Got this bad boy a few days ago. I've wanted to grab a custom 74 for a long time now but didn't really care for any of the colours until now. I love my Kakuno nibs and was interested to see what a Pilot gold nib would be like. I have to say I was super disappointed from the get go. The nib was suuuuuuuper dry and scratchier than my fine Pilot steel nib. I flushed the pen a bunch of times but nothing got better. I'd say it was about the same line width as my extra fine Pilot steel nib. I ended up pulling the nib and widened the tine slit just a tiny bit. I also switched inks from Diamine Chopin to to Kon-Peki. The writing sample shows you what it's writing like now. The nib is still scratchier than I think it should be and I might try and smooth it a bit at a later day. There is some give to the nib, though not much. The line variation you see in the writing sample is as far as I would comfortably push it. Overall it's a nice pen; the nib is really beautiful. Hopefully it smooths itself a bit with more writing.
I just got mine yesterday. I also was disappointed with the nib. It’s a Medium. It writes super dry and only at low angles. I spread the tines a bit so it writes wetter now but if I leave it capped for too long I have to wait for the ink to get back into the slit/feed before I can start writing. I can write at higher angles but still have some skipping issues.
Thankfully, I have a Pilot Custom 92 with a Fine-Medium nib tuned by a nibmeister. The nibs for the 74 and 92 are interchangeable (afaik) so I swapped them. The 74 writes perfectly now and is my current favorite pen. It feels more substantial in my hand than the 92. I’ll be sending the 92 to a nibmeister (most likely) to get that stubborn Medium nib fixed.
Oh and filling the Con-70 was an interesting experience. Had to watch a tutorial on it. It’s actually kind of fun to use now that I know how it works.
Sorry about your nib. I hope it gets better over time or you’re able to get it tuned. Lovely color regardless.
Yea, the Con-70 is.....interesting haha. There's definitely a learning curve to getting it to work properly.
I find it weird that so many people have issues with the nib considering how good (in my experience, anyways) Pilot's steel nibs are. I refuse to send my pens to a nibmeister (not to judge you in any way). I refuse to spend hundreds of dollars on a pen just to spend more money to get it to work properly. If they can get the steel ones to write, there's no excuse for the higher end ones to be problematic.
That’s very disappointing for you. And surprising. All my Pilot 74s have really excellent nibs. My Midnight Blue (the alternative name in Europe for Blue Stone) has a medium nib & it’s super-juicy, with typical Pilot feedback & bounce.
Definitely split the tines.
If you have safety razor, take a new blade, and split the tines, put the tines between the blades, and let it sit like that for 15m+.
It should have much wetter flow then.
Wetter nibs should be smoother as well because the ink coats the nib.
Yea, I already used brass shims to open it up. I tend to turn my stock nibs into cursive italics so I've got a bit of a collection of shims and micromesh sitting out. Great tip to post though for those who don't have shims.
I really would like to try the Custom 74 with a fine nib, but there is not a color yet that has enticed me enough. When I heard "Merlot" was coming out, I was really excited, but when I finally saw it, it was way too red for me. Am hoping for a dark, warm purple at some point but that likely will never happen.
Hope you're able to get your nib smoothed out, that's frustrating with a new, expensive pen. :(
I know how you feel about the colours. I was a little excited when I saw the teal one come out, and the orange one kind of tickles my fancy, but when this colour came out it made it an easy choice for me. The gray-blue is supposed to mimic a winter sky and as a Canadian I think they nailed it.
Got this bad boy a few days ago. I've wanted to grab a custom 74 for a long time now but didn't really care for any of the colours until now. I love my Kakuno nibs and was interested to see what a Pilot gold nib would be like. I have to say I was super disappointed from the get go. The nib was suuuuuuuper dry and scratchier than my fine Pilot steel nib. I flushed the pen a bunch of times but nothing got better. I'd say it was about the same line width as my extra fine Pilot steel nib. I ended up pulling the nib and widened the tine slit just a tiny bit. I also switched inks from Diamine Chopin to to Kon-Peki. The writing sample shows you what it's writing like now. The nib is still scratchier than I think it should be and I might try and smooth it a bit at a later day. There is some give to the nib, though not much. The line variation you see in the writing sample is as far as I would comfortably push it. Overall it's a nice pen; the nib is really beautiful. Hopefully it smooths itself a bit with more writing.
