Jump to content

Pilot 742 Music Vs Platinum 3776 Music.


Bruno Taut

Recommended Posts

Comparative review of the Platinum 3776 and the Pilot Custom 742, both with music nibs, as published on the blog Crónicas Estilográficas.

 

In my limited knowledge, only three companies produce nowadays music nibs: Pilot, Platinum, and Sailor. Some sources say that the German company Bock can make them, but I know of no company implementing them.

 

Of the above mentioned companies, Sailor’s music nib has only two tines and lacks, in my opinion, the visual appeal and the extra flow of the second slit. Sailor’s is more of a smooth stub than a real music nib.

 

The two nibs under analysis.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aQ69G8Wh9To/TGYCwirv1UI/AAAAAAAAAko/emEwu_v5hVA/s1600/IMG_2200-blog.jpg

 

Pilot, on its side, makes two versions in sizes 5 and 10 for its Custom 74 and 742 respectively. The pen chosen for this review is the bigger of them.

 

Platinum, in principle, has only one model for its 3776 pen. Its cousin company Nakaya also has a music nib that I suspect is the same as this one albeit with a different engraving. That Nakaya nib has the possibility of becoming flexible by cutting its sides, according to the Nakaya website on August 2010. The pen chosen for this review is, needless to say, the Platinum 3776.

 

Both pens were filled with the same ink –Sailor Red Brown— using their converters: the CON-70 provided with the Pilot pen, and the standard Platinum piston filler.

 

 

1. Appearance and design. (Pilot: 7.5/10; Platinum: 7.0/10)

Both pens are black torpedos with golden accents. And these are the only possibilities for those nibs—exciting nibs in boring costumes.

 

Pilot’s pen is bigger and seems more substantial. The plastic looks of better quality that its Platinum rival. This is the reason for the difference in the grades in this department.

 

The rest, clips and ornamental rings, do not make any real difference.

 

 

2. Construction and quality. (Pilot: 9.0/10; Platinum: 9.0/10)

Both pens seem to be solidly made. Caps screw in the barrel. When posted, the attachment between cap and barrel is firm in both cases.

 

These pens might be boring, but they are not cheap in quality.

 

 

3. Weight and dimensions. (Pilot: 7.5/10; Platinum: 7.75/10)

Pilot's is bigger and slightly heavier. It is comfortable and well balanced when unposted. Posted, it certainly feels a bit heavy on the back.

 

Pilot Custom 742 dimensions:

Diameter: 15 mm

Length capped: 146 mm

Length uncapped: 129 mm

Length posted: 158 mm

Weight: 25 g

 

The Platinum pen is lighter and shorter, and is easier on the hand. It is well balanced if unposted, and less so posted. Both caps weight 9 grams. The difference in the balance when posted –in favor of Platinum— is therefore related to the actual length of the pen.

 

Platinum 3776 dimensions:

Diameter: 14 mm

Length capped: 137 mm

Length uncapped: 118 mm

Length posted: 151 mm

Weight: 23 g

 

All in all, the Platinum pen is slightly better than the Pilot in this department.

 

 

4. Nib and writing performance. (Pilot: 7.5/10; Platinum: 9.5/10)

La madre del cordero. In boring-looking pens like these, nibs are their basic argument. and more so when these nibs cannot be obtained in any other model.

 

Both nibs are made on 14 K gold, and have three tines and two slits. Both are enjoyable and fun to use. However…

 

Pilot’s size 10 nib is a wet writer, slightly flexible—springy. Reasonably smooth, but with some feedback. Occasionally, one of the slits might run out of ink, leaving a thinner line. The reason for this problem might lie in the structure of the feeder—this has only one groove leading to the tip.

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aQ69G8Wh9To/TGYAmXeRrJI/AAAAAAAAAkY/PI3iQE-5fx0/s1600/IMG_2196-blog.jpg

The tips of the nibs are very different--square and flat that of the Pilot on the lower side. Platinum's tip is smaller and thinner.

 

The difference between the horizontal and the vertical lines is very clear: 0.40 mm on the horizontal, and 1.10 mm in the vertical. In my normal writing, the effect of this change becomes more evident pen and writing line are at an angle of 45 degrees.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aQ69G8Wh9To/TGYIpX_xg3I/AAAAAAAAAlA/nQrrcTN2fq0/s1600/IMG_2235-blog.jpg

 

Platinum’s nib is buttery smooth, and very stiff—a nail. Wet writer with a perfectly controlled flow. Its feed, as can be seen on the picture, has two grooves—one for each slit. And it is significantly longer than that in the Pilot pen.

