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Another Lamy 2000 review


jicaino

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Well, I'm partial to the design and to german piston fillers so I loved this pen from day one.

 

I got 3 pens when they had yellow gold nibs. One in BB, other in B and the other in F. Later on I got a newer white 14k nibbed one in M and tried one EF, one OM 01 and one B after I discovered nib crankyness in my new 2000

 

Design: 9.5/10

Superb. It screams "I'm mighty fine". Looks like a mixture of architecture, engineering and sculpture at their best. The choice of materials is really classy and not flashy at all. Prestige rather than fame. Jazz instead of Kenny G (sorry if you like Kenny G, he SUCKS). Bach instead of Mozart, Bramhs instead of Bach. Glorious.

The clutch mechanism is genius, although it could be placed differently so it wouldn't annoy you when you write. This, although a pain in your fingers, would give you an idea of where's the nib! the pen tends to rotate while you write and the grip lacks consistency.

 

Filling mechanism: 9/10

gotta love piston fillers. Threaded knob, but cheap looking plastic innards. Clear cries cheap. Of course, your MB 149 has cheap plastic innards too!

 

Balance: 8.5/10

Great feel in the hand. Posted, unposted, capped, closed, is a pleasure to hold and you can't help looking at her as you would look a good car, a beautiful dog, an appealing human being, etc. A little long and akward in your shirt pocket. Annoying clutch tabs protruding from the graciously dolphin shaped barrel.

 

Nib: 3/10 (14k white gold) 7/10 (14K yellow gold)

I can't believe this pen has been equipped with this crappy performing 14k white gold nibs. I'm going to rant here... those nibs are just plain undeserving of being part of the lamy 2000 pen team. Flex? sure. Consistency? yeah, sure. NOT!. Dry, hard starter, shifts to a wet almost wild wet when slightly forced to flex (pressed). Heavy handed writers can live with the pen as is out of the box, delicate to normal writers expect this pen to turn into a lovely drawer ornament as soon as the new infatuation wears off. None of my 14K yellow nibs are 100% perfect but this white nibs I've tried this week (I borrowed pens from friends and customers with the exact same warning and result: "yeah, looks nice but I don't use it, the pen's not nice to write. I can't part with it since I love the design and I keep it as an object d'art") are really poor writers. I had to spend 6 hours for getting my M white nib to write nicely. I usually restore a badly bent nib with good iridium in about 2.5 to 4.5 hours tops if it's CRACKED and I have to weld the crack. Puzzling! I didn't rate the white gold nibs lower because they can be tuned and when you invest serious work on them the flex pays off, I know of no pen in this price range with such a nib.

 

Overall performance: 5/10

Pen likes to rotate while you write. Sweet spot is the holy grial quest in your white gold nibs. Cap tends to unpost while writing if you post it gently, macrolon gets marred if you post it harsh. Metal hood stains and while it's easily cleaned, you have to use a damp cloth to remove the ink hue in the heavily brushed hood. Finish is a tad too rough, almost "harsh". Really easy to clean (inkwise). Piston filler sometimes behaves bad, stiff, jerks a little. Not 100% flawless.

 

final notes:

I'd say that if you're willing to really enjoy this wonderful pen you should seriously consider spending a few extra bucks and get it from your favorite nibmeister. Don't hesitate in spending any amount of money in getting your nib tuned up because that money is what's gonna keep you from tossing the pen into a drawer and dig it back from time to time to look at it and ponder how such a nice pen writes like (Potty Mouth) and how much would you like to be able to enjoy both from looking at the pen and actually putting it to good use. If you're one of those "keep that filthy ink away from my precious uninked pens" collector go ahead, go wild and buy hundreds because this is bound to be the next hit in pen history, much like P-51's of our days.

Please don't send PM's, use my e-mail instead. Thanks!

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I agree with your evaluations about the white gold nib. My Lamy 2000 with EF nib was purchased from Pen Gallery (I heard that it is a wet writer). I really like it in the beginning. Appearance and balance were really superb, but the performance turned out to be way disappointing and cap tended to unpost while writing. Two months after use, nib went bent making my writting scratchy. I did not think of finding a nib-meister. Again two months after that, my three years old son uncapped it and made nice scribbles on a wooden wall while I was taking a nap. Lamy USA called slightly more than 50$ plus shipping to replace the completely bent nib and finally, I decided to keep the corpse of it in my drawer. For the pricing of this kind of a pen, I think that the 14k white gold nib is too weak. Of course, not many pen will survive for more than 5 min when a boy like my son begins playing with. I just don't understand why the nib began bent after two months use. I use MB 146 Le Grande, Namiki Bamboo and NYU701. So far, so good.

