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After acquiring a lot of gift cards for my birthday, I decided I would like to finally get a gold nib pen. All I can afford is an eBay/Amazon seller of the Pilot Custom 74, but I am dedicated to this pen after many reviews., so I would not like to change that. This seems to be the best pen for my hand size, school and other things I may use it for, like generic writing. One thing I cannot seem to find much of are pictures or suggestions of nib comparisons. I would definitely like a nib with a bit of line variation (and yes I know flex and soft are not the same thing). I know the soft nibs and according to some websites, even standard nibs will offer that, but I would like some more judgement on my opinion. I can be a consistent writer when I want to, but also want some creativity in my writing which is why I might want a soft nib. Any opinions on them? Again this would be for a high school student who's looking for a bit of line variation, and would like a nice pen to carry around. Thanks!

So my used Pilot Custom 74 EF arrived this afternoon. I flushed it with water and then inked it up with Sailor Manyo Haha and I ended up with a pen that was just having hard starts and a lot of skipping. I'm a relatively slow writer and it couldn't keep up with me. Unlike my previous thread where I was asking if all Pilot pens just took time to get the nib wet, and it was pointed out that my putting ink directly into the converter with a syringe an then plugging that in wasn't optimal, with this pen, I took the plunge (if you'll pardon the pun), and dipped the pen directly into the ink sample via and pumped up the ink using the CON-70. The initial touch to paper was nice, but after that it was just running dry. I was very disappointed by all of this. After reading/watching that Kon-Peki is a good "fixes everything ink", I cleaned out the pen and then loaded it up with Kon-Peki. As advertised, all the problems went away and the pen is a joy to write with. Trying to do a post analysis now and reading some of the lower rating reviews for Manyo Haha at Goulet Pens, I found a couple of comments noting how dry the ink was. Admittedly, that is a pretty small sample. Anybody else had good or bad experiences with this combo of an Japanese EF nib + Manyo Haha?

Hi, I am looking to buy a pilot custom 74 in a fine nib(soft is preferred). My only criteria is that it writes smooth and isn't too weared out. If you have a custom 74 you'd like to sell or trade, hit me up and we can talk about the pricing!

Hi All! Here comes a new "ruthless review". My ruthless reviews have a few peculiar features: Concise;Very strict. If a pen costs hundred of euros, no faults are allowed. A good pen gets a 60/100, a great pen an 80/100, an almost perfect one a 90/100. Only a divine pen can have above 90. Add a few peculiar criteria: "Nib appearance", "Usability in shirt pockets", and "Out-of-the-boxness", meaning to what extent a nib was perfect right after leaving the seller. Also, don't care about the box.NOTE: I've introduced a change in this review. Previously I used to rank each of the ten factors on a 0-10 scale, adding up to 100. However, I've decided that some aspects should be made more important. Here they are, ranked by importance and by number of points they get as a result ("Construction" and "Quality of materials" have been merged into one). There's also a bit of logic as to why some factors are more important than others: Criteria 1. "Nib performance" gets a max. of 30 points - Why? Is there anything more important than the nib? A pen is a worthless piece of plastic if the nib does not write well.2. "Appearance and design" gets a max. of 20 points - Why? What good is a FP if it's not beautiful? Note: I hate flashy pens, so a LE Montegrappa would probably get a zero3. "Nib appearance" gets a max. of 10 points - Why? A nib is what you'll most likely see when writing with a FP. It has to be beautiful, otherwise you're going to hate your pen.4. "Cost and value" gets a max. of 10 points - Why? Not among the top-three points because after all, we don't collect FPs because of their cost-value ratio, I guess. 5. "Construction and materials" gets a max. of 10 points - Why? This is quite important but not as much as, say, in a car rating, for we almost all use pen cases anyway.6. "Out-of-the-boxness" gets a max of 5 points - Why? Since most of us know how to do nib-fixing (and a nib meister is never too far), I've reduced the importance of this factor.7. "Filling system and maintenance" gets a max. of 5 points - Why? Hard to rate as it's subject to individual preferences. I'll keep it among the lower-importance factors.8. "Weight and dimensions" gets a max. of 5 points - Why? For me it's almost ininfluential: I like both small and big pens. So it will be a low-importance factor.9. "Clip and usability with shirts" gets a max. of 5 points - Why? Can be very important for some, but irrelenvant for others. So, here's the review! Pilot Custom 74 - Blue with 14k n.5 M nib (pictures here: http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/atn/item/fkk-1000r/) · Nib performance: 30 out of 30 This pen has a magnificently good nib! It's soft, springy, with a bit of feedback but not too much, with a bit of line variation but not so much that you lose control, it's basically the perfect everyday nib. I'm going to keep this inked forever, always ready on my desk. I'm absolutely amazed. · Appearance and design: 15 out of 20 Conservative, not very creative, but with a nice combination between the blue of the body and the gold trims. It makes it classy without being banal. Note: this is not the demonstrator version, but the plain blue one you can get from Rakuten. · Nib appearance: 8 out of 10 This is a small, pretty nib, with some nice scrollwork. The only thing is that it would be nice if it had a rhodium masking in some places to make it bicolor. · Cost and value: 10 out of 10 Ok here comes the awesome part (well, the other awesome part, after the nib): I paid USD 72 for a 14k gold nibbed pen with a fantastic nib, from a world-class manufacturer. Compare it with the USD 150 you pay for a Lamy 2000 with its dull nib, and you get the idea. This Pilot is awesome value for money! · Construction and materials: 6 out of 10 Good, although not the best: the plastic has a slightly cheap feeling, but nowhere close to the cheapness of a Platinum pen. · Out-of-the-boxness: 5 out of 5 This nib's absolute perfection was achieved with no tuning or fixing at all: it was perfect straight OOTB. I didn't even need to flush it! · Filling system and maintenance: 4 out of 5 It's a cartridge/converter pen, which is not great, but 1. hey, it's a USD 72 pen! And 2. the converter is Pilot's famous con-70, which is by far the best converter in the market. So we definitely cannot complain here · Weight and dimensions: 3 out of 5 This pen is a little bit too long for many people, but being super-light-weight, this is not likely to be a major issue. The only complain is that the section is perhaps a bit too thin for some people. · Clip and usability with shirts: 2 out of 5 Pretty bad: the pen is so long that it probably won't fit in many shirt pockets. It's great for jacket inner pockets, though. Final score: 83 out of 100. This, for a ruthless review like these, is a really high score. Trust me, if you've never tried a Pilot n.5 14k gold nib, you must get one. I've never had such a great experience on a daily writer. This is pure pleasure to write with, a perfect nib in an elegant design, with good quality and very convenient price.

