Jump to content

Pilot 78G Broad (Stub) Long-Term Review


Mister John

Recommended Posts

After watching some videos on making a pen wetter, I have tried it myself. My 78G is wetter now but it has annoying start up problem. I guess it is misaligned to the feed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 53
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Tom Traubert

    6

  • Koyote

    3

  • BookCat

    3

  • Davis19942003

    3

It might be misaligned, but that is easily fixed: just use your thumb to push the feed until it is centered.

 

I have also noticed that, if I spread the tines too far, the nib will become a hard-starter. Do you think that might be the problem?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the suggestion, I will try to fix it again after finishing my assignments.
The 78G is a good pen that I don't want to ruin. This pen makes me interest in pens with italic nibs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had a 78g B for at least 6 months, but I have only used a couple times because it was dry and scratchy. I'll have to tune the nib and revisit this pen. Any recommended wet inks that pair we'll with the B nib?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think my 78g is becoming a little scratchy. Does this happen? I try not to use it at the same time as my TWSBI Diamond 580, as that is just too smooth for words, but I'm sure my Pilot is not as smooth as it was.

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My waterman Florida blue type easy flowing ink is J Herbin Éclat de saphir which is a well flowing blue ink. That may work in your pilot if you are not using a Pilot ink.

Rob Maguire (Plse call me "M or Mags" like my friends do...)I use a Tablet, Apple Pencil and a fountain pen. Targas, Sailor, MB, Visconti, Aurora, vintage Parkers, all wonderful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think my 78g is becoming a little scratchy. Does this happen? I try not to use it at the same time as my TWSBI Diamond 580, as that is just too smooth for words, but I'm sure my Pilot is not as smooth as it was.

If it is a B nib, there is no tipping on the nib. If used for a lot of writing, the nib will wear off faster compared to the tipped nibs. Might be the reason for it to become scratchy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it is a B nib, there is no tipping on the nib. If used for a lot of writing, the nib will wear off faster compared to the tipped nibs. Might be the reason for it to become scratchy.

 

Yeah, it's the B. Might've just needed a good flush, or it might be the fact that I've changed the converter for a Con-50, but it's been a bit smoother tonight.

 

If it gets scratchy again, I'll just buy a new one. £7 inc shipping!

Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Yeah, it's the B. Might've just needed a good flush, or it might be the fact that I've changed the converter for a Con-50, but it's been a bit smoother tonight.

 

If it gets scratchy again, I'll just buy a new one. £7 inc shipping!

Sometimes italic nibs (or very fine nibs) can get tiny papers fibers stuck in the tip, which will decrease flow and make the pen feel scratchy. I've seen this happen, and the flossed the pen with some brass sheets, which restored flow and made the pen smooth again. Since flushing helped, that might be the case here, and flossing with a very, very thin sheet of metal (don't use a razor, it will likely damage the nib) may help even more. I've started flossing the nib whenever I notice a pen being drier than normal (no damage done if it doesn't work, after all) and that keeps my pens flowing nicely.

 

Also, I just inked up a M 78G, and was nicely surprised at how thin the line is. I was expecting something along the line of the Metropolitan, but somehow this nib manages to be as smooth as the Metro while writing much finer, which I'm very happy about.

Edited by WirsPlm
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 years later...

This is a long-term review meaning that it is based on roughly 18 months experience with the particular pen.

 

Pilot 78g Broad (stub):

 

After enjoying playing with my 1.1mm Lamy Joy, I thought it would be nice to add some other italic pens to my collection. The Lamy 1.1mm nib is smooth and pleasant to write with, but lacks sharp line variation and is, perhaps, a touch too broad for extensive notetaking. Based on my experience with Japanese nibs running thinner than western, I gambled that the Pilot 78g might serve this purpose better. So I bought a green one from Speerbob (great eBay seller, no affiliation) for $20 hoping that I would be happy. The pen arrived in a Pilot labeled cardboard box enclosed in a ziploc bag, also labeled Pilot. This is about what I was expecting, so I was not fussed by the utilitarian packaging. The pen did not come with a cartridge but did come with a Con-20 converter--a very nice touch for a pen at this price point. The Con-20, as most know, is not one of the better converters on the market, but it works well enough.

