A quote from a member here
! The story: I bought this near mint Heddon reel from another member, and then I had to find a rod to put it on. Looked at a bunch and finally settled on a Heddon #17 (known as the Black Beauty but this one not marked thus), 9' 2-1/2F. It's rated as a 7wt and the reel is just too light for the rod, very front heavy and lawn casting it wore me out. So right now that rod wears a Medalist 1498 which is better but still not quite right, and it has yet to see the water. A work in progress...
In the meantime the member I got the reel from came up with the rod it had been on, a marked Black Beauty 9' 2F rated as a 6wt. Both tips have sets but we came to a pricing agreement that I hope was fair to us both, and the reel works much better on this rod. I haven't decided what to do about the sets but yesterday I pulled out the straighter of the two and took the thing fishing. OK; I know it ain't a trout but when you're trapped in the central time zone you take what you can get. First fish...
I will say that 9-footers are a lot of rod for me, but both throw a beautiful loop, much better than my average casting deserves! So thanks to member #1 for the reel and rod, and member #2 for the quote (he also asked for the pic).