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_aQ69G8Wh9To/TGVfqIp3CmI/AAAAAAAAAjo/iMQCa2NrCIc/s1600/IMG_2092-blog.jpg

Feeders of the Platinum, on the left, and of the Pilot on the right. The twin grooves of the Platinum are clearly visible.

 

The line difference is also very clear: 0.50 mm on the horizontal, 1.20 mm on the vertical.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aQ69G8Wh9To/TGYIpjixgyI/AAAAAAAAAlI/zwkJBQpCVVs/s1600/IMG_2237-blog.jpg

 

5. Filling system and maintenance. (Pilot: 7.5/10; Platinum: 7.0/10)

Both pens use proprietary cartridges and converters. Pilot has some advantages, however, because of its extensive range of converters. And one of them, the CON-70 provided with the pen, really holds a lot of ink—about 1.4 ml.

 

On its side, Platinum converter is a much smaller piston filler—0.5 ml. It did not come with the pen and had to be bought separately, which is simply cheap on the side of the company.

 

Maintenance wise, both pens are similar. The nib and the feed can easily be extracted from the section by pulling if a deep cleaning was required.

 

In conclusion, Pilot scores a bit higher in this department due to the good performance of its CON-70 converter.

 

 

6. Cost and value. (Pilot: 7.0/10; Platinum: 9.0/10)

Both pens offer nowadays unique nibs. Therefore, it is difficult to compare them to anything else in the market.

 

Comparing them face to face, Pilot is more expensive than Platinum –JPY 20000 and JPY 15000, plus taxes. An alternative could be the less expensive Pilot Custom 74 with a size 5 music nib at a cost of JPY 12000.

 

Therefore, given the writing qualities of the Platinum, this pen is a better deal than the Pilot.

 

 

7. Conclusion. (Pilot: 46/60=77/100; Platinum: 49.25/60=82/100)

The overall score favors Platinum, but the difference is small. Pilot pen wins in appearance and in the use of a good converter. On the other side, Platinum’s wins hands down in nib performance.

 

My preferences go for the Platinum pen. I tend to value the nib of any pen a lot more than any other issue. But both pens are fun to use.

 

More pictures, in my blog.

Edited by Iosepus

Bruno Taut - Crónicas Estilográficas (https://estilofilos.blogspot.com)

The contents and pictures of this post belong to the author, here identified as Bruno Taut.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 32
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Bruno Taut

    5

  • hari317

    3

  • SamCapote

    2

  • ParkerBeta

    2

Awesome review! I'm wondering though, have you tried to write music with either of the two pens? I know that music nibs are great as stub italics, but I'm curious as to how these two work for actual notation.

 

Thanks again for the review--the feed comparison was especially interesting.

Currently using: pelikan 320 + sheaffer balance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Platinum also wins in that you can get the music nib on celluloid pens, e.g.:

 

http://gallery.me.com/deirdre/100008/IMG_2834/web.jpg

deirdre.net

"Heck we fed a thousand dollar pen to a chicken because we could." -- FarmBoy, about Pen Posse

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not anymore--that possibility is no longer on the catalog.

 

Cheers,

 

Iosepus

 

Platinum also wins in that you can get the music nib on celluloid pens, e.g.:

 

http://gallery.me.com/deirdre/100008/IMG_2834/web.jpg

Bruno Taut - Crónicas Estilográficas (https://estilofilos.blogspot.com)

The contents and pictures of this post belong to the author, here identified as Bruno Taut.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice and helpful review for those of us who love stub and music nibs. Thank you so much.

In my current rotation:

Pelikan 400 Brown Tortoise/14K Fine/J. Herbin Cafe des Iles

Lamy 2000/14K Medium/Lamy Blue-Black

Sailor 1911 Large burgundy/21K Naginata Togi Medium/Diamine Oxblood

Montblanc 146/14K Fine/Montblanc Racing Green

Rosetta blue/Steel Pendelton cursive italic/Pelikan Royal Blue

Delta Passion/18K Broad/Diamine Syrah

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice and helpful review for those of us who love stub and music nibs. Thank you so much.

