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Looking for 30 owners of a MB 149 (Diplomat)


Titivillus

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At last some hard numbers to address this subject so we can stop mutilating that long-dead horse! Thanks, Kurt. Care to increase the statistical base with other models?

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8, NKJV)
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Firstly, thank you for this effort. It is clearly an effort to analyze the ongoing claims from a less prejudiced perspective.

 

Unfortunately:

1) Unless I'm mistaken (I'm quite over-tired), the 95%CI is approximately 1% to 25%. Not very useful for any hypotheses.

 

2) The bigger issue, though, is that you'll find a higher percentage of satisfied MB owners in the MB forum than in the General Writing Instruments forum. This leads to a highly biased set of measurements (not necessarily biased individuals so much as their experiences, i.e. the luck of the draw). Would you mind re-taking this in the General Forum for comparison?

 

Once again, thank you for the effort.

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

Oscar Wilde

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I have a late 70s 149. I bought it NOS in March and I haven't had any issues with it. I noticed it is picky about ink and paper, but thats not really a problem. I dropped mine on concrete outside the second day I had it and it only had a few barely noticeable scratches.

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As for 149's only, I own 2 and both are from the late 1970's early 1980's. Both have 14kt gold nibs, one is a medium and the other is a broad that was ground to an italic. Both pens write perfectly and have had no problems at all.

 

TNS

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As I haven't reported here:

I received a new MB149 in 1994 directly from MB. MB service upgraded my new MB146 to this pen after trying to fix the 146's skipping problem three times. Th MB149 has been flawless for the past 13 years. Also, they sent me a nice 2 pen leather pen case after their second attempt.

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

Oscar Wilde

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have two MB 149s. They both write extremely well, and they are among my favorite pens. For reasons that are not clear, one seems a little smoother than the other, but they are both excellent.

 

I had one cracked piston knob. I was putting on my lab coat in the parking garage and the pen was in the front pocket. I was whipping the coat on quickly, so two pens went flying out. The 149 flew about 25 feet and landed on the concrete on its end; it cracked the piston cover in half. Some might consider that a "precious resin accident", but I do not, as I think that was an excessive challenge to the pen. I think almost all pens would end up with some sort of damage in that instance (and, actually, I HAVE damaged other pens by dropping them in the parking garage). I therefore do not consider it a defect. My other pen, an OMAS, was lost forever in that incident.

 

 

 

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Professor Denzil Dexter's experiments had similarly vague conclusions... (UK Fast Show viewrs will know).

 

Interesting post, but as a test: completly spurious.

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I've just sent you a PM; I bought mine in 1987, new, and have had twenty years of dissatisfaction with it,including two major repair/replacement episodes. It still does not work properly; it starts with floods of ink and dries up four or five lines later. It has never had anything but MB ink in it.

 

I certainly will never buy another.

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I have had a 149 since 1979. It leaked quite a bit. Regular trips to Montblanc over the ensuing 25 years did not seem to fix the problem. Most recently, 2005, the pen came back from Montblanc but the entire piston unit promptly unscrewed. I had it fixed again by the Pen Mechanic in the DC Metro area. Richard Binder also tweaked the nib in 2006. It skipped a bit for the years 1979-2005. With moderate pressure it would write ok, but it became really good after Richard worked on it.

It has become one of my favorite pens now that all issues have been resolved.

I also own 1 136, 1 256, 1 134, 1 642 and an assortment of the writers'series. I think Montblanc can be exceptionally good and that my old 149 was an aberration. It was a gift from an old friend or I would have gotten rid of it and bought another.

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I have had a 149 since 1979. It leaked quite a bit. Regular trips to Montblanc over the ensuing 25 years did not seem to fix the problem. Most recently, 2005, the pen came back from Montblanc but the entire piston unit promptly unscrewed. I had it fixed again by the Pen Mechanic in the DC Metro area. Richard Binder also tweaked the nib in 2006. It skipped a bit for the years 1979-2005. With moderate pressure it would write ok, but it became really good after Richard worked on it.

It has become one of my favorite pens now that all issues have been resolved.

I also own 1 136, 1 256, 1 134, 1 642 and an assortment of the writers'series. I think Montblanc can be exceptionally good and that my old 149 was an aberration. It was a gift from an old friend or I would have gotten rid of it and bought another.

