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Light, light yellow or white. No color preserver. Just about disappears on just about any blank color. Use the water method to see what it will look like. Your spar must be thinned and warmed so the first coat soaks into the wraps rather than being on them; it should soak in just like the water does. Eight wrap trim if you want it. I wouldn't bother except at the hookkeeper and a few inches up from that. For a slightly more refined approach to color selection, try looking at it in this way: when in doubt, use colors that almost match the blank color, and if trim is wanted it would be slightly darker than the main thread used. Don't use color preserver; do use multiple coats of thinned and warmed spar varnish. This photo happens to show dark rods (except the gold-wrapped Sceptre in the middle, which more or less matched the factory style of wrap of the time). Dark blue on the bottom blue-gray graphite; dark brown on the brownish graphites, black trim where used. You would get the same effect by picking closely matching colors rather than contrasting ones, or, similarly, by just fading yellow or white to almost clear. Although a nuisance to wrap, thinner thread will fade away and let the blank/ guide feet show through a bit better than the usual A size.


Below, very light tan (to go all but clear) used on a brown blank; a few inches up from the hookkeeper you can see an eight wrap trim wring of the same thread. In between is the space for any personalized labeling you want to do. I usually write the month and year of the build, some river name where I'd been fishing and decided I wanted the rod, and the length and line weight(s). Except the bluish graphite, the rods shown were all done, twenty to thirty years ago, and all have been fished steady.

Great method to suit your fancy. Just remember, the more distinctly contrasting the wraps, the less attention to the subtle finish of the blank itself. So in my aesthetic, I like a rod with guides on it rather than a rod with wraps on it. I want the wraps unobtrusive, and as short (about 10 turns) over the guide foot as possible. Complementary shades bring out the blank finish much more than contrasting shades. When the wrap color/finish itself is more conspicuous, I think you do need longer wraps cosmetically, as shown in you nifty work-ups. That color reminds me a bit of the old Leonard Graftek, although I haven't seen one in 30 years, and also one of the Orvis 'glass, likewise not seen in a long time. Either would look great to my eye with the palest olive available.

Here's an an elegant Orvis with the same concept:

http://fiberglassflyrodders.yuku.com/reply/11004/t/Orvis-Question-.html#reply-11004

Here are some others, which defy my recollection and were more contrasting, but still with understated elegance (even too wide or many trim wraps, especially contrasting, are a over the top to me, but maybe that's because they are a nuisance to wrap and leaving them off makes life simpler)

http://fiberglassflyrodders.yuku.com/reply/48364/t/Orvis-Fullflex-and-Golden-Eagle-Rods.html#reply-48364

Having looked over some of the photos around this forum, I see Phillipson used more contrast than I recalled. I checked out a lot of Phillipsons years ago, and fished with a loaner for a few weeks in the '70s, but I guess I was fishing too much to pay much attention to the cosmetics.

Well, you have a great way of determining your color plan, and you can't go wrong because it's your rod. Use varnish, though. I'm hoping you get to fish the rod enough to wear the guides, so when you change them, they can easily be removed, and you can change the wrap color if your tastes have changed or your memory is gone.