I totally agree with you. I purchased one of these in black and got a medium nib. Even so, I hated it and ended up selling it. Just spend the extra money and get the Pilot Custom 823. The Custom 823 will forever be my best purchase ever in a fountain pen !! Also, the Platinum 3776 can be purchased for around the same price and it is a much better writing experience and a larger nib.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

I also enjoy my 823 heaps. And that heart shaped breathing hole on the 3776 is the smallest gimmick I'd die for :)

@MotivateDomination

Ай бұрын

you commented on micks channel saying you loved it. What changed?

"which none of you should get" lmaooo the ardent contempt is palpableeee. This is by far the funnest review I've seen on any pens. I'm sorry for your experience, but thank you for the honesty.

You can’t compare a Japanese extra fine nib with a German extra fine nib. German nibs are much wider. Japanese nibs are made for a completely different kind of writing and are much finer.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

...and I'm very aware of that, which is why I didn't compare it to a German nib. Objectively, it's just a horrible nib for writing.

@speedbird8987

Ай бұрын

@@nojane sorry, I thought I heard you compare it to an M800.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

@@speedbird8987 it's all good, comments are meant for discussion. I did use the example of the M800 to describe the *stiffness of the nib, but my point wasn't that it's not as smooth, realistically few pens are as smooth as it is.

I have it with a soft medium nib and in the opaque solid black and gold finish, and I like it a lot! The con70 was driving me crazy until I took a syringe for cleaning it. I'm not 100% sure but it seemed to get pretty clean when I squeezed in a few good shots of water with the syringe, maybe giving it a little more pressure.

I have about 30 gold nib Pilots in my collection and they have some of the most consistent QC in the business. You may have been sold a defective model, rare but it happens, especially considering the leak and obtaining a replacement from the retailer would have been the way to go. I have several custom 74’s (opaque and translucent) in medium and broad nibs and they’re all great writers. Japanese nibs traditionally have a finer line than western nibs so I tend to go for medium or broad. I’d never get an EF in a Japanese nib because 1) I dislike the hard as a nail, sharp feedback type of writing experience 2) I prefer wetter, juicy writers. This is why impulse buys are not a good idea. Know your pen preferences, research the pen you want to buy and make sure it aligns with your preferences. I’m a medium broad nib person. I tried a FM nib (for variety) in the Pilot Custom 91 and I don’t like it because it’s too sharp and feedbacky for my taste. Now I know only M or B nib Pilots for me. If you have a pen club, pen show or brick and mortar store near you, try out the medium and broad nib Custom 74 before buying a new one. It’s such a shame your experience has been a bad one but trust me, when you get the right one for your preferences, that isn’t faulty, this pen is a great writer.

@nojane

21 күн бұрын

You're absolutely right!

I bought one with a fine nib as my first gold nib and completely echo your comments - I found the nib a bit scratchy and inconsistent and ended up trying (and largely failing) to smooth it out myself.

If there really is no tipping you should return the pen. EF really is for people with minuscule writing. I enjoy Japanese fine and extra fine but they are a different beast.

Thanks for the critique! Hopefully the threads wont be too bothersome when I get it. In a scene where people focus so much on the nib, little things like handling and ergonomics often get overlooked! I dumped my Pilot Metro and Benu despite being solid writers. They're just not comfortable to hold.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

I did the same thing with my metro! The step-down was just not made for my hand at all.