 

Jaehong

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I got a 2000 medium nib a couple of weeks ago and strikingly...I could have writen almost the same review. I'm very impressed by the pen, the design and everything, but writing with it is an inconsistent mix of experiences from perfect to not worth the price at all. I may need to find a way to get it tuned otherwise it will be like you write it will end.

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I suspect (as in I smell rotting fish suspect!) that the quality that Lamy sends to us, third world underdeveloped country, is way off than those quality reserved for "real countries". Seriously. I haven't layed hands on a white gold nibbed 2000 that writes good out of the box (purchased down here in Argentina)

 

Sad part is that this pen cost 300 dollars down here if you purchase it from the sales representative of LAMY. At 3 times the price that a retailer can have it shipped to your door within the states, one might expect to actually be paying some plus valued service.

Please don't send PM's, use my e-mail instead. Thanks!

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Thanks for the review, and for the comments.

 

I do not yet have a Lamy 2000. Are you saying that I should look for a 2000 with a yellow gold nib? Or that I should just be content to spend my money on another pen?

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well Frank I can't see where are you, my 5 out of 10 final rate is considering that you have paid a little shy of 100 dollars for the pen. Imagine how much would this drop if you pay more. I really like the pen. The worse issues are the rotation thing, the tiny sharp tabs placed exactly on your index and thumb fingertips, but that doesn't compare to the nib. The nib is aggravating. Either get a yellow gold one, or, invest 40-50 dollars in addition to your purchase and send it to Deb or Richard Binder. The pen is nice and I do believe that's called to be recognized as one iconic pen.

 

In this curious globalized world we live, I have take a stab at Binders and Deb's nibs, not direct ordering from them, but I took a nice Pel as trade for partial payment of a big lot of pens from one of my 6 international customers, and got to do a custom overlay on another that had been sent to Deb. Both nibs, coincidentally, where medium/fine stubs within the 0.7 mm ballpark. Loved those nibs! and I'm not precisely your kneedropping suck up behind kisser if you know what I mean. I'm partial to RB's masterhand, because on the same width his nib was way more crisp and free-running. Both were free runners but for the same amount of "drag" you have a much more noticeable line variation in RB's nib. Of course, I only tried one and one and there's my 100% chance of being wrong about being partial.

 

For you out there whom may have a beautiful drawer ornament, if you're interested, I can write a small "tune up" instructions that would not be good for the faint of heart ;) If your nib ain't as nearly as bad as mine you wouldn't need to disassemble the pen further than removing the section.

 

 

Please don't send PM's, use my e-mail instead. Thanks!

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For you out there whom may have a beautiful drawer ornament, if you're interested, I can write a small "tune up" instructions that would not be good for the faint of heart ;) If your nib ain't as nearly as bad as mine you wouldn't need to disassemble the pen further than removing the section.

 

That would be nice. Will you be posting the instructions here?

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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yes indeed. you need grit 2500 mylar film, 4000 and 12000 unpadded micromesh. Does your OM nib catches on the left to right upstroke? It's a low writer? (I mean, doesn't like higher than 45° holding angles? )

Please don't send PM's, use my e-mail instead. Thanks!

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yes indeed. you need grit 2500 mylar film, 4000 and 12000 unpadded micromesh. Does your OM nib catches on the left to right upstroke? It's a low writer? (I mean, doesn't like higher than 45° holding angles? )

 

Hi jicaino

 

No, it doesn't catch on the left to right upstroke. And by your definition, this is a 'low writer'.

 

Thanks

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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I must be lucky: I have 3 Lamy 2000s (2 F, 1 EF) with 14k white nibs. All of them bought new in Spain, and I love the way they write.

 

I only had a problem with one of them: the piston knob didn't fit tightly with the body. No big deal; I took the pen to the shop and they offered me another one. No questions asked. I asked them to keep the nib, so we swapped the sections and they sent the defective one to Germany. First class service.

