Sheaffer Prelude Cranberry

[Armchop]

:meow:

got my Prelude from Penhero this week. Came with a Medium nib.

 

Pen 4/5

Nice shape and weight. Tiny bit larger than the Parker Sonnet but heavier. Colour is a stunning metallic cranberry colour with a rough matt finish. The top has a good solid snap closure. Attractive mother of pearl accesory on the top of the cap sets of the cranberry colour very nicely. I would give it 5/5 but I dont like the moulded "finger grip".

 

Nib 1/5 changed to 4/5.

The so called Medium gold plated nib was writing very dry and fine. It was very toothy as you guys call it. Even looking at the point it looked very fine. Went right out and got myself a stainless steel broad nib. This writes much more like the medium I am used to on other brands. The ss B nib is nice and wet and smooth.

(ink used was Penman Ruby).

 

With the new nib I now have no regrets. I would advise potential buyers to be wary though nib-wise.

 

Armchop

[RLTodd]

Nib 1/5 changed to 4/5.

The so called Medium gold plated nib was writing very dry and fine. It was very toothy as you guys call it. Even looking at the point it looked very fine. Went right out and got myself a stainless steel broad nib. This writes much more like the medium I am used to on other brands. The ss B nib is nice and wet and smooth.

My only complaint with the Prelude is the nibs. Six bad ones out of seven because they can't cut the slit straight. The one good one I have is a first rate Fine that is anything but dry. The others are (Potty Mouth), and that is being generous. BIC should really contract the nibs out to someone who nows how to make one, maybe Waterman (French fellows you know..).

[hatherton_wood]

I must have bought 10 or so Preludes over the years and not had a problem with any of the nibs. They are on the fine side I agree. The gold and two tone plated ones seem the smoothest for some reason.

 

John

[Nipu]

I have bought three preludes, 2 fines and 1 medium nib, and all have been fine, and have actually been quite wet writers.

 

My main gripe with the prelude is the snap on clip - after a while it gets quite loose and slips off at the lightest touch which can result in nib disasters if you drop the pena ccidentally (even if it not very far to the ground!)

 

I have to say tough that the size and shape are very nice for extended writing.

[RLTodd]

I must have bought 10 or so Preludes over the years and not had a problem with any of the nibs. They are on the fine side I agree. The gold and two tone plated ones seem the smoothest for some reason.

 

John

I keep hearing people say that, yet I have these six pieces of (Potty Mouth).

 

I sent the first Prelude back to Bic Ft. Madison, all they did was open the already wet enough flow up some more. Finally broke down and ordred three fine replacement nib sections from them as they were not interested in solving the problem. One of the three was very good, the other two had the slit cut off center and are awful to write with.

 

When I get around to it I will send the two back to Ft. Madison with yet another detailed letter. I really don't expect them to fix the problem. I just wish they would stop imprinting their products with that trademark they bought and call them what they are, BIC.

 

I find the Preludes general workmanship to be very good. The only issues I have is they are sloppy with the cap jewel casting. If your going to make the jewel with an air bubble, you should at least center it. The clip is a little light and I can understand how it might cause problems with extended use.

[Mary P]

I've had two Preludes and four Prelude nibs. I haven't had a problem nib and the cap still closes securely on the one chrome Prelude I still have aand I've been using it since 2000. I would tilll have two Preludes if one had not been stolen from my old office.

 

The pen is heavier than I usually like but I still find it quite comfortable. I most frequently use it with the fine stub nib I purchased from David Mason.

[hatherton_wood]

I've noticed that there are two types of engravings on the Prelude nibs and those marked Sheaffers seem to perform a bit better in my experience. I have not had any trouble with the snap on caps but can well imagine that these give trouble with time. A lot to be said for the old screw on fit I think.

 

 

John

[pvdiamon]

I have two Preludes. The first came with a defective nib, and I think the EF was replaced with an F by Pen Hero. That 2 toned nib has no writing on it to figure out what it really is. But I thought it wrote well in that pen. Recently, I saw a close out on the tortoise shell Prelude. I really liked the look and the price was right so I went for it--I have the set now, ball point (which for a ball point, is my favorite), and the fountain pen. This one came with a steel nib, F, written clearly on it. I thought it may be a bit thicker than the other nib, so I switched them. The two tone nib has been having nib creep, which eventually gets on the cap and makes a mess (with both Noodlers and Namiki ink). I switched back, and the original F nib that came with the tortoise shell pen is working great in it. So I'm leaving it there.

 

John

[Taki]

My only complaint with the Prelude is the nibs.  Six bad ones out of seven because they can't cut the slit straight.  The one good one I have is a first rate Fine that is anything but dry.  The others are (Potty Mouth), and that is being generous.  BIC should really contract the nibs out to someone who nows how to make one, maybe Waterman (French fellows you know..).

I have only two Preludes, and nib on one of them is very nice and smooth but the other one is just horrible. I'm not sure if it was not cut right or not but I can see the tipping material is uneven on the tines without using a loupe. Luckily I bought the pen to use with an Italic nib set for Prelude that writes very nicely and don't use the nib that came with the pen.

 

I don't have clip problems, though.

Edited October 1, 2006 by Taki

[Bradley]

I own two Sheaffer Preludes. One is copper and gold with a medium nib, and the other is Petrol Blue and chrome with a broad nib. I have not had problems with either of them. They are both incredibly smooth writers with good ink flow. I find the craftsmanship on these pens is excellent, better than some Parkers I own, certainly. The pens are a bit heavy, but I like this, and the nibs are just flexible enough.

 

I am sorry to hear of those who have not had such a positive experience.

 

Mary P, I enjoyed your post I came across the other day concerning fountain pens in school, namely Catholic schools. It is interesting to learn what some schools prescribed for their students, etc. In grade school, we had to use ballpoint pens -- and how boring that was in hindsight. Keep up the good writing! This may be somewhat off the subject, but I have a copy of The Group signed by Mary McCarthy, and it is signed with a very fine point fountain pen -- for what it's worth.

 

--Bradley

[hatherton_wood]

I must admit to me the weight is one of the attractions of this pen. All mine are medium nibs which I find a little too fine - must try a broad nibbed one.

 

John