@graciousideals1509

Ай бұрын

@@nojane Me too. I have larger hands. I like to grip the end of the pen. The sudden taper of the grip made it feel too small, while the step would hit the joint between my phalanges/finger section. Gripping it higher means the metal lip is on my fingers. Not painful but it's uncomfortable. It's okay though. I found someone who enjoys my Metro now and my Platinum Prefounte has my back :)

I‘m very thankful for your video! Now I know the converter and grip section with ink stains would drive me crazy ;) I can’t hear „take it to a nibmeister“ anymore! I would have to pay around 60-80 Euros on top (alone 30 for shipping). I‘m a customer , who sends pens back if they don’t write out of the box. To be honest, my Pilot Elite had the same weak upstrokes and also inconsistent lines when I wrote (no hard starts but really dry even with KonPeki). I returned the pen. Also done with a scratchy Benu-nib and a dry and scratchy Lamy 2000 (got replacement that work well). these pens had problems I couldn’t fix on my own with aligning tines or making it wetter like I did with others- but even that you can’t expect from a beginner to tune the pen.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

I feel the same. I'm praying for the day where every fountain pen I order will arrive and just *write*. It's an unrealistic dream though, I'm aware. Sorry to hear about your Benu, I've actually had great experiences with their broad Schmidt nibs. I would give them another chance if I were you!

@MrsAlchemist

Ай бұрын

@@nojane your video definitely brought up some emotions about that topic. I won’t list here how many bad nibs I had and how many great out of the box, it’s sad but true and I really hope it doesn’t get worse because „you can go to a nibmeister“ is accepted more and more. Oh I got a replacement nib and love my Benu now! And the third (yes! Because the second came cracked in the middle of the barrel when you can screw it open) Lamy 2000 writes like a dream. So I don’t get it why there are so many quality differences nowadays.

I remember when I got into this hobby, I was obsessed with the finest line posssible, and the most practical, everyday setup possible. Nowadays I prefer broad nibs with really wet nibs. Pilot ships their nibs super dry. I’ve always had to work on my Pilot nibs when I get them. I don’t blame you for not liking the C74. I think the CH92 is a better start to the Pilot brand and gold nibs, but it’s still the same nib. If it weren’t for Pilot’s heritage, I think their more budget gold nibbed pens would be a lot less loved.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

In the end - and even if the handwriting doesn't look nearly as nice - we would all take a juicy broad nib over a dry fine, wouldn't we ;) And yes, I absolutely agree. My C74, 743, 823 and Metro all required some tuning to achieve a wetness I was happy with. With this C74 though, that has proven to be impossible.

176 is the price nowadays. I bought a custom 742 directly from Japan in 2014. Medium nib, what is a european fine. Back then the price was 73 Euros (Delivery included). The converter is a push pull system. Never had a problem with this pen. For the money I paid it's more than o.k. Well I own a 823 too, but the pen costs 3x the price.

@nojane

13 күн бұрын

For 73 Euros, I'd get this pen anyday!

Listen bro, just do you. These are valid criticisms. At this point, I'd just get a Pilot 78G and nib swap it with a donor nib, preferably from another broken pilot. Sell this bad boy and put it to a pen you'll enjoy a lot more :) I'm kind of disappointed with my latest purchase (TWSBI VAC700R in 1.1 stub). I'd trade it for a few kakunos at this point.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

...or save the money to buy something useful. A car perhaps? Savings for college? Crypto? Stocks? Bah, who am I kidding. Welp, looking forward to my next fountain pen splurge!

Great points. I think it's absolutely absurd that people expect people to tune a pen that costs OVER $100. I don't think people should expect so little out of what is supposed to be top level craftsmanship. I face this issue with music equipment too. I'm really struggling on deciding what gold nib pen to get. Sort of between 742, 743, and 823 but I really only like thicker lines. I tried 3 inexpensive pens and all have issues (a TWSBI and two Jinhaos). Fountain pens are the only pens I can write with without discomfort, so I want to get 2-3 that write well and will last, but I have constant skepticism of QC in ALL price ranges.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

I think QC is ALWAYS gonna be an issue with fountain pens. But most of the time you can fix the issue yourself, albeit after some frustration. I would say if you like thicker lines, a Pilot 823 with a medium or broad nib is definitely worth considering. It's a great smooth writer with a lot of wetness.

