Best pen nib out-of-the-box not needing a nibmeister

[Deirdre]

Stipula DaVinci Infinity.

[Alphabet]

I have tried most of the major brands other than Stipula and the only company whose nibs aren't great from the start are by Montegrappa. I need to send them somewhere to get the flow going. But the Visconti, Omas, Pelikan, Waterman and Montblanc pens have all fired right up fresh out of the box.

[sofian]

Haven't had any problems with any of my pens when they come out of the box - even the MBs. The problems begin several months later, tho.

 

However - out of the box - I've had particularly good experience with Pelikans and Lamys.

[PAKMAN]

With every Pelikan I've purchased new, the nib was perfect right out of the box. Both of my Visconti pens were great out of the box. The worst out of the box nib was a Montblanc 145 (nib was seriously misaligned), second worst was my first Lamy 2000 (scratchy, poor ink flow and then leaky). The good news is that the 145 is great now that I aligned the tines, pulled and reset the nib and feed and gave it a little smoothing. The Lamy went up for sale and went bye-bye. I did however buy another 2000 the same day and I love it like I knew I would if I could get a good one.

[Deirdre]

With every Pelikan I've purchased new, the nib was perfect right out of the box.

Funny, I was just going to add that I have one that isn't writing well (thankfully, it's not the really spendy one). It's a fine nib, and really on the dry side, even with the control ink (waterman blue).

[mr T.]

What fountain pen nibs/pens do you believe are great writers out-of-the-box? Again, I know every nib could be better if professionally customized. For this question pretend there is no such thing as a nibmeister. Which pen(s) would you choose? From reading the threads, it sounds like Viscontis and Sailors fit this bill. Any others, whether they be expensive or moderately priced, gold or steel?

 

There is no need to buy moderately priced or expensive pens. There are lot's of very good cheap fp's that are great writers 'out-of the-box' (like the Bic Xpen, Parker Jotter fp or the Waterman Kultur).

 

[Shangas]

Montblanc 145 Chopin. F nib. Holy Jesus! Smoothest nib I have **EVER** used! Continues to be smooth, two years onwards, and is an absolute pleasure to write with.

[CharlieB]

The best are Sailor, Pilot, and Dupont. The Sheaffer Legacy also falls into that category, but not other Sheaffer pens.

 

I'm surprised that so many people have listed Pelikan, because I've had to have several Pelikan M800 nibs adjusted before they would write correctly.

[Zookeeper]

I'm going to give a shout out for my two Elysee pens. I have a medium and fine, and both nibs were by far the smoothest out of the box. Both required a good cleaning with soap and a quick floss to improve ink flow, but not a bit of scratchiness...smooth as silk, and they don't care how I hold them, so I would say a huge sweet spot. Both start right off the bat, even if I've ignored them for a few days. Never a skip or hesitation. My only complaint about Elysee pens is that the pen body is so skinny, they aren't comfortable writers for long periods of time; and, I can't find a converter that fits, so I'm stuck with cartridges. I like waterproof ink for work, so they are both home pens unless I find a converter that works or Noodlers starts making cartridges. I use one of my Elysee pens for journaling, so it gets a lot of use, and even after hundreds of pages, it is still my favorite nib, and for 45 bucks, a great investment.

 

My Waterman Carene is beautiful but came out of the box with a visible spur, so until it gets to the pen shop, it is back in the box. (I tried to smooth the spur with mylar and brown paper, and it got better, but still not as smooth as some of my other pens, so I just find myself not using it, even though I love the look and way it feels in my hand...better to invest in professional fine-tuning than to risk ruining such a pretty pen.)

 

 

[juhtolv]

All my Pelikans have smooth nib out-of-the-box:

• M200
• Pelikano (new and some old model)
• Steno
• Grand Prix

It seems that my M200 is not as smooth as those others, but it is still good.

 

[Legal Eagle]

Seems to me that Watermans and Pelikans seem to be the most consistent and reliable.

