Review: Sailor 1911 M Music Demonstrator

[terminal]

Sailor 1911 Mid-Size Clear Demonstrator with 14k Music Nib

(an unusual pen with many more applications than I would have anticipated)

 

As I have said in other threads, I had decided against purchasing a music nib of any kind, particularly a Sailor (though I am a huge fan of Sailor as a company). I had discounted this pen as being uninteresting because it's not triple-tined and essentially just a .9mm (or maybe a 1.1, whatever). However, things change a lot when you're offered a deal you cannot refuse... and I must say that, for a pen I wouldn't have considered, this has been a huge and pleasant surprise. It is NOT just a stub nib, I don't care what anyone says. It's not a flex nib either, and I'm usually a flex nib junky, but this pen has won me over.

 

I'm piggybacking on other reviews here. Of course, there is no shortage of 1911 reviews, but this unique combination of a music nib and a demonstrator warranted its own . Thanks to these fantastic reviews (which I read and considered carefully when I was in the market for this pen):

• music nib comparison by jglass.
  
• Japanese Music Nib shootout by jandrese
  
• Five Music Nibs Compared by Stang
  

Now down to gold plated tacks:

 

• 
   
  
• Fit & Finish: 10/10 This specimen adheres to typical Sailor quality standards. No manufacturing defects at all. Everything is smooth and aligned and well put together, as one would expect. It's assembled with great detail and has a lot of nice touches, like the 'o'-ring on the grip section to seal the barrel on. One admirable thing to note about this particular pen is how modular the design is. It breaks down easily and well. The material, despite being a demonstrator, has a nice weight, feels durable, and gives a sense of quality. I try to withhold perfect 10s, but in terms of evidence of the manufacturing process or defects, there really aren't any. It came ready to write out of the box. It's also worth noting that this pen does have a sealing mechanism built in to the cap, which, to it's credit, works rather well.
   
  
• Style: 6/10 I can't lie, I don't love the way this pen looks. It's not the fact that it's a demonstrator that bothers me -- rather the very cheap looking gold dipped appointments. The enormous, chintzy looking 'SAILOR' cap band is epically awful, and the clip isn't a whole lot better. It's neat that they gold-dipped the metal part of the CC -- it certainly makes it match all the other dipped gold... but it's also more dipped gold. I think the thing about the gold dipping is it's in such contrast to the gold nib -- it's actually a different color. On the other hand, this is a classic looking pen with a pleasing shape and elegant lines. It's quite eye catching and I get a lot of comments and compliments on it... more so than most pens. It displays the ink very well (as you'll see in the pictures) and, while I've mentioned the gold dipping, the demonstrator is set up nicely in terms of the metal appointments and highlighting the mechanism. I also think the nib is quite pretty...
   
  
• C/C Design / Filling: 6/10 It's a standard C/C. I always have a hard time rating the filling system on pens like this. The C/C fits in the grip section well. It doesn't hold a ton of ink. I read up a little on the possibility of converting this pen to an eyedropper (here, here and here), and I can't decide if it would work. I think in the case of the demonstrator, it would end up staining the inside of the barrel, and I also worry that it would corrode the metal where the C/C fits in to the grip section. The 'o'-ring I mentioned earlier does beg the question, what's it for, and it is also possible to take the tassie off, as you can see in the pictures. Were this pen set up to be converted easily to an eyedropper, it would get a higher fill rating, but in the absence of conclusive information, I'll call it a standard C/C without much capacity.
   
  
• Nib: 8/10 Fascinating, engaging nib, really. Usually I like flex, but this pen doesn't play that way (I completely agree with what Stang had to say here). Having read the other reviews already posted on FPN, I really expected this to be just a run-of-the-mill and boring. It's not. It's absolutely not, and I think the main reason I'm bothering to review this pen is because I think the intricacies of the nib haven't really been addressed well.
   
  When I first heard about the Sailor music nib, and saw that it was not triple-tined, I really wondered what exactly it is Sailor had in mind. To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure. I think what makes it different from other nibs is the tipping. If an italic nib has very sharp edges, and a stub nib is an italic nib with slightly rounded edges, then this is a stub nib that has been double-dipped in tipping material. What does this accomplish? Well, it makes it very smooth... even on the upstroke. It also means it does an amazing job of staying on top of all kinds of papers (this dovetails nicely in to the review I just wrote of Buffalo Natur Stone Paper, because this is one of the only fountain pens useable on that paper without getting feathering, and that's because it simply doesn't break the surface of the paper).
   
