Homo Sapiens Revisited

[professionaldilettante]

As a lot of you probably know, I had done a past review of Visconti's Homo Sapiens pen, located here.

True to my word, I've been trying to love it, and it has certainly grown on me. Things have certainly changed, and here is the list of things that have been altered:

1: the nib was replaced by Cole of London for $25. Now... it's as perfect as Visconti intends it to be. A very wet, springy but NOT FLEX, nib. I only say that because people seem to have the idea that it's a flex nib. Maybe it's due to the video of chatterleypens'

on youtube? If I write that hard, I get worried. It doesn't seem to want to give that much variation, and I'd be afraid to do that consistently. The plating has been applied perfectly, and it was a relief to see that they fixed that problem.

2: The nib is facing the "right way" with the Homo sapiens on the ring facing up in line with the top of the nib. I found how that was done. The nib takes about 2 full turns to get fully seated in the body of the pen, but 1 complete turn is needed to get the seal between the nib unit and the body engaged. SO... the nib is only turned in 1.5 complete turns, leaving the nib facing up with the engraving. Not too bad I suppose, if you're writing hard enough to turn the nib..... you have bigger issues than the words not looking pretty on the pen.

3: After a quick trip to Mike Masuyama, it truly writes like a pen should. It writes as wet as my Pelikans and Pilots. While some of you may be wondering why I would like a Visconti to write like something I already have, listen first. (I suppose this would be the same reason one would not buy a German car and expect it to handle like a Japanese car, but I digress) Having a pen that's less liberal with its ink makes it play a lot nicer with any paper that I may come across. I don't know what Mike did, but from what I could see, he closed the slit on the nib a lot. Before, it was wide enough for me to thread a hair through it with ease. Now, instead of the Grand Canyon, I have a babbling brook. It's still wet and smooth, and the nib is still springy, but the pen no longer bleeds like a massacre.

 

With all of these changes, I can say I'm much happier with the Homo sapiens. The only thing that stops me from falling completely in love with this pen is.... I haven't had the chance to write with it much. I have had finals, and my note taking as completely stopped. Thus, I don't write as much as I should any more. But with time, I am sure, I'll find this pen indispensable. Now it's just gotta fight my other 3 pens, 2x M90's and 1x M600 for daily use.

[Tumbleweedtoo]

Thanks for the good news update. I finally got so tired of fighting with mine to get it to quit skipping that I have sent it directly off to Mike-It-Work rather than back to the company for repairs. Based on my experience with Mike, I know that he will make it as good as you describe or even better. He knows exactly what is wrong with these Homo Sapiens pens, having fixed so many of them. Frankly, I hope he keeps it a long time so I can be totally relieved of the frustration I have felt with it and Visconti before I get it back; then I know I will be able to enjoy it.

 

All the best,

T

[PAKMAN]

Mike adjusted down the flow in mine and it is a sweet writer now!

[MidnightBlue]

It's "gotten" better???????It's basically been rebuilt. Visconti got off too easy. I'll never wear a comapies problems personally again. Companies like Bexley. Edison and certainly all my Japanese pens don't leave the place unless they write "right" Thanks

[professionaldilettante]

It's "gotten" better???????It's basically been rebuilt. Visconti got off too easy. I'll never wear a comapies problems personally again. Companies like Bexley. Edison and certainly all my Japanese pens don't leave the place unless they write "right" Thanks

Lol, like fitting a square peg into a round hole. I agree with the sentiment that it should write right from day 1, and I think that is going to be a LONG time before I go for Visconti again. Unless they have a pen made of unobtanium.... that would be something.

[fabrimedeiros]

I'm glad you are happy with you HS now. Since I purchased mine, I'm very happy with this great pen. I'm a Pelikan guy, and I know how a great pen must write. In my opinion, my Homo Sapiens (HS) out of the box writes like the best Pelikan I have. Sure HS and a Pelikan M800 or M1000 are quite different pens, different nibs, but they are all awesome! Unfortunately, today even some new Pelikan can require nib some adjustments.

 

Another important point is the filling system. Like all Vacuum Filler, the resevoir don't fill at a full capacity on a first time.

The tecnique:

 

After the first load of ink, point the nib. Pull the plunger down. Then, slowly push the plunger back into the barrel, until you see the ink filling the channels of the feed (under the nib). Imeddiately, put the nib down into the ink bottle. Push the remaining exposed plunger into the barrel. Clean the nib and section as usual. Now, the HS resevoir is completely full!