 

Rant: Why are western pen companies so stingy with converters? It drives me nuts that when I buy a Safari, Vista, or Joy I have to plunk down an extra $6 for a converter--more than the cost of many Chinese pens that come with converters. To me, a converter is an essential part of the pen. I want to use bottled ink and that requires a converter. It's like selling a car and not including headlights since, after all, you don't have to drive at night. Lamy is not the only company guilty of this. Pelikan provides no converters for their inexpensive pens, nor does Parker or Sheaffer. The worst offender is Cross: I recently bought their Special Edition Year of the Dragon pen. It's a beautiful pen and not especially cheap, but they didn't bother to include a converter!!

End of Rant

 

The moment of truth--inking the pen up and taking it for its maiden voyage--was something to look forward to. I filled it with Pelikan Konigsblau and gave it a go. The 78g broad is a wonderful pen. It produced a finer line than the 1.1mm Lamy and good variation. Smooth and effortless to use, it is a medium writer in terms of wetness and worked well for the cursive italic style that I favor. (Thank goodness for the Dubay and Getty book Write Now that taught me how to do this as my previous handwriting was spectacularly awful.) I also tried out foundational and half-uncial with good results as well.

 

What I want out of italic pens is the ability to use them to liven up my everyday handwriting. This means they must work when writing at speed, and they cannot be too fussy about the location of the sweet spot nor too sharp that paper gets torn when writing quickly. In those terms, the 78g is masterful. Of course, the compromise is that the thin part of the line is not as thin as what one can achieve with dip pen nibs nor are the wedge serifs in half-uncial as crisp as they might be, but for someone looking to pretty up their basic handwriting, it is excellent.

 

This pen took its place in the #1 slot of my travel rotation. These pens live in a small case in my backpack and travel with me wherever I go. To be effective in this role, a pen needs to be cheap enough that it can be replaced if lost, which occasionally happens. It needs to be tough enough to get bounced around. It also needs to be continent enough that it does not leak when jostled. An ideal pen for the role should also be able to fly without problems. The 78g has performed well in all of these dimensions. It does not leak when jostled and flies extremely well--I've never had an ink explosion while flying with it many times and at various levels of fullness. It does, however, have one drawback for traveling: because it uses proprietary Pilot cartridges, it requires its own supply of cartridges for long trips apart from the usual supply of international carts I regularly carry.

 

Having used the pen for more than a year, it has acquitted itself extremely well. No signs of surface wear or other problems. The plating is still fine both on the furniture and on the nib itself. No functional problems with the nib or converter despite active use of both. The pen shows no tendency to dry out or become a hard starter even with weeklong periods of lack of use.

 

For $20, the pen is an exceptional value for those looking for an easygoing italic/stub nib and some modicum of classiness. Cheaper italics, including the Pilot Pluminix can be had, though the weird shape and design of the Pluminix make it questionable for business use. The biggest drawback will be felt by those looking for extreme line variation, say running from EF to BBB. The 78g cannot supply this variation--it is more like F to BB (i.e. a stub). For those looking for the ultimate in fit and finish, the pen will also disappoint. The plastic is neither the most lustrous nor the highest grade. The furniture is functional but not spectacular. At its core, it is a utilitarian pen, comparable to the Lamy Safari and the like. Finally, for those who want their pens to have heft, it will disappoint, The all light-plastic construction makes the pen feather light. I find this to be perfectly fine and, indeed, a design plus for long writing sessions without fatigue. But others may prefer something a bit heavier.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is possible to buy the nibs only or you need to buy the whole pen?

 

 

I have never seen the nibs for sale, but for $7.50 you can buy a Pilot Plumix with this same nib. It is labeled "CM" for calligraphy medium, but it's the same nib as the "B" stub on the 78G. The same nib is also used on the Pilot Metropolitan and Pilot Prera.

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

I have never seen the nibs for sale, but for $7.50 you can buy a Pilot Plumix with this same nib. It is labeled "CM" for calligraphy medium, but it's the same nib as the "B" stub on the 78G. The same nib is also used on the Pilot Metropolitan and Pilot Prera.

 

David

 

The 78G nibs are gold-plated, while Plumix and Prera nibs are 'bare' stainless steel - but other than that they're identical in form and function.

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
      26624
    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...