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Good Reviews For Pilot's Custom Series


glorfindel

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I have both a Pilot Custom 823 and a Platinum Century 3776 Bourgogne. Each writes flawlessly with no issues whatsoever, flow or otherwise. The nibs both are medium, and the platinum seems a little finer and as such gives a little more feedback. The Pilot is more luxuriously smooth...

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Every Pilot Custom I have had has been great.

Type of ink of writing style does not affect it.

stan

Formerly Ryojusen Pens
The oldest and largest buyer and seller of vintage Japanese pens in America.


Member: Pen Collectors of America & Fuente, THE Japanese Pen Collectors Club

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Every Pilot Custom I have had has been great.

Type of ink of writing style does not affect it.

Well flexy writing with the Falcon nib does effect it. To the point I add photoflo to the ink.

#Nope

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I'm thinking that when people discuss PIlot nibs they maybe should begin by stating what inks they've used and if they've done anything to the nib. I can't believe that about half of us have considerable flow issues and half consider them perfect. For instance, I use a lot of Noodler's, maybe that's why I have more issues than some?

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Yes, I learnt the hard way that Japanese pens call for Japanese inks, or European inks with extremely good flow, which are rare because the European inks are designed for European pens, which prefer less flow and lubrication. If you try in a Pilot an ink that goes well in a Pelikan, well, that's the recipe for disaster! My Pilot works well with Iroshizuku inks and with Sailor inks, but all the Diamine and Caran d'Ache I tried gave skippings and false starts. The only ink I have that works reeasonably well in a Pilot is Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, which is a nightmare to use in my Pelikan M1005, even with a F nib it is like writing on toilet paper.

Don't take life too seriously

Nobody makes it out alive anyway

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I have been happy with my Pilots. The only trouble I have had was with an ink like Noodler's Black with a high surface tension, but this problem is hardly limited to Pilot.

 

I would challenge you to find any pen with exclusively good or exclusively bad reviews. Different people have different experiences and different expectations. There is one popular brand on this board that I just don't care for. That's me. I think you'll be happy with the Pilot, but one never knows.

Proud resident of the least visited state in the nation!

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Performance = Pen (nib + feeder) + Ink + Paper

 

It is like in marriages, you have to find the right ink for the right pen to be used on a given paper.

More often than not, if the pen is not faulty (e.g. misaligned nib, residuals in feeder, ...) the best recipe for good performance is to understand which ink the pen needs and stick to it.

Don't take life too seriously

Nobody makes it out alive anyway

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So...maybe on these dry flow Pilot threads that seem to be popping up more and more we should answering this: 'What ink do you plan on using in the pen?" and tailor our answers from there.

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I will chime in with my thoughts. I have the following Japanese pens in regular rotation, Pilot Custom 91 FM nib, Pilot Falcon SM nib, Pilot VP Fine 14K and Fine 18K, Platinum 3776 Balance Maestro F Nib. My thoughts in each below:

 

Custom 91 - Easily my favorite out of the box pen in every area. It writes no matter what, including paper, ink and even when leaving the pen uncapped for a bit it doesn't dry out too fast. It's BY FAR the smoothest writer I own, and I haven't had to do a bit if work on the nib or feed. I love PI Shin-Ryoku in it but have tried Diamine and De Atramentis inks as well.

 

Falcon - I so wanted this to be my favorite pen and my daily user, but it's not. It serves a purpose when I want to add a little flair to my writing, but is unreliable when taking notes as it dries out VERY FAST. You literally have to keep writing with it otherwise it will start to dry. It's also hard on my hand for long writing sessions. That being said what it does write is amazing and I won't get rid of it regardlesss.

 

VP - 14k was quite scratchy and need some time on the micromesh pad to get it writing nicely. That being said it's a very fine dry line that is perfect for using at work. The 18k is wetter and not nearly as scratchy but over the period of a year of use the tines have taken on a slight bend to them from the angle in which the pen is held due to the awful clip position. It doesn't effect flow or performance right now but it's a pain in the ass.

 

Platinum 3776 Balance Maestro - I realize this is a steel nib and really can't be compared to the other pens, but it's a darn fine steel nib that writes quite nicely. It's a bit scratchy and not a true Japanese Fine as its as fine as my Schmidt fine nibs which is odd. The problem I have with this pen is that it is FAR too light and even when posted the balance feels off when I write with it. Also it has inconsistent flow issues depending on the ink used. I have relegated it to PI or Sailor inks only thought Noodlers Turquise Eel works ok in it. it's still at the bottom of my Japanese pen list.

 

My 2 cents, on the matter.

