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Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:32 am
by Dave Burr
It must be written very small to get it all on an M&M. Is it chocolate or peanut? :Confused:

Re: Edward barder interview on M&M

Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 5:29 pm
by SeanM
Snape wrote:
SeanM wrote:An interesting and enjoyable read which reminded me of a long conversation I had with Edward when he was just starting out. I'd sampled the heady delights of a friend's Pezon et Michel fly rod and was keen to acquire a cane rod of my own. Edward's enthusiasm nearly convinced me, but his price list was a little too rich for me and so I settled for a second hand Sharpes rod. :hairpull:

I suppose the number of trout rods reflects the relative amounts of disposable income in the two branches of the sport.
Back in 1990 the Barbus Maximus MK1 was £250. An early one was just sold by Edward for over £2000! :shocked:
I know I know! I did have a waggle of the Barbus Maximus at the time or maybe a year later, but I didn't really like it :snooty:

From memory the fly rods were priced at around £350 and I could get a Fario Club in excellent condition for less than £200 so I opted for the known quantity.

I think the answer to Nobby's question is a matter of branding and perceived value. A Barder rod can only be at best marginally better (a very subjective term) than one of our other rod makers, but they don't have the brand image that Barder has. He is perceived as being the best in the UK, he has rarity value and he has the cachet of a recognisable brand. I could use a Barder rod on a stellar beat of a Southern chalk stream and it would be an immediate conversation piece. Would I buy a Barder rod? Well yes - I have some money burning a hole in the carpet under the bed and my thoughts have turned to placing a deposit. If I do then it will be for a fly rod, but I will need to thing long and hard about it.

Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 11:30 pm
by Macko
It's a funny old world, I notice on eBay that every Chris Lythe reel that's put on there for auction fetch
more than the price that he actually charges himself. There's a good opportunity for Chris there.
Now if Edward came out and said his lead time is 4 years and that he is closing his order book, I will
be a very, very happy man. ££££££££££££££££££££££ would wing it's way to me if I decide to part with the
Merlin and Barder reel. :Hahaha:
What could Snape be worth if he had a sell up.
An unmade bed sold for a couple of million, didn't it. I've got 4 of those, I think I'll sell and buy Redmire :Chuckle: :Chuckle:
Once again a thread about an EB interview ends up harping on about his prices, unbelievable :Scared:


ATB Macko

Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:35 am
by Beresford
Chris Lythe has said that he will be doing some specials as he works his way through the remaining orders. I'm thinking he will do one-offs and sell them at auction, either by closed bids on his website or perhaps ebay. Either way I think they will command very high prices. Sorry I'm now harping on about prices of Chris Lythe on an Edward Barder topic.

Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:46 am
by Kevin
I enjoyed the article and he has a lovely place to have a work shop.

Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2015 1:02 pm
by PershoreHarrier
Well I shall consider myself lucky as Edward Barder restored four of my cane rods years ago and whilst I had to wait a long time for the work to be done I am pleased I had the patience to wait. I think the last one he did for me was in 2009 when he decided he no longer had the time to undertake restorations of what he considered to be inferior B.James rods. The cost of the restoration work he did I considered at the time to be fair and not excessive and of course the quality was first class although on the last rod he did for me a James Kennet Perfection some of the imperfect intermediates lead me to believe these were not replaced. A very small criticism but the two Mk IVs and the Avocet are gems which are a joy to use.

Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 5:32 pm
by Nobby
Sorry Macko...I was just hoping someone could put into words why they would pay so much for one of his rods. No criticism of maker or owners intended.

Some of his early rods look a little weird to me quite frankly, but they soon looked quite cutting edge and I suspect everybody else had to strive towards the bar height he had set.

I've worked-out his unit profit on the reels though........... the cheeky 'monkey' ;-)


Roderney, get me a nice old Myfords lave toot sweet.

Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 9:36 pm
by Beresford
The reel deal was I think a very smart move from a business sense ie. how can Barder Enterprises make more profit without spending any more time making things – get somebody else to do the making but it can't be anything wood or bamboo as we have to make that ourselves, I know a centre pin. Work out carefully how many units can definitely be sold to loyal client list. Job done – bank about £16,000 profit, more perhaps?

Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 9:07 am
by Nobby
Perhaps a tad less if only 30 were truly made, but the site now lists them at £850, so you may be spot on!

Re: Edward Barder interview on M&M

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:40 am
by Snape
Nobby wrote:Perhaps a tad less if only 30 were truly made, but the site now lists them at £850, so you may be spot on!
33 were made and sold. No more will be made either.
I saw Edward a couple of weeks ago when he confirmed this. I expressed surprise at how few rods he currently makes when he told me and how little profit that yields given his workshop rent and paying Colin. He said he won't do any more reels as they each took more than a day for him to finish off and set up the way he wanted and that was too time consuming.