I knew a guy who would purposely buy cheap split cane rods which typically have very soft slow actions, and then break pieces off the tips until he got it to the point where it presented a more "modern" stiffer faster action. Kind of a bizarre approach to a custom rod but he was fairly successful at it.
I've trimmed many a graphite rod for tournament casting and have a decent feel for how it changes the action. I suspect most of his "success" was in the eye of the beholder. A child only a mother could love scenario