 

 

[jameswatts]

Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, but my Homo Sapiens has worked like a dream from the get go. If I have any complaints, it's that the EF nib is more like a fine to medium -- although the pen's generous flow might contribute to that.

[greencobra]

Mine didn't write period! It went to Mike and I couldn't be happier with the way it is now. I have the 1.3 stub. To be fair to Visconti, I've owned 5 of their pens in the recent past and all worked perfectly, this was the first one that needed help. And you know what else, I knew about the flow issues but ordered the pen anyway cause people on FPN were writing about it constantly so it was no real surprise. And anyone who spends time here and said they were blindsided by this problem....well, I don't know.

[georges zaslavsky]

It's "gotten" better???????It's basically been rebuilt. Visconti got off too easy. I'll never wear a comapies problems personally again. Companies like Bexley. Edison and certainly all my Japanese pens don't leave the place unless they write "right" Thanks

Lol, like fitting a square peg into a round hole. I agree with the sentiment that it should write right from day 1, and I think that is going to be a LONG time before I go for Visconti again. Unless they have a pen made of unobtanium.... that would be something.

Quality control was never really Visconti's strongest point but glad that you got your pen fixed properly

[Brian]

Happy you have persevered and now have a properly working pen. Agree with some posters that Visconti has QA/QC issues so it's really important to examine you pen carefully once you get it. Of course this is a good idea for any new pen. Hope u will post some writing samples soon.

[JonSzanto]

I don't own one of these, but I had recently been looking at them (online, never have touched one). So take this for what it is worth, and I am not trying to be confrontational, but I find it amazing that people almost don't even blink an eye before sending a new, quite costly object (this pen) off to have work done on it by an independent craftsperson, just to get it to work as it should have to begin with.

 

At some point, does it make sense to send the pen back to the manufacturer and let them know, in no uncertain terms, that you have paid a hefty price for this writing instrument and you insist that they provide you with one that works, at the very least, up to the expectation of the claims for the instrument?

 

If I paid in the hundreds of dollars for a new pen and found myself contemplating sending it - at MY cost - to a nibmeister to finally make it a pleasurable experience, I'd give serious consideration to what I had gotten myself into.

 

Edit to add: BTW, I'm happy for you that the pen is now more as you wish. It is a striking design, and from what I've heard can be a great writer. I hope you derive pleasure from it for many years!

Edited June 7, 2011 by jonszanto

[fabrimedeiros]

[...]At some point, does it make sense to send the pen back to the manufacturer and let them know, in no uncertain terms, that you have paid a hefty price for this writing instrument and you insist that they provide you with one that works, at the very least, up to the expectation of the claims for the instrument?"

 

If I paid in the hundreds of dollars for a new pen and found myself contemplating sending it - at MY cost - to a nibmeister to finally make it a pleasurable experience, I'd give serious consideration to what I had gotten myself into.[...]

 

 

We have a problem here. If a person lives in the US and has bought a pen from Italy, sometimes could be easier and faster fix himself (if he has the knowledge) or send it to a good nibmeister next him, than send the pen to Italy, which can take months to get the pen back. However the brand have to receive a feedback, or they will never correct their mistakes. Other brands are faster with that process, like Pelikan-Chartpack US.

Edited June 7, 2011 by fabrimedeiros

[lewis]

I'm glad you got the issues resolved. I must also have been luky. My pen was built perfectly and the nib is a real dream - excuse the pun.

 

Green cobra knows how fond I am of it. The nib is by FAR the best nib I have, better than my M800 IMO.

 

Enjoy your 'new' pen.

[Korybas]

It's "gotten" better???????It's basically been rebuilt. Visconti got off too easy. I'll never wear a comapies problems personally again. Companies like Bexley. Edison and certainly all my Japanese pens don't leave the place unless they write "right" Thanks

 

Not that I disagree with you, absolutely not, but... I do not know what it is with the Homo Sapiens, I cannot let it down when I write with it!

Even if my HS was from the really problematic ones, I still consider it the most pleasurable pen to write with, among my pens.

 

I don't know, it might be a masochistic tendency of mine...

 

Of course, a big thumbs DOWN for Visconti's quality control...

Edited June 11, 2011 by Korybas