Experience With Nakaya Elastic Music?

[Wadude]

So Im readying myself to bit the bullet and purchase my first Nakaya. I have my eyes on an elastic Music nib.

 

Now, Ive seen a few people mention in this forum that they have it, but I couldnt find quite a review for that specific customization (besides a good one from 2006 that is, unfortunately, missing the photos for the writing sample).

 

Anyone care to share their experience? Does the semi-flex add any flair to the writing? Is it difficult to use? Is it a smooth writer?

 

Cheers!

[MHBru]

I have no experience with that particular nib but would think that this not the pen to experiment with. I got mine with a standard broad made to as smooth as possible. And it is... beyond any doubt.... the most amazing nib in my desk. I will never tire of using it. IMHO anyway

[Wadude]

Thanks for weighing in. I was also considering a coarse (extra broad) nib. A few Japanese friends have been singing the highest of praises to the elastic Music, but since I wont be writing in Japanese... I dont know to what extent the experience compares.

[Honeybadgers]

Interesting. I think Kanji looks weird as hell with a stub nib. I also don't much love cursive with a stub. Personally, my handwriting looks best when printing with a stub. (the music is a stub)

 

I can't find a video of it anywhere. I'd be really interested to see one though. If it's actually flexible and three tines, It'd be very high on my list.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Wadude]

Thanks for replying. I think the main point for stubs in the Japanese market is that it emulates the style that you would have if you had studied calligraphy, which is quite more valued in Japan than abroad. I have seen people use it to give flair to the kanji in invitations. Though I have yet to see a writing sample for the Nakaya Elastic Music nib.

 

I think it does have three times, by the way. I expect it wont flex that much, although it is described as extra-elastic in their website (特軟, which is the same nomenclature they apply when you make the elastic modification in an already soft nib). Ill let you know if I get a sample somewhere. Cheers!

[Uncial]

I had an elastic nib, but not in a music nib. The nib has bounce in the sense that it will move off the feed without loosing any wetness of writing. At one point, through a number of sellers, it was called a 'flexible' nib, but the name was changed to 'elastic' - and for good reason. It's not 'flexible' in any sense. It's designed to give an impression of softness when writing but adds nothing to the expression of line. At least, that was my experience of it.

[Wadude]

Right... Thanks! Was the softness enjoyable to your writing experience?

[whichwatch]

I have one on my table at the Washington DC Pen Show and it has gotten a lot of attention. Sorry for the poor pictyres and writing sample, but it is the best I can do with an iPhone in a hotel bathroom at 6am.

 

It writes beautifully, as all Nakayas do. It really doesn't flex all that much, but does have a good bit more bounce than the standard nib or the nibs they call "soft"

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BEA09ACCE-59AB-4210-A924-1E84BDFCB605%7D/origpict/r1.jpg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B05FC3FA8-73A2-4013-B83D-D284F74D010F%7D/origpict/r2.jpg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B4E432560-1D02-4E30-B48C-DD0CE0E04475%7D/origpict/r3.jpg

[Wadude]

Wow, thanks a bunch! Thats exactly what I was looking for! I think your kind pictures have probably settled the deal, but Ill take the opportunity to ask: do you enjoy writing with it in cursive? Do you think it asks for a very vertical grip (mine is quite rotated)? Again, thanks!

[whichwatch]

Very smooth at 45 degree angle. Not so smooth at steep vertical though I suppose a nibmeister could correct for that. Fairly forgiving of counterclockwise rotation, less forgiving of clockwise.

 

I just got the pen so that is based on very limited experience.

[Wadude]

Thanks! That was really helpful.

[BaronWulfraed]

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B05FC3FA8-73A2-4013-B83D-D284F74D010F%7D/origpict/r2.jpg

 

 

{Apologies -- I can't seem to find the right point to do deletions that doesn't seem to also corrupt the quoting indicators}

 

If the slits extended back to about the mid-point of the side cuts, I'd expect some traditional "flex", as the arch of the nib, bending at that point, would pull the side tines away from the center one. But as the slits end so far toward the tip, the bending at the side cuts just moves the three tines as a unit.

[Uncial]

Right... Thanks! Was the softness enjoyable to your writing experience?

It felt springy but i couldnt honestly see the point of it. I didn't enjoy the nib, but that's a personal issue I have with Nakaya's.

[A Smug Dill]

I had an elastic nib, but not in a music nib. _...‹snip›... It's designed to give an impression of softness when writing but adds nothing to the expression of line.

It felt springy but i couldnt honestly see the point of it.

Fountain pens and their nibs — especially but not limited to the products of well-known Japanese manufacturers — are not just for writing English (and/or other languages with Latin-based alphabets) in cursive script. Softness in (round-)pointed nib 'calligraphy' contributes to expressiveness when it comes to line width variation within each pen stroke. See http://www.chinasage.info/writing-chinese.htm for examples of writing hanzi (or kanji) characters. In the absence of softness, it's more difficult to put the desired shapes of the various strokes on paper, even though the skeletal structure of the lines will make the characters recognisable all the same. With a 'nail' of a nib, I get the 'swelling' within a pen stroke by pressing down harder on the page and lightly indenting the paper surface, which produces a larger contact area between nib and paper. With a softer nib I don't have to press down as hard.

 

And then, even though I don't actually seek it myself, some other users (whom I presume were talking about writing in English) reported enjoying the cushioned sensation afforded by softer nibs.

 

I didn't enjoy the nib, but that's a personal issue I have with Nakaya's.

[Says]

I managed to try a soft fine vs an elastic fine, I think they are two very different experience.

 

Something I find comparable to the Elastic nibs, would be the Visconti Soft nibs (not the size though), that might be easier to come by for you to try...

 

That said, if you are buying a nakaya first hand, they would be able to adjust according to angle the way you write, so the "elasticity" is what you would want to find out if it works for you.

[Honeybadgers]

If you're into the flexy music nib, pilot's #5 MS nib (not the #10, which is quite firm) is pretty unbelievably flexible. Mine needed a ton of tuning out of the box (it was tuned to write vertically, but not down at a western angle) but it could EASILY double its line width with only modest pressure.

 

You would be stuck with a less "fancy" pilot custom 74 or 91, but you could also just get a special edition version of one of those and swap them in.

[mongrelnomad]

Having an elastic (though not music) nib, I'd hazard against going down the elastic route. The pen is bouncy, not flexy, and this means that the feed often comes in contact with the paper for little reward. I much prefer the 'soft' or rigid nibs as I find them much more fit for purpose.

[Wadude]

Thank you everyone for your invaluable tips! I decided to go for the elastic music (though I also appreciate the kind inputs of those who did not have a good experience with Nakaya elastic nibs). Now, I need to see if I can change the nib on my standing order with them (had originally ordered a soft medium). Will post a review when it finally gets here, probably sometime next year. Cheers!

[Uncial]

My 'not good' experience is due to not liking the feedback of Nakaya nibs, so it's a general thing for me not really a specific nib. Sorry, I probably should have been more clear.

[Karmachanic]

I have one on my table at the Washington DC Pen Show and it has gotten a lot of attention. Sorry for the poor pictyres and writing sample, but it is the best I can do with an iPhone in a hotel bathroom at 6am.

 

It writes beautifully, as all Nakayas do. It really doesn't flex all that much, but does have a good bit more bounce than the standard nib or the nibs they call "soft"

 

 

Thanks for the nib pic. Now I know what needs to be done to my #10 Pilot MS!