@remyvegamedia

Ай бұрын

@@nojane Yeah I agree. I think this is mostly the case when it's mass produced stuff at the scale most of these are being pushed out. But I think it'll be okay, I'm gonna be more positive about it haha. As long as it can be resolved, which it mostly seems is the case, then it's all good. I'll probably go for it soon once I decide between med and broad.

The funny thing is I love my $40 Sailor Compass 1911 MF nib. It looks just like all the other Sailors cigar shape but personally i wouldn’t spend so much money as this Pilot Custom with gold nib pen in fear of its scratchy nib. I love my Parker gold nib pen from 1988. Super smooth. I probably would agree with you. I’m sorry you have negative experience with this pen. I feel for ya.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

Sailor has always given me positive experiences. Their 1911 Promenade (which has the standard 14K Sailor nib) is the best starter gold nib pen in my opinion (under 100 dollars!)

@LisaRSArt

5 күн бұрын

@@nojane Thank you for the recommendation. 😊

Its Pilot gold nib thing I tell you, they're tight, but the feed is always ready to drop a generous blob of ink yet without the ability to firehose(hence the need for custom feed on Falcon nib), and as I mentioned before, there's an invisible downturn that makes it like a little downward pressure or else it won't write. I had to understand it over now 6 models of Pilot gold nib pens I owned that all of them are strange, except Pilot Capless F and thicker nibs, EF Capless is scratchy for average fountain pen user, but with a hand that gets used to it, it can be bearable or even become smooth^. If you think Custom 74 EF is scratchy(which it IS), I've tried someone elses' vintage needlepoint flex Waterman(owned by local nibmeister) and Nakaya extra soft fine that surpasses its toothiness, and their downturn/beak shape is very obvious, I learned about the downturn nib shape effect to snapback with a lot of feedback from them and applied the same to unmodified C74 EF that I have and I understood how it likes to write, its so particular... ^I understood this very recently with a Pilot Grance, its slim and heavy, it gets out of balance for me to write on its smooth side pretty quickly, but every time it gets better, in turn it ruins the feeling of weight and feedback of Sailor pens and also my previously toothy Pilot nibs. I'm drawing a tangent that Drew of Gouletpens is quite used to Extra Fine and slim straight pens to find that C74 EF and Capless EF for him to call them smooth, but I'm also backing it up with my own experience of Sailor nibs that my hand forgot or never got really used to(such as my grail 21k Pro Gear, which over time grew on me). *Its the hand*

@nojane

Ай бұрын

I don't think you could have put it any better, it really is the hand. I think my hands are just tuned for > medium fine nibs. That being said, I rather enjoyed my sailor 21K F (before I sold it) and my sailor 14K EF (before I sold that too). Ultimately, as hard as I try to adjust to fine nibs, I just don't think they're for me :(

Japanese EF and F nibs tend to appeal to people who have very tiny handwriting or write in kanji/Chinese characters which can require many strokes just to write one word (eg. 憂鬱). Having tipping on the nib would cause the line width to become much thicker so I can understand why they don't have it. Personally I avoid getting Japanese EF nibs precisely because I worry that it would feel too scratchy for me, especially when Western EFs are where I kind of draw the line. But I think the beauty of fountain pens is there is always something different for everybody - and I appreciate that QC/consistency is much better in Japanese pens than some Western brands I won't mention.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

I absolutely see your point - I'm actually Chinese myself and I've loved using my C74 to write hanzi(kanji). For one writing hanzi doesn't require the continuous strokes that cursive english does; it requires powerful, characteristic strokes with purposeful changes in ink saturation to convey emotion. Thus a more coarse/feedbacky nib is actually more ideal. For two, like you mentioned, trying to write 瓛 with a broad nib is going to end up with a lot of paper wasted. But, for writing english (which i assume most people on youtube are interested in), it's quite bad. And although I'd like to believe pilot's QC is that much better than its western counterparts, every single one of my 6 pilot fps have had problems (except the metro) whereas every sailor I've had wrote perfectly out the box.

