Look up beam theory and "force/deflection of a beam. Look up Modulus of elasticity. Look up Moment of Inertial. Don't confuse the concept of blank "stiffness" with the "lumpiness that can result from the use of long legged very thick framed guides.. Think of the composite effects of adding a guide to the blank. Think what this composite effect has between the legs of the guide and what effect it has along the length of the whole blank.
It never ceases to amaze me how people try to understand beam deflection principles as a whole without understanding a single term used in the discussion of the beam deflection problem.
Fishnutty, you have 4 posts and you are griping already? if you read Croaker Joes post you will see he clearly shows that he is an affiliate of Anglers Resource.
If you have never done it before I advise having someone do it. You do need to spin the rod while the epoxy cures and you can really make a mess of things applying the epoxy.
Looks like honey Lami's. Nice builds too with the solid cork fore grip and butt grip. People still want these built new so some feel they are better than Dept store bought factory rods. I would say just fish them.
I prefer cork tape only. I do somewhat like shrink wrap over cork tape but I do not particularly like shrink wrap right on the blank. Now those are my fishing preferences. Building them is equally easy . I actually prefer the thicker cork tape with the rubber particles even more than solid cork. I don't like foam grips at all personally but many people do request them , especially people who like thicker handles.
You could use cork tape also. Cut it all off , sand it pretty smooth by hand , wrap the cork tape on , thread wrap the ends of the cork tape. You can also shrink wrap the ends of the calk tape or shrink wrap the whole length of the cork tape.
Other than the weight of the rod which is generally 8 to 10 for saltwater fishing for stripers , I think all modern rods can be used in the salt water. older rods with metal ferrules may be iffy but as long as the rod is all FRP then I don't see why the saltwater would matter. Now some guys do use very light stuff (I have seen 6 wt) for stripers but from what I have seen its in the very early spring and late fall in daylight when its mostly very small stripers they will catch. My SW fly rod is a 10 wt Penn but the Lami 9 foot 8 weights are common too.