Granger Registered RX9053

[kwalt]

Howdy! And thanks for adding me. My friend's dad passed years ago, and she's finally getting around to clearing out his stuff. He was an avid fisherman, and I'm in charge of all the rods and reels. In the stack is a Granger Registered RX9053 9' with the sock and tube. The serial number is 1950285. I've looked for some values online, including here, but it seems to be a bit of a unicorn. Would love some advice on value and the best selling forums. The tube shows some wear but has the original cap, chain and medallion. The sock has a few tears. The rod itself appears in very good condition. There are some scuffs and a few nicks here and there but overall looks barely used. I've reached out to a couple of people/experts directly, but welcome additional insight. Thank you. Kelly

[crowebeetle]

Please post more detailed photos. It is an interesting rod and you will get accurate information about it upon posting more photos. It has been frequently fished based on the darkened grip. Are all pieces the same length?

[kwalt]

Yes, all the pieces are the same length. Here are some more photos. If there are photos of specific areas that would be helpful, please let me know. Thank you.

[Flyman615]

You may wish to contact royalwulff or scottwhitman on this forum via Personal Messaging. Both are experts on Granger Registereds.

Scott Z.

[kwalt]

You may wish to contact royalwulff or scottwhitman on this forum via Personal Messaging. Both are experts on Granger Registereds.

Scott Z.

Thank you. I had a long conversation with Kathy from Mike Clark's South Creek shop in Lyons, CO that was super helpful. I appreciate all the help.

[Seabowisha Salmo T]

Howdy! And thanks for adding me. My friend's dad passed years ago, and she's finally getting around to clearing out his stuff. He was an avid fisherman, and I'm in charge of all the rods and reels. In the stack is a Granger Registered RX9053 9' with the sock and tube. The serial number is 1950285. I've looked for some values online, including here, but it seems to be a bit of a unicorn. Would love some advice on value and the best selling forums. The tube shows some wear but has the original cap, chain and medallion. The sock has a few tears. The rod itself appears in very good condition. There are some scuffs and a few nicks here and there but overall looks barely used. I've reached out to a couple of people/experts directly, but welcome additional insight. Thank you. Kelly

hello, they are unicorns and extremely desirable. keep it, pass it down. you may never see another in the marketplace as a barn find. some fishermen would consider mayhem to obtain a registered. my opinion, only. regards, jim w

[wrong66]

Or sell it for big money.

[TSPEYFLY]

I think I'm for the mayhem! Where'd you say you lived?

[Brian K. Shaffer]

What a fun story... thank you for the pictures and to share them here... what a joy for us!
I had my shot at a 7 footer in 2001 and couldn't pony up the scratch.
A real ball buster to this day.

[Fishbamboorods]

Registered rod was listed in classifieds recently with asking price around $3000.

[BigTJ]

I saw that are 9 footers that need work really getting that kind of $$? It’s hard to fathom when you can get essentially the same rod fishing-wise for $250. The subject rod above is in much better condition than the one that was listed which needed work.

[kwalt]

Update for anyone interested - I took the rod to Rick's Rods in Denver for an evaluation. He said it was in very good condition. He did some minimal work and listed it for $2295. Thanks for all the information given. I had zero knowledge about rods. Next time I visit my mom, I plan to dig through my step dad's stash. Doubt I'll be lucky enough to find something like this one but who knows.

[kwalt]

Registered rod was listed in classifieds recently with asking price around $3000.

Was it listed in the classifieds here? I didn't see it. Would love to see what another one currently for sale looks like.

[Fishbamboorods]

Was listed by Fred Kretchman: https://www.kretchmanflyrods.com/vintag ... e-old.html

Pending sale for alot higher asking price.

[BigTJ]

I’m not nearly as good condition.

I’m blown away by those prices and it’s good info thanks.

John

[Flyman615]

I've commented on this before, so I won't repeat the details but ANY Granger Registered rod differs in many ways from lower grade examples using the same Granger taper.

Besides being very low production (fewer than 500 rods over about a 15-year period) the Registereds are serialized and have features found on no other Grangers.

And comparatively, very few have survived making them both very desirable and highly collectible, thus the current market prices.

Scott Z.

[BigTJ]

Scott most of us are already up to speed on that info. I can’t tell for sure but are you saying a Registered casts different or somehow better than the other grades? I always thought they had the best workmanship and all that but they casted about the same. I’ve never cast one so it would be interesting to get your perspective.

I hadn’t seen a comp on a 9’ registered in a few years the last one I remember was about 2K. What recent comps have you seen save for the example above? What would have been your guess prior to that comp? I thought $3k was $600 too high now I’m not sure.

[Flyman615]

Hi John:

As you may know, the 3/2 Registered Grangers have two more snake guides than the same tapers in lower grades. And the snakes are bright (stainless) rather than blued.

While you may disagree, I think these changes add to the smoothness of casting Registered grade Granger rods in my experience. I have a 9050 Registered and can tell the difference with, say, my 9050 Special. Plus, of course and to remind, Registereds are made from a single high-grade bamboo culm while lower grade Grangers are not.

As for current Granger Registered prices/values, so few ever come to market that the large range of $2000-$3000+ is probably pretty accurate based on what I've seen. A 7030 or 7633 example, however, may even be worth more.

Granger collectors are apt to pay whatever it takes if they need a Registered to "complete" or add to their collection. That said, obviously the shorter the Registered, the more money one will command...based also on condition and originality, of course.

Lastly, I will and do disagree with those who think the Granger Registereds are just "dolled up" lower grade Granger rods in order to make a higher profit. No, they are unique and very desirable limited edition classics on their own. No doubt about it.

Scott Z.

[BigTJ]

Thanks for the info Scott - you know adding guides to a rod is pretty easy. Would be interesting to know if the tapers are different I understood they were the same but could be wrong. As good as my specials and favorites cast I can’t imagine the registereds are $2,750 better casting. Hopefully one of these days I can see for myself at a gathering.

I’m also a maker and I can tell you in my experience the single vs multiple culm deal is a myth. In fact Winston purposely uses strips from multiple culms to try to get rods to have more consistent action. The quality of the cane is what matters not how many culms the cane came from. My guess is the Registerds used the best cane they had.

Also if the 9 footers in so-so condition are approaching $3k I’d think a seven footer would get $4-$5k.

John

[Flyman615]

Well, John-

As someone who's been at this fine madness for over 45 years now, I can tell you that "fishability' and 'collectibility' are sometimes two completely different things and not necessarily equal in terms of market value.

Scott