Hi, I am planning on buying the pilot custom 74 and I am confused as to what nib I should get. I'm tied between the Fine and the Soft fine nibs. I like line variation on my pens, but I don't want something like the conventional "flex" pen and I want the nib to be fairly smooth. I will mostly use it for sketching and writing notes. Which nib should I go for?

A week ago I was stuck on choosing the right pen to go for. I want to try the Pilot Soft nib but too bad only available on those in black. I had few black pens already....uum As soft nib is a must, so 743 or 912 or 74? Turn up I go for the 74, as the price of 743 and 912 is triple and double to the 74 and the size of the 74 is similar. (I'm not talking about the nib size, yes, i love bigger nibs also for sure, but the #5 nib is totally fine for me as in the CH92.) The price in Rakuten is wonderful, also the international shipping fee is waived in the campaign. So, I got two, one black (SFM) and one green (Broad). And I turn them into the dual tone custom-custom 74. Boring black problem - SOLVED.LOL, looks like a Pelikan. I totally in love with this arrangement.I received them today, and for that, I can't wait dashing to get a J Herbin's Lierre Sauvage (wild ivy - a nice green ink.) (My apologies for the misleading title.) A little review for 74 SFM.Finishing, as usual, no complaint can be made. The nib, I didn't ink the B nib yet, and for the SFM, I simply love it. A little bit on wet side, no skipping nor hard start problem. I love the degree of variation provided, and I'm really glad that I didn't go for the SM as the un-press line from SFM is wonderful to me, and so I may find the SM could be too wet. Oh one more thing, this 14K gold nib is really smooth, not better than but already really close to my 21k Pro Gear. I use con-70 converters for the the pens. The pump type is really interesting, as I check the video for the con-70 before, I know the pump action should be fast to get it loaded. And a kind reminder is that the nib may hit the bottom of the ink bottle if the actions are too vigorous. So personally I prefer simple piston converter, a comparative gentle way... Thanks for watching...

Hi, I received my Pilot Custom 74 (Fine) today. I found that it is very dry without applying pressure, in other words the pen doesn't write on it's own weight. In order to write with it, I need to apply more pressure than I usually do (in comparison with Metropolitan & Sailor 1911, I generally write without applying much pressure on the paper). Since the ink flows well when the two tines are apart under pressure, I suppose the feed works well. I wonder if it is my bad luck or all Pilot #5 fine nibs are like that? Thank you in advance.

