I am in process of roughing out a Heddon Black Beauty 9053 9 Ft 5 Wt.  This rod has a swelled butt, however, I would like to adjust the measurements to even things out a bit.  the first two dimensions are .4400  and .4120 and then .3250.  I would like to drop the .4400 and .4120 to around .3300 or .3400.  What effect would that have on the rod?  Is that recommended or are there some problems in doing so?  (Matt Draft)

Two problems will arise from this. #1 You will slow the action of the rod considerably and #2 the rod will now flex considerably (think trying to grasp a live fish) under the grip whereas the original Heddon and Granger tapers kept the action from the front of the grip out to the tip. You will probably lose a good deal of the power that was inherent in the original taper also.  (Will Price)