n ks o f
which were also built by Co n o f l ex b u t u s i n g a p o lye s te r gl a s s
system, have a slim, 3 0in c o rk h an d l e. I n te re s t i n gly t h ey we re
FREELINE 50
