Ron seems to be 'plugging' the Greys brand of fly rods? He's not sponsored like Martin is he?
As a pro rod builder, I see lots of different blanks from around the world, some 'good', some 'bad'. What IS good and what IS bad??? This is all subjective to what you want in the rod 'action'. Some like a stiff blank, whilst others prefer a softer 'feel'.
In my considerable experience the stiffer actioned fly rods are not suited to beginners or improvers, but more experienced 'casters' prefer the stiffer rods because they can 'load' the rod by virtue of getting more line in the air. The brand names generally banded about include Sage (generally unreliable because of the thin wall sections), Hardy(Ron hates 'em, but likes Greys??) Orvis(rumour has it that the blanks now come from China)-(as do some of the Greys rods), Loomis (seem to have the highest regard from most quarters but over priced for what's involved).
I build most of my fly rods on Harrisons blanks (who)? A very good British blank maker based in Liverpool. Never heard of them? Well they make blanks for some very respectable rod builders from around the globe, needless to say the list is confidential. They wouldn't be able to charge so much if people knew that their Gti, Xti, M62 fly rod started life near the pierhead in Liverpool.
I am going to leave this thread for now and see what 'pops-up'in the near future folks.