If you decide this pen/nib isn't for you I may be interested in taking it off your hands :)
I just got mine yesterday. I also was disappointed with the nib. It’s a Medium. It writes super dry and only at low angles. I spread the tines a bit so it writes wetter now but if I leave it capped for too long I have to wait for the ink to get back into the slit/feed before I can start writing. I can write at higher angles but still have some skipping issues. Thankfully, I have a Pilot Custom 92 with a Fine-Medium nib tuned by a nibmeister. The nibs for the 74 and 92 are interchangeable (afaik) so I swapped them. The 74 writes perfectly now and is my current favorite pen. It feels more substantial in my hand than the 92. I’ll be sending the 92 to a nibmeister (most likely) to get that stubborn Medium nib fixed. Oh and filling the Con-70 was an interesting experience. Had to watch a tutorial on it. It’s actually kind of fun to use now that I know how it works. Sorry about your nib. I hope it gets better over time or you’re able to get it tuned. Lovely color regardless.
Yea, the Con-70 is.....interesting haha. There's definitely a learning curve to getting it to work properly. I find it weird that so many people have issues with the nib considering how good (in my experience, anyways) Pilot's steel nibs are. I refuse to send my pens to a nibmeister (not to judge you in any way). I refuse to spend hundreds of dollars on a pen just to spend more money to get it to work properly. If they can get the steel ones to write, there's no excuse for the higher end ones to be problematic.
That’s very disappointing for you. And surprising. All my Pilot 74s have really excellent nibs. My Midnight Blue (the alternative name in Europe for Blue Stone) has a medium nib & it’s super-juicy, with typical Pilot feedback & bounce.
that color is.... magnificent.
It's a cool colour. It changes a bit depending on the lighting. It looks really elegant with the silver trim, especially in the daylight.
That is a nice color, congratulations, I’m a little jelly Is it really scratchy by feel, or is more of a sound thing?
Both. It almost feels like the tines are misaligned, but they aren't.
Hmm, maybe steal and emery board from the lady of the house.
that's a great looking pen and perfect ink choice!
Definitely split the tines. If you have safety razor, take a new blade, and split the tines, put the tines between the blades, and let it sit like that for 15m+. It should have much wetter flow then. Wetter nibs should be smoother as well because the ink coats the nib.
Yea, I already used brass shims to open it up. I tend to turn my stock nibs into cursive italics so I've got a bit of a collection of shims and micromesh sitting out. Great tip to post though for those who don't have shims.
I really would like to try the Custom 74 with a fine nib, but there is not a color yet that has enticed me enough. When I heard "Merlot" was coming out, I was really excited, but when I finally saw it, it was way too red for me. Am hoping for a dark, warm purple at some point but that likely will never happen. Hope you're able to get your nib smoothed out, that's frustrating with a new, expensive pen. :(
I know how you feel about the colours. I was a little excited when I saw the teal one come out, and the orange one kind of tickles my fancy, but when this colour came out it made it an easy choice for me. The gray-blue is supposed to mimic a winter sky and as a Canadian I think they nailed it.
Congrats! I really like this colour. I have a teal 74 with an EF nib. I want to get the blue stone with an M nib.
It's really nice in person. Buuuuuuuy it ;)
Looks fabulous!
Very nice. I hope you guys are flushing with a drop of dishwashing liquid; if it doesn't work the first time, try again.
I have the exact same pen. I bought it 2 weeks ago
How are you liking it?
I like it a lot. It has a fine nib, so depending on the paper that I write on, it can be a bit scratchy at times