[Leigh R]

I've never had OOTB problems with Japanese pens, whether cheap or expensive; I am a huge fan of Pilot, Platinum and Sailor at any price point.

[jimg]

Each of the 4 modern Sailor pens I have have worked flawlessly each time I have used them. I have to say that each of my modern Namiki/Pilot open nibbed pens , a Custom 823 and a Falcon, worked perfectly out of the box as well .

[wordherder62]

From when I was a pen dealer:

 

Platinum

Sailor

Pelikan

Bexley

Waterman

Sheaffer

Conway Stewart

Taccia

Parker

Laban

 

That's pretty much in order. I don't think I ever had a Platinum returned for a nib problem and returns on Sailor were almost unheard of. The occasional Pelikan issue would merit a return but the fix was always done by Chartpak quickly and correctly. Bexley pens rarely exhibited any issues and were taken care of right away by Bexley. Watermans and Sheaffers almost always wrote perfectly right out of the box. Conway Stewart was good but there were occasional problems with feed and flow that seemed to diminish over time and had almost disappeared by the time I quit selling pens. Taccia was good with very few problems. Sometimes the pens would require some time with ink in them to get the best flow. Parker depended on the pen. I found the new 51s to be excellent writers (other manufacturing problems, though) as were the 100s. Duofolds were always pretty good and Sonnets would occasionally have an issue. Laban was usually good out of the box with the occasional pen that required a trip back to Laban. Again, the pens seemed to perform better after some "break-in" time.

 

Aurora had higher levels of returns than most others but the U.S. distributor handled them perfectly. And, the Auroras that wrote well out of the box were always about the best writers you'd find. Just the occasional problems but a great pen all around. Same with Delta. Monteverde was model by model, it seemed. Some never gave any problems and others tended to have the occasional hiccup.

 

Richard

[jkrewalk]

As I venture into the world of fountain pens I've read many threads where folks rave about their customized nibs or advise others that a nibmeister can fix a problematic nib.

 

Let me say upfront that in my limited experience I've not had a nib customized. I'm in no way knocking this, either, as someday I'd like to treat myself to this experience. I can imagine that after obtaining the first customized nib, there might be a desire to have this performed on every nib thereafter. I also understand that if somebody spends a good sum of money on a pen that skips or has other problems, a nibmeister may be the way to go. But I also believe that generally fountain pens should be good-to-go without the need for professional customization.

 

What fountain pen nibs/pens do you believe are great writers out-of-the-box? Again, I know every nib could be better if professionally customized. For this question pretend there is no such thing as a nibmeister. Which pen(s) would you choose? From reading the threads, it sounds like Viscontis and Sailors fit this bill. Any others, whether they be expensive or moderately priced, gold or steel?

 

Thanks,

 

Will

 

 

Pelikan, Waterman, Lamy and Sailor are all perfect out of the box. Stay away from expensive Italians - their nibs are inconsistent - could be perfect - or very bad and anything in between (I speak from experience!). If you buy from Binder it is guaranteed to be perfect but he only carries a few brands.

[xena]

Hate to say it, but Waterman Phileas medium.

 

I second this; I also had great luck with a Waterman Hemisphere in Fine. Fair bit of "springy feeling" out of the box as well. I get surprisingly good shading out of it for a fine nib.

[kiavonne]

My two Bexley BX701's wrote beautifully out of the box. My Simplicity was an acquisition from the market here, so it may have been "broken in," but it also starts right up. My Taccia started up fine right out of the box. So far, I've not had any problems with the Pelikans I've purchased, though they aren't as smooth, maybe, as the Bexleys and Taccia. My VP's wrote great out of the box, albeit one squeaks, lol. Writes great, though. And, the DaniTrio $33 pens I got from Kevin (winedoc) all wrote great right away.

 

Pens I've had problems with were my Parkers, Sonnet and Inflection, and the Lamy Studio. I gave up on all three.

[Deirdre]

I haven't had a single problem with any of my Stipulas. Given the number of them I have, that's saying something.