  So this is where I disagree with other assessments of the Sailor Music nib. A disclaimer first: I am not doing a comparison, nor have I ever used other music nibs, though I have used italic and stub nibs. But in a vacuum, I think this is a very unique and interesting nib... not as much for music writing as just for everyday use. It's very very smooth. It writes on anything. I strongly disagree that it is very angle sensitive. This one is not at all. I cannot understand how the difference could be so huge... I almost made a video to prove it, but meh. Looking at the close up pictures from jandrese's review, am I imagining it, or does the tip of mine look different? I swear the tip seems more curved on mine -- possibly facilitating more writing angles? Is it possible there was a redesign? (I've helpfully included a link to one of jandrese's close-ups below, hope that's OK). This pen also worked perfectly right out of the box and is an amazing starter (I think because of the slip-n-seal like cap).
   
  I would actually compare this nib more to a 'B' then a stub. The difference between writing sideways and up-and-down is really only about double width, and it will flex a bit, adding maybe another third. If you can imagine a 'B' nib that is... round? So it writes upstroke almost as well as downstroke? That's what it feels like to me.
   
  I also would not call this a very wet writer. It keeps up, but I would say the flow is moderate. In fact, the only reason I took points off from the score here is that I've found that it will skip at speed more than the best nibs... making it dry, if anything. I also don't understand why in some limited circumstances it will stop making a crisp edge... it happens mostly on upstroke and not on all papers (see picture). It must have something to do with the very round nib because it doesn't ever happen on smooth papers and happens more on rough papers.
   
  
• Music Writing 6/10 In terms of writing music; I am familiar enough with music and composition to use a music pen, and so I gave it the ol' college try. I based my test of music writing functionality on my understanding that a music nib is intended to provide a thin line for writing lines of various sorts (score lines but also the tails of notes, and even slurs and ties), while at the same time providing the ability to easily make a large dot for notes or a thick line for bar ends and repeats. Furthermore it would be ideal to be able to draw open notes with the thin line / fat line look typical of a whole or half note. Now, "how is that different from a stub nib?" you may ask. Well, you have to be able to write backwards with a music nib. In the case of an open note, you need to draw a complete circle. I know there are tons of stub nibs that will do this, but if you think of, say, a classic italic nib with sharp edges, I think it's fair to say that it's not intended for upstrokes. Obviously with the wide array of nibs available now, these lines are very blurred, so I'm talking in only the pure sense.
   
  In any case, the idea here is that you want to be able to put notes down pretty quickly. You hold the pen at about 2 or 3 o'clock with the nib up to write music. You don't want to have to rotate a music pen ninety degrees to get your full range of widths, like you would have to with an italic nib. This is where the typical triple tines come in, and why a bit of flex could be useful. You're writing at this odd angle, kind of reaching down from the top, and it would be ideal to be able to shape the top and bottom lines of each note with a bit of flex.
   
  Ok, that's my understanding anyway. Accomplishing this requires writing music at a certain scale.... and with the Sailor music nib, the scale is fairly small. That's fine, the issue is that the various line widths need to be the right ratio relative to each other. I did find myself writing music a tiny bit smaller than I normally would, but that's OK. You'll see in the sample below, however, that the Sailor music nib only partially fulfills my criteria, even at the small scale. The nib does make a fine enough line for the staff. My issue is that it doesn't have any flex and it isn't able to go quite thick enough. You can see that I have a hard time getting the edges of the notes to curve (or 'bulge') and that it can be difficult to tell in some cases where the notes lie. I'm pretty sure it's not possible to get this pen to flex enough to give a nice bulge to the notes. It is also impossible to draw an open note using railroading (I'm not sure any music pen does this). For this reason the notes all end up looking blocky. It certainly is smooth and puts down the right amount of ink. I can draw the lines about as quickly as needed without the pen skipping.
   
  
• Price: 8/10 This pen is normally in the $150 price range. I got mine new for less than half that, but I do think that at $150 it's worth the price. It's a good value.
   
  

 

 

GLAMOR SHOTS (can you tell I think the nib is nice looking?):

 

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_05.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_06.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_07.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_08.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_09.jpg

 

Comparison to a TWSBI 540 and a Parker Vac Jr (note how similar the nibs are in size):

 

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_10.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_11.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_12.jpg

 

 

Please excuse my horrible handwriting (I always say that):

 

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_01.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_04.jpg

 

This is to show the weird edges at speed... it doesn't happen on every paper, and this pen will sign a receipt. I don't know what's going on here with this Clairefontaine.

 

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_03.jpg

 

 

Here are my efforts to get the pen to flex: As you an see, not much going on there:

 

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_13.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_14.jpg

 

My attempt at music (note this is actually quite small):

 

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_15.jpg

 

Nib closeups compared to jandrese's:

 

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_16.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_17.jpg

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/sailor_1911_demo_music_18.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2614/3694426491_74476a83dc_o.jpg

 

Conclusion: I like this pen a lot. I like it better than I would have guessed from other reviews. I think it's a great value. It's really smooth and very all-purpose. It's not simply a stub nib -- it's more complicated then that. My personal view is that I don't think Sailor intends this to be used exclusively for music writing... and as a music writing pen, it wouldn't be my first choice. However, in terms of a unique, broad nib, that looks like nothing else, skates across the paper and is really fun to play with, I think this is a great pen. My advice would be, if you like broad nibs, take a look at this, not for writing music, but just to carry. It's pretty hard to find a nib this smooth in a Japanese pen that compares to a western broad.

