Glad to see others on this forum feel fewer rings is not necessarily a good thing! I have my views based on surfcasting and sea spinning for many years. Many shore anglers believe the "less rings for distance" is the correct way to build a rod, that is not my opinion for actual fishing.
That business of having minimal rings stemmed from casting tournaments where they cast heavy weights with rods of similar action to scaffolding poles. Sometimes they weigh about the same as well!
For an actual fishing rod that bends, and is built with lightness to hold all day, there are many other factors to consider. Spreading the stresses along the rod, reducing the friction caused by the line angled over the guide (hence "quietness") and improved lifting power when reeling in a heavy fish. All of these things can be improved by having a few more rings (guides) than is the current fashion.
Personally I feel rod makers who insist on less guides to be correct, it might just be that it shortens production time and is cheaper! When it's a custom build though, it is also disrespectful to the customer to ignore his wishes or even to belittle the customer!
I generally end up going the Fuji Concept method of fitting a guide set. Spinning rods often have Fuji guides set up in this manner, I feel it would suit barbel and carp rods equally well.
One project I had was with a light (very soft tip) boat casting rod rod which had been rung for a multiplier reel. I wanted to use a Shimano Ultegra 5500 XTC spinning reel on it and played around with Minima guides set up Fuji Concept style. Eventually I got it casting smoothly and could chuck 4 ozs around 120 yds-140yds. Not too shoddy for a 10' vintage carbon rod!
I even spent some time on a dark night to check the line flow with a video on my phone camera......
If you go to settings on YouTube you should be able to play the video in slow-motion.
Hope my views don't upset the commercial rod builders, no doubt the fewer guides route does a job. But I feel (quite strongly!) that a few more guides, correctly sized and spaced, makes a good fishing rod even better!