@Grahamplaysgo

Ай бұрын

I love the extra fine nibs of Japanese pens. My European fine and extra fine nibs are like blunt knives in comparison.

@satya_satori

Ай бұрын

I have VERY LARGE writing. I prefer the extra fine nibs of Japanese pens because they enable me to fit more on a page given that my writing already takes up a lot of space. Letters, especially lowercase e, are also more defined and easier to read than with a wider nib.

M is the best size of a Japanese pen, maybe an F if you write small I think the ink is also an isuee when you write with small point Any ink that expands like lamy bkue black would be preferred

@nojane

Ай бұрын

Yeah, I'd argue that even an F might be too fine. As for ink, like I've said, Lamy Black is definitely not a good demonstrator of this pen's ability. But I've tried every ink from Diamine to Iroshizuku to Organic Studios Nitrogen (the wettest ink I have) and this pen performs basically the same - pretty badly

i used to own couple of pilot, get ride of them all. Like u said, the entire writing system must come with some serious design faults. Go get a $5 Jinhao 9016, cheaper, and a better pen. Modern pens from China outperform Japanese. I find few difference between gold or steel nib, in term of writing.

@fatyak4122

Ай бұрын

Let's agree to disagree. If you're lucky then you can get a good pen for $5. Most likely you'll get a pen that is "better than you would expect for that price". And because it's cheap, you are going to neglect all its faults and inconveniences. I'll still take any of Pilot's pens over most of chinese pens. They'll serve me for longer.

@Shanghai_Knife_Dude

Ай бұрын

@@fatyak4122 do not speculate. I talk with facts and take zero tolerance to pen that failed to work, which are all Pilot in multiple cases.

@fatyak4122

Ай бұрын

Neither do I, most of my pens are Made in China. They failed in quality and landed in the drawer called called "the graveyard" or as pens for my students (I don't care what will happen to them). None of my Pilot's failed me. However I can't say that about Sailor and Platinum pens. Only chinese pens I can stand are TWSBI, Laban and Opus 88.

@Shanghai_Knife_Dude

Ай бұрын

@@fatyak4122 why u so into cheap pens and dislike them? That doesn't make sense. Be sensible. Be logic.

@galessi1226

Ай бұрын

My jin hao 9016 EF writes like a dream......and is the perfect size for my hand.....That said my Diplomat Exellence A2 steel EF nib is my favorite so far......can't really afford gold nibs....except for a vintage Pilot Script nib on an ugly black pocket pen....smooth and fine!!

Thanks for the video, Sir. I absolutely agree that fountain pen enthusiasts should know the hard true about specific pens. I feel the same for the TWSBI Ecos, which can’t write with normal office writing pace; the flow will never suffice for such note-taking writing activities, yet they are so much highly spoken by so many KZreadrs, which leaves me absolutely puzzled! Truth must always be said. Well done!

If I may, where are you selling it? I might know someone who would like to buy it.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

I'm selling it on a local second-hand site.

@leasimleija1323

Ай бұрын

@@nojane gotcha. Well, looking forward to the next video.

@nojane

Ай бұрын

@@leasimleija1323 thank you!

Is there actually no tipping material or was that an exaggeration?

@nojane

13 күн бұрын

There is a very small piece, barely noticeable

The only Pilot I HATE. I bought it in EF as well. I love EF nibs by other Japanese brands. I even have a 742 with a PO nib, but for whatever reason Pilot EF nibs fall short for me.

I would suggest you should probably go back to using ballpoint pens.

@nojane

13 күн бұрын

Cool

Where did you purchase this loser? Have you thought of getting in touch with the seller and raising a bit of Cane with them? Perhaps they will surprise you by taking it back and replacing it with one that works. The squeaky wheel gets the attention.

@nojane

13 күн бұрын

I managed to sell it for a pretty reasonable price :/ I'll take even that at this point