 

I want to add that, purely by conjecture, I wonder if Sailor is thinking that folks don't really draw staffs anymore. I think most composers... and people who play around with writing dots on staffs, print the staff out and just add the notes. This pen is much better suited to this scenario than most pens because it is so direction insensitive and writes on cheap paper. It still doesn't flex, but the upside of that is it always makes a mark and lets you write quickly. I don't know...

[rvthof]

Nice review.

I have the large 1911 with music nib. Somehow I cannot get accustomed to this nib and put it in the classifieds. It somehow doesn't fit my handwriting.

 

But I agree with you that it is a wonderful smooth nib that writes well on all kinds of paper.

[terminal]

Nice review.

I have the large 1911 with music nib. Somehow I cannot get accustomed to this nib and put it in the classifieds. It somehow doesn't fit my handwriting.

 

But I agree with you that it is a wonderful smooth nib that writes well on all kinds of paper.

 

I can see that. Do you like broad nibs in general?

[Pen2009]

Your TWSBI 540's piston is positioned rather low. After you pull the ink into the pen, the piston should be close to the end of the barrel.

[jandrese]

Nice pics and review. As you say, it's probably not a music nib in the strict sense, but it is good fun. For what you paid it's a no brainer too!

[rvthof]

Nice review.

I have the large 1911 with music nib. Somehow I cannot get accustomed to this nib and put it in the classifieds. It somehow doesn't fit my handwriting.

 

But I agree with you that it is a wonderful smooth nib that writes well on all kinds of paper.

 

I can see that. Do you like broad nibs in general?

 

I have several broad nibs, few 1.1 stubs (Pelikan 800 and TWSBI) en Italic Medium (Conway Stewart). Love the smootness and a little bit of line variation.

[jakelogan]

Lovely review. That is a juicy looking nib!

 

I do have to admit I'm not a fan of demonstrators C/C pens.

[breaker]

nice review and pics!

thanks!

[terminal]

Nice pics and review. As you say, it's probably not a music nib in the strict sense, but it is good fun. For what you paid it's a no brainer too!

THanks! Yeah, I definitely agree. It's strange, because like I said, it's not exactly a stub or italic nib either.

 

Lovely review. That is a juicy looking nib!

I do have to admit I'm not a fan of demonstrators C/C pens.

Thank you! I have to admit, I'm not the biggest demonstrator fan either. This one has one me over despite that.

 

nice review and pics!

thanks!

 

Thank you

[terminal]

Nice review.

I have the large 1911 with music nib. Somehow I cannot get accustomed to this nib and put it in the classifieds. It somehow doesn't fit my handwriting.

 

But I agree with you that it is a wonderful smooth nib that writes well on all kinds of paper.

 

I can see that. Do you like broad nibs in general?

 

I have several broad nibs, few 1.1 stubs (Pelikan 800 and TWSBI) en Italic Medium (Conway Stewart). Love the smootness and a little bit of line variation.

 

So, just out of curiosity, how would you categorize this nib compared to the ones you mention? What was it about the music nib that didn't jive with you?

[rvthof]

Nice review.

I have the large 1911 with music nib. Somehow I cannot get accustomed to this nib and put it in the classifieds. It somehow doesn't fit my handwriting.

 

But I agree with you that it is a wonderful smooth nib that writes well on all kinds of paper.

 

I can see that. Do you like broad nibs in general?

 

I have several broad nibs, few 1.1 stubs (Pelikan 800 and TWSBI) en Italic Medium (Conway Stewart). Love the smootness and a little bit of line variation.

 

So, just out of curiosity, how would you categorize this nib compared to the ones you mention? What was it about the music nib that didn't jive with you?

 

It's probably the fact of writing a broad line in all directions why you need a lot of space to "breath". It feels to big for my handwriting so that the a's and e's become blobs. Another influence could be that the pen is sterling silver and therefore a tad heavy in the hand.

But the smootness of the Sailor nib is wonderful.

Perhaps I need to give it a second chance with some other inks.

[Dr.Grace]

Is that Bach?

[terminal]

Is that Bach?

Wow good call. Yeah a French Suite my daughter is playing actually.

[terminal]

So, just an interesting follow up on the 'music writing' discussion (somewhat tangental to the review I know). My dad was thumbing through an old German book of his and he came across this page and thought I might be interested in it:

 

 

This is an example of a very early way of writing music. Note how differently the notes are formed. Viewed in this context, the "music nib" idea makes a bit more sense I think.