I've got no experience with the older rods, but I do know they used G.Loomis and Shikari blanks depending on how old they are. Both of those are good blanks. I'd say go for it since you can always pay an upgrade fee to get one of the new rods later. It's definitely a better quality set up than the Cardiff/Okuma. If you wanted more information, check out the model number and call Phenix.