 

As for the nibs: the EF I have writes just like the other 2 Fs. Something like a F/M, or a Pelikan F. They have really nice line width variation; almost as good as my pre- LV Omas(es)

 

Here's a sample:

 

post-6488-1214054394_thumb.jpg

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i love my 2000. how do tell between the white and yellow gold nibs? i thought they all were platinum plated or something

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Yes-he nib is 14 k gold that is coated in platinum - not white gold.

Funny mine, that I have had for over a year now, has been perfect out of the box, smooth, no staining, its my workhorse, and it gets lots of work. I have never seen a yellow nibbed version. though.

I can tell you the new one ( last year or so) have a new feed in them, which is supposed to make them more consistent writers...maybe you have old stock?

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 guess I'm in the First World, since my new Lamy 2000 writes marvelously well. No problems whatsoever, though it does have a slightly different (crisper?) feel than the Stipula I am also using right now.

 

Lamento mucho que Uds. los argentinos hayan tenido tantos problemas con la pluma fuente!

 

Erick

Using right now:

Visconti Voyager 30 "M" nib running Birmingham Streetcar

Jinhao 9019 "EF" nib running Birmingham Railroad Spike

Stipula Adagio "F" nib running Birmingham Violet Sea Snail

Sailor Profit "B" nib running Van Dieman's Night - Shooting Star

 

 

 

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The quality control has slipped in recent years in the 2000 line. It's now a bit spotty and unpredictable. But when it works, it's great. I'm sad about the tarnish to the reputation, but I just assume Lamy is focusing more on the newer lines. You'd think with the tooling set, that the 2000 production would be a lean mean reliable machine. I don't get it... the 2000 is the flagship (although some may argue the Persona has replaced it), so wouldn't that warrant top notch quality control?

 

My 2000 is an earlier production model with a relatively newer OM nib. The nib writes beautifully, though thicker than I tend to prefer. No skipping problems... there is a sweet spot, but not hard to hit. There isn't an OF nib available, so I'm tempted to have Binder have a go at regrinding it.

[MYU's Pen Review Corner] | "The Common Ground" -- Jeffrey Small

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I have nothing substantial to add here, but I found it interesting that the harshest reviews and the apparently worst performing pens of the bunch all came from countries outside the US and Europe. Jicaino's theory, though unproven, is an interesting concept- that people outside the major western players in the US and Europe somehow get less quality control. I've heard of this happening with other goods, though not pens. Again, this seems to be an unproven hypothesis, but maybe some kind of study is needed.

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my new lamy 2k also wrote perfectly straight from the box

perhaps the inconsistency comes from certain manufacturing runs or even different factories??

So I'm opinionated - get over it!!.......No, really - get over it!!

Hmmmm I was going to put up a WANTS list - but that's too long as well ......

 

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png

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  • 11 months later...
Well, I'm partial to the design and to german piston fillers so I loved this pen from day one.

 

I got 3 pens when they had yellow gold nibs. One in BB, other in B and the other in F. Later on I got a newer white 14k nibbed one in M and tried one EF, one OM 01 and one B after I discovered nib crankyness in my new 2000

 

Design: 9.5/10

Superb. It screams "I'm mighty fine". Looks like a mixture of architecture, engineering and sculpture at their best. The choice of materials is really classy and not flashy at all. Prestige rather than fame. Jazz instead of Kenny G (sorry if you like Kenny G, he SUCKS). Bach instead of Mozart, Bramhs instead of Bach. Glorious.

The clutch mechanism is genius, although it could be placed differently so it wouldn't annoy you when you write. This, although a pain in your fingers, would give you an idea of where's the nib! the pen tends to rotate while you write and the grip lacks consistency.

 

Filling mechanism: 9/10

gotta love piston fillers. Threaded knob, but cheap looking plastic innards. Clear cries cheap. Of course, your MB 149 has cheap plastic innards too!

 

Balance: 8.5/10

Great feel in the hand. Posted, unposted, capped, closed, is a pleasure to hold and you can't help looking at her as you would look a good car, a beautiful dog, an appealing human being, etc. A little long and akward in your shirt pocket. Annoying clutch tabs protruding from the graciously dolphin shaped barrel.

