Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

History of the FE Thomas Rod Co. Feel free to discuss Thomas Rods here.

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fishnbanjo
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Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#21

Post by fishnbanjo »

Here's a sweet 8' 3/2 FET Special DF that evaded me nearly 2 years ago.....

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Rolf Jacobsen
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Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#22

Post by Rolf Jacobsen »

Yep Goatroper, I still hate you. Beautiful rod and that tag looks like it was printed yesterday. The wraps are a killer but you know that. :)
Rolf
Brook Trout are God's way of saying everything is going to be all right.

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andre49
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Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#23

Post by andre49 »

Sante,

Very nice. Love the internediate wraps and disfferent color signature wraps. 1910 or so? Fred thomas?

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fishnbanjo
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Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#24

Post by fishnbanjo »

andre',
Definitely an FE but CA 1919 to 1932 based on tube, ring keeper and intermediates etc.

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roycestearns
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Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#25

Post by roycestearns »

Both 9'  3/2 FE Thomas Special Bangor ME  - post 37 based on the information
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fishnbanjo
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Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#26

Post by fishnbanjo »

Nice rods Royce and welcome to the quiet little place. :)

Blockhead
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Re: Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#27

Post by Blockhead »

I am not sure if this one is the right year or not because I just bought it at a garage sale today. I think it might be. It has a 9 on the bottom and three sets of three rings just above the cork.
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bulldog1935
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Re: Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#28

Post by bulldog1935 »

I have the same rod as Charlie, 8-1/2' Special, 4/5wt, 4-1/2 oz.
Stamped 8 in the buttcap

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misneac
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Re: Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#29

Post by misneac »

The FE Thomas Special I have is a 3 piece 10 footer with 2 tips and a fighting butt (10'6" with the butt). Oddly, the tips are different lengths. It's marked in the "shield" 'F.E. THOMAS (next line) SPECIAL (next line) BANGOR, ME.'. Above the reel seat it's marked "PATENTED JUNE 1913". The integral butt has 2 fine rings VERY close together (5th pic), and a single ring inside of them. Touching the double ring, between it and the single ring, is stamped the number 8. The threaded end of fighting butt is similar, but not the same. The outside ring of the "bullseye" is a single ring, but vestiges of a third ring further toward the edge remain on about 35% of the butt. The interior ring is a single ring as well. Between the complete outer ring and the inner ring, touching the inner ring this time, is stamped the number 8 (6th pic). On the opposite end of the fighting butt, stamped into the exposed wood, is either the number 11, or 1 stamped twice. A fine distinction I know, but I believe the number 1 was stamped twice since they don't align horizontally, and are further apart than one would expect them to be based on the font size. It's also possible it's a lowercase "LL" stamping. If anyone has further info on this please let me know since the rod has been in storage for the last 40 years and I'm only just finding out about it. I'd really love to know how someone who knows his stuff would describe this rod to someone else who also knows their stuff if they couldn't show them pics. Basically looking for the correct search terms to find out more about, and possibly get a value for, this rod. Photos follow. Thanks in advance.

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wrong66
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Re: Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#30

Post by wrong66 »

Both of your tips have been broken and shortened, which has a huge impact on value.
Mark

misneac
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Re: Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#31

Post by misneac »

Thanks Mark. I figured as much on the longer one, since it's not proportional. What makes you think that the shorter tip has been replaced? Is it based on the model and what the standard length SHOULD be but isn't, is it based on thread color on the wraps, or something else entirely? I really know little to nothing about these rods, so if there's any info you can pass on about them that would be great.

wrong66
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Re: Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#32

Post by wrong66 »

I didn't say it was a replacement, I said it too had been broken. Just broken a little more than the other broken tip. Originally, both tips would have been the exact same length as the butt and mid sections.
Mark

das77
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Re: Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#33

Post by das77 »

Here is a couple pics of my 9’6” special. It appears to have a s on bottom of butt cap and rings.
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davidk
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Re: Attention: Owners of pre 1937 FE Thomas Rods

#34

Post by davidk »

Here's a few pictures of a possible 1910 8 1/2' Special. It has 4 rings on the butt with a 0. One of the seemingly odd things about it is the additional snake guide on the butt section. The wraps are also distinctive. Right now the rod is in very poor condition, the old glue is giving up. Every section, esp. the butt, has delamination problems. One tip is also 1/2" short and has a different ferrule. This will be one of my next projects.


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