 

+1 i love music nibs. thanks for a great review. if i were to choose between the two, i would choose the platinum too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A very nice and informative review with awesome photographs, Thank you! Regarding the feeder, I suspect the Platinum feeder might be a two slit unit even on their regular nibs, unfortunately I have no Platinum pens to pull the nib and look. Do you have other Platinum nibs so that this can be confirmed?

 

Thanks!

Hari

In case you wish to write to me, pls use ONLY email by clicking here. I do not check PMs. Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome review! I'm wondering though, have you tried to write music with either of the two pens? I know that music nibs are great as stub italics, but I'm curious as to how these two work for actual notation.

 

Thanks again for the review--the feed comparison was especially interesting.

Hi,

 

I have three 'MS' nibs, but not the Pilot shown here - but that found on the C74.

 

None are fit for the purpose of composition - they simply do not have sufficient flex. And for the most part, line width variation can be achieved only but rotating the nib (pen) along the line of travel - not very easy or fast.

 

Alas, I do not do enough writing to 'justify' (Ha! - this is FPN, where justification is a mirage.) one of the nibs from richardspens.com. IIRC, I believe those are more along the line of earlier model/s from Waterman. (??)

 

Instead, I am using my 'Frolicking Rabbits' maki-e pen with the 40-degree 'fude' nib. Far from perfect, but fit for purpose.

 

Oh, another thing to watch out for on the 'MS' nibs: Their ability varies when wanting a dense upward stroke - reminiscent of dip pen nibs. (p**p)

 

If you're interested, I have samples around here somewhere. Just send a PM to me, so I can post them or just send a link - no need for me to traipse through this nice Post with my muddy boots.

 

Bye,

Sandy1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wouldn't an Arabic/Hebrew nib be closer to the type of nib useful for music notation (narrow note stems and thick notes and and rests)?

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination."

Oscar Wilde

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Losepus,

 

Thx for the Great Review/Comparison very much enjoyed your detailed thoroughness, well done.

 

Especially in light of the fact I have the Platinum3776/Music nib Fountain myself, since I not able to comapre it to anything else, no matter as I love It, it is a real treat & pleasure to use, fun is the word that fits it's use with a really nice Deep Dark Chocolate Brown it lays down a Yummy Line!

 

Thx again for the good effort! Enjoyed.

 

Cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not have any other Platinum, but I have a Nakaya with a soft fine nib.

 

The Platinum and Nakaya feeders have exactly the same dimensions. Actually, the feed-nib set could be swap between both pens. Now, the soft fine nib feeder has only one groove.

 

So, I am quite sure by now that the music nib feeder is specific for the music nib.

 

Cheers,

 

Iosepus

 

 

A very nice and informative review with awesome photographs, Thank you! Regarding the feeder, I suspect the Platinum feeder might be a two slit unit even on their regular nibs, unfortunately I have no Platinum pens to pull the nib and look. Do you have other Platinum nibs so that this can be confirmed?

 

Thanks!

Hari

Bruno Taut - Crónicas Estilográficas (https://estilofilos.blogspot.com)

The contents and pictures of this post belong to the author, here identified as Bruno Taut.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool review, thanks! I can't wait to try out my first music nib someday!

Need a pen repaired or a nib re-ground? I'd love to help you out.

FPN%252520banner.jpg

Colossians 3:17 - And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to know if you could swap the feeds. Are they similar size? Try the Pilot feed with the Platinum nib?

 

I think they are very incompatible:

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aQ69G8Wh9To/TGltpRbgkbI/AAAAAAAAAlg/G9Tb0o7hL94/s1600/IMG_2289-blog.jpg

 

The only chance, I think, could be to use the Pilot nib with the Platinum feeder in the Platinum section. But I do not see the point of that.

 

My only experiment so far was swapping nib and feeder between a Platinum and a Nakaya. But that is easy as they are close relatives.

 

Cheers,

 

Iosepus

Bruno Taut - Crónicas Estilográficas (https://estilofilos.blogspot.com)

The contents and pictures of this post belong to the author, here identified as Bruno Taut.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Thanks for this great review and photos. I went with the Platinum 3776 for $100 from Todd's site today.

With the new FPN rules, now I REALLY don't know what to put in my signature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...