 

Nib: 3/10 (14k white gold) 7/10 (14K yellow gold)

I can't believe this pen has been equipped with this crappy performing 14k white gold nibs. I'm going to rant here... those nibs are just plain undeserving of being part of the lamy 2000 pen team. Flex? sure. Consistency? yeah, sure. NOT!. Dry, hard starter, shifts to a wet almost wild wet when slightly forced to flex (pressed). Heavy handed writers can live with the pen as is out of the box, delicate to normal writers expect this pen to turn into a lovely drawer ornament as soon as the new infatuation wears off. None of my 14K yellow nibs are 100% perfect but this white nibs I've tried this week (I borrowed pens from friends and customers with the exact same warning and result: "yeah, looks nice but I don't use it, the pen's not nice to write. I can't part with it since I love the design and I keep it as an object d'art") are really poor writers. I had to spend 6 hours for getting my M white nib to write nicely. I usually restore a badly bent nib with good iridium in about 2.5 to 4.5 hours tops if it's CRACKED and I have to weld the crack. Puzzling! I didn't rate the white gold nibs lower because they can be tuned and when you invest serious work on them the flex pays off, I know of no pen in this price range with such a nib.

 

Overall performance: 5/10

Pen likes to rotate while you write. Sweet spot is the holy grial quest in your white gold nibs. Cap tends to unpost while writing if you post it gently, macrolon gets marred if you post it harsh. Metal hood stains and while it's easily cleaned, you have to use a damp cloth to remove the ink hue in the heavily brushed hood. Finish is a tad too rough, almost "harsh". Really easy to clean (inkwise). Piston filler sometimes behaves bad, stiff, jerks a little. Not 100% flawless.

 

final notes:

I'd say that if you're willing to really enjoy this wonderful pen you should seriously consider spending a few extra bucks and get it from your favorite nibmeister. Don't hesitate in spending any amount of money in getting your nib tuned up because that money is what's gonna keep you from tossing the pen into a drawer and dig it back from time to time to look at it and ponder how such a nice pen writes like (Potty Mouth) and how much would you like to be able to enjoy both from looking at the pen and actually putting it to good use. If you're one of those "keep that filthy ink away from my precious uninked pens" collector go ahead, go wild and buy hundreds because this is bound to be the next hit in pen history, much like P-51's of our days.

 

Hi!

 

My new Lamy 2000 is just like what you have described in the nib-section. I have now sent it back to Lamy for repair. Hope I can get a nice working pen back :blink:

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Oh... wow...

 

 

My lamy 2000s have both worked perfectly out of the box. The 1st one got sold because the seller had accidentally given me a medium (the salesperson had them on display, and the nib size isn't on the pen, so I basically had a grab bag experience), but i ordered the second one a fine specifically, and again perfect out of the box. I am going to order my third soon, and I hope my luck is still alive!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Does Lamy make its own nibs? Even though the user comments on the web site do not represent the user experience as a whole, those anecdotal episodes in quality lapses give me an impression there is some QC issues with their suppliers (if not with their own factories).

Edited by Pen2009

My collection: 149 EF/F/B/OBB, Collodi B/Twain F/Mann F, 146 M, Silver Barley F, M1000/M800 B'o'B/M800 Tortoise/Sahara/415 BT/215/205 Blue Demo, Optima Demo Red M/88 EF & Italic/Europa, Emotica, 2K/Safaris/Al-Stars/Vista, Edson DB/Carene BS, Pilot 845/823/742/743/Silvern/M90/Makies, Sailor Profit Realo M/KOP Makies/Profit Makies/Profit 21 Naginata MF&M/KOP/KOP Mosaiques/Sterling Silvers,Platinum #3776 Celluloids/Izumos/Wood pens/Sterling Silvers,YoL Grand Victorian, and more (I lost counting)

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I had major problems with 6 Lamy 2000 pens. My issue was not with their nibs but with the section that was leaking small globs of ink. I was going to give up on the 2000 and finally wrote a very strong email to customer service in Germany (the US office was not able to resolve the issue and in fact their repair man - Bob something I forgot his last name, told me that this was a common problem and that I have to try different inks and find one that would not leak so much). Lamy Germany sent me one that was tested and this one is fine. But I had to go through a lot of trouble before I got a good one. I have written about my 2000 experience in the FPN about 2 years ago. My issue was with the 2000 only. All other Lamy pens (Safari, CP1, Logo, St.) have been perfect.

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