 

Regards,

Paul

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New Custom 823 user here. I bought it and used it less than 2 weeks ago and it worked wonderfully straight out of the box. Everyone else who used my pen also gave high praise. I did use the included Pilot Blue ink though so I haven't tried it out on other inks. As mentioned above, you should say what ink you used and we can go from there. Some inks are just a pain to use in some pens.

 

My Platinum that I bought with a F nib has run the gamut of inks and has not failed once. I expect the same of my Custom 823, but I have identified the inks on hand that give problems and are not used very often. So far all the Japanese inks I have tried have worked with all my pens with few problems but no bad flow issues. But then again, no ink is perfect.

What Would The Flying Spaghetti Monster Do?

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The only Pilot that has given me trouble was the Prera. Two in my sites are the 823 and the 912. I'm hesitant with the 823 because of the color. I much prefer the translucent black. However, only the amber is sold in the US. Pilot USA will not honor any warranties for pens bought outside the US. Given this thread, I'm now even more hesitant to buy anything but the amber.

Franklin-Christoph, Italix, and Pilot pens are the best!
Iroshizuku, Diamine, and Waterman inks are my favorites!

Apica, Rhodia, and Clairefontaine make great paper!

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The amber is much nicer than you'd imagine. I'm not a fan of brown pens, but I love this one.

 

But I don't think it's necessary to avoid ordering pens from Japanese sellers, as long as you're able to adjust the nibs yourself. (I think that tuning nibs is a skill that's generally important for fp enthusiasts to acquire.) The better prices for buying from Japanese sellers outweigh any warranty concerns, in my opinion, especially since I've found Pilot pens to be very reliable out of the box. Only once have I sent a pen to Pilot for repairs, and that was because I'd taken apart and reassembled my Custom 823 and cracked the barrel in doing so.

 

I don't subscribe to the idea that one should only use Japanese inks in Japanese pens. I believe that pens should be able to write reasonably well with most major inks. They just need to be tuned properly. I don't spend a lot of time matching inks to pens to paper, although of course I tend to use a set of pens, inks and papers that I happen to like.

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value.--Thomas Paine, "The American Crisis", 1776

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Apart from air bubbles blocking flow in the Con-70 converter, I have had absolutely no issues with wetness in my Custom 74. I would say I get a good medium wet flow, irrespective of which inks I've used so far -- Private Reserve, Rohrer & Klingner, Iroshizuku, Pelikan Edelstein, Montblanc and Faber Castell.

Edited by I.M.
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I am new to pilot pens just this year and have tried many of them including the Petit 1, Metropolitan, two Decimos (my wife had to have one once she tried mine), and a Custom 74. I expect an 823 and a 92 to arrive in the next couple days. All of the pens wrote well out of the box, though the Custom 74 F was a little dry for my taste. I did a very minor nib adjustment to get it where I wanted it. The Decimo uses the same nib units as the Vanishing Point, and those little nibs don't look like much, but they have an outstanding feel and are among my favorites, bar none. I am glad the Decimo works so well for me, because I never cared for the VP weight and girth. BTW, all of these pens were purchased new except for the Custom 74, so I cannot swear that it was strictly speaking "right out of the box." Obviously, I have no problem with the Pilot Custom Series or I wouldn't have a 92 and 823 in the mail.

 

I don't use many different inks on a regular basis, though I have tried an endless stream of samplers lately. My regulars had been Noodlers Black and Waterman Florida Blue, but Namiki Blue has become my most used ink, and lately I have been using more Namiki Black than Noodlers Black. I've also found a dilution of Noodler's 54th Mass that I like for a blue-black, but that hunt goes on. It is definitely the case that some inks run differently in differently pens, and of course the paper is part of the equation as well. However in my experience Namiki Blue and Waterman Florida Blue run fairly well in most any pen I try, and if they don't I consider it a pen problem. These two seem at home in a Pelikan, Sheaffer, Parker, or Pilot.

 

Alan

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The ones you quote are middle of the road inks, that work reasonably well in any pen.

Don't take life too seriously

Nobody makes it out alive anyway

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For what it's worth, I'm using Cult Pens/ Diamine Deep Dark Brown in my 823 F and Diamine Eclipse in the 74 F. No problems with any of the inks I've ever used in them; Japanese or European.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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If I lend you my Custom 92 M filled with Diamine Presidential Blue, I'll drive you nuts in a couple of lines, and if I ask you to write on Clairefontaine (smooth) paper, you'll ask me a Bic Cristal within 20 seconds...

 

The same pen, filled with Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite is one of the best writers I had.

Don't take life too seriously

Nobody makes it out alive anyway

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