 

It seems that the answer to getting a bad MB to work is to avoid the MB service system and to go to an independent!

 

This is perhaps not surprising; there is a lot more money in selling "luxury goods" than there is in repairing them!

 

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I have a Montblanc 149 that I bought used so I do not know the exact age. It has a plastic piston and a 14k nib so I think that is 1980's. There is an online article that I once saw and cannot find now that has a comparison of the 149 through the years. One of the examples matched my pen. If someone knows that article and will post the link I will revise the age of the pen if necessary.

and it

The pen seems well used, but far from worn out. I have used it a lot once I found the right ink for it has been great. It is a medium nib and is very wet writer with various Private Reserve and Diamine inks to the point of not being useful. I came across a stash of NOS Skrip in the yellow boxes and that has worked great. Washable Purple #82 is perfect with this pen.

 

In summary, no leaks, does not dry out, starts every time, and is oh so smooth. A great pen.

 

Len

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  • 2 weeks later...
If and what quality issues you have had with the pen ( none is an acceptable answer)

 

Most users/collectors with real serieus issues with the 149 will not own or use this fountain pen anymore.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unfortunately, I am not one of those who have had no problems with the 149.

 

I bought mine around 1998, so it is about 9 years old. The first problem i had was the trim: it acquired a corroded look after about 6 months. This was fixed by MB (it took 2 weeks, tho). Then i had excessive ink-flow problems. Tried everything under the sun but the problem did not let up. However, using Pelikan 4001 ink helped a little; maybe because this ink is thicker. Finally, i suspect there is a leak somewhere as ink keeps accumulating in the cap.

 

If i hadn't spent so much on it, i'd probably trash it right now. On the other hand, i think i'll keep it because it can be worn as 'jewelry'.

 

Many cheaper pens have performed better overall - but they can't be worn as 'jewelry' :roflmho:

Sofian

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 

My favourite pens:

Pelikan M200 Demo / translucent red / medium nibstroke

Lamy 2000 / black / oblique medium nibstroke

Pilot Vanishing Point / yellow / medium nibstroke

 

"To be stupid, selfish and have good health are the the requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost"

-Gustav Flaubert-

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had a 1980's 149, got crazy cracks all around the viewing windows, enough to let air get into pen and make piston seal not work. Would no longer suck up ink.

In addition the "gold" rings corroded, besides this it was scratched up. Estimated cost of repair was more than the pen was worth.

However the nib 18k m, was super smooth...almost kept as a dip pen...almost

Lamy 2000-Lamy Vista-Visconti Van Gogh Maxi Tortoise Demonstrator-Pilot Vanishing Point Black Carbonesque-1947 Parker 51 Vacumatic Cedar Blue Double Jewel-Aurora Optima Black Chrome Cursive Italic-Waterman Hemisphere Metallic Blue-Sheaffer Targa-Conway Stewart CS475

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I recently bought two used 149's at the DC Supershow. One is from the early 70's, still with fine sticker on it. Writes very smooth for their F nib. Granted, much wider than the EEF of the asia persuasion, but still a fair amount of flex and can easily do detail work. Nice balance, not scratchy but not swimming in ink either.

 

The second is from the early 90s. Overall, really the same performance characteristics as above. I cannot tell the difference between the two.

 

Taken together I find myself gravitating towards that 149's and away from my 146. I certainly notice the difference when I return to my classique rollerball, which seems really small.

 

Overall, I like both of them very much. No service issues. However, I have had the 146 to PA twice. Both times the service people were very friendly and the service top notch, with coupons accompanying the pen on its return trip. They did not get the nib exchange right the first time. I used a suggestion from this forum and sent them a sample of the thin line I desired, and they did a great job of matching it.

 

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Duke

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If you own a MB149 please PM me as I'd like to do a little statistical test.

 

 

I would like to know: the age of your pen

 

If and what quality issues you have had with the pen ( none is an acceptable answer)

 

 

 

thanks,

 

K

 

 

I own two 149s.

They are 1 and 2 years old.

No problems or issues with the pen.

 

What is the statistical test? I am curious. :embarrassed_smile:

--

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err."

Mahatma Gandhi

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I have one I bought in 1998. No issues whatsoever. An excellent writer and one I've put to good use over the years and continue to do so.

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

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