While pursuing the internet, I stumbled across other writing instruments in the Custom 74 line. Apparently Pilot makes ballpoints and mechanical pencils in the same 74 style. I tried to do some research and absolutely nothing pops up about the ballpoint or pencil. I am looking to purchase a 74 FP sometime soon, and it would be neat to have a matching pencil. Does anyone have experience with the Custom 74 pencil?

PILOT CUSTOM 74 - MUSIC NIB Pilot Custom 74 – Music Nib This happens to be my latest addition or you may call addiction to Pilot Pens. After buying and using PILOT CAPLESS I realised that I need more Pilot Pens and lot of fellow fountain pen users and friends recommended me to buy Custom 74 and here I must thank Dhruv for connecting me with Bunkidou Shop. Dealing with Bunkidou was an amazing experience and his service was excellent. I actually bought two PILOT pens from him, CUSTOM 74 and CUSTOM HERITAGE 92. And the EMS service was so amazing that the pens reached to India from Japan within 5 days. I will be doing reviews of both, however this review is about PILOT CUSTOM 74 WITH MUSIC NIB. DESIGN & BUILT : 4/5 The pen is regular sized classic cigar shape pen. The pen comes in various colours like Black, Burgundy, Dark Green and Dark Blue with gold trims. There are demonstrator versions also available with chrome trims also, but the music nib is only available in Black colour in Japan. Pilot Custom 74 – Beauty Shot Pilot Custom 74 – Uncapped and Capped – Classical Cigar Shape Pen The classical cigar shaped pen is thickest at the cap centre-band and cap tapers down to rounded finial at top. The finial is visually separated by gold colour band. The clip is stiff and sturdy and has a ball end. Pilot Custom – Cap View – The clip is stiff and sturdy and has ball shaped end Pilot Custom 74 – Cap View Pilot Custom 74 – Cap Inner View The cap has dual centre band, with slim one at top and broad one below where branding is done and reads “PILOT – MADE IN JAPAN *CUSTOM 74*” . The clip also displays the the brand name PILOT engraved. Pilot Custom 74 – Centreband Pilot Custom 74 – Close up showing clip & centreband branding and beautiful nib The pen is extremely well detailed out. There is a gold colour band at the bottom of barrel separating it from the bottom finial and also there is gold colour band at the bottom of grip section (as you can see from above image) separating it from barrel. Pilot Custom 74 – Rounded Finials separated via gold trim bands The material used is plastic resin which is of same quality as Pilot 78G, thus nothing premium in that regards.The material is very well polished and finished. The quality control is superb and amazing and that is where Pilot excels. The pen uncaps in 1 – 3/4 turns and the grip section is slight concave albeit just a little bit. Below are the few images showing the comparative with other pens: Pilot Custom 74 vs Jinhao X-750 vs Lamy Safari Pilot Custom 74 vs Jinhao X-750 vs Lamy Safari – Capped Pilot Custom 74 vs Jinhao X-750 vs Lamy Safari – Uncapped and Posted I actually wanted to buy demo version but music nib was not available available in any other colour, so I had to settle for this. But this black colour has grown over me because of its classical, understated and professional look. BALANCE : 5/5 The pen is made of resin and is light weight and superbly well balanced whether you write with cap posted at the back or not. yes the cap posts securely at the back. The pen is of regular length comparable to that of Lamy Safari as shown in comparison above. The pen is slim and the grip is perfect. Pilot Custom 74 – Writing Unposted Pilot Custom 74 – Writing Posted Few specifications are as follows: Length (Capped) : 141 mm Length (Uncapped) : 125 mm Length (Posted) : 158 mm Dia (Section) : 9.7 mm Dia (Barrel) : 11.5 mm Dia (Cap) : 14.5 mm Weight (Capped) : 20 g Weight (Uncapped) : 12 g Pen is very ergonomic. I absolutely love this pen because of the grip and balance. NIB & INK FILLING MECHANISM: 4.5/5 Now comes the best part for which the pen was bought irrespective of the colour and by the way this colour has really grown on me. It looks so decent and professional. Well the pen comes in various nib widths, EF, F, SF, SFM, M, SM, FM, B, BB, MS, & C but the I am here using Music (MS) nib which has 3 tines. The friction fit nib is #5, 14 K Gold nib and writes amazingly soft and wet. I would say it writes fairly wet on higher medium side. The nib offers amazing and precise line variation . Its actually a kind of very wet stub and thus it helps in shading a lot. Even this black ink shades a little bit. It suits my script writing very well. Pilot Custom – 14k #5 Gold nib – Beautiful Nib Writing cursive with the nib gives you a feedback but by no means it is scratchy. Feed is made of plastic. When first I inked this pen it used to get dry but after flushing the pen its a loveliest wet stubby pen I have. Ink just dries at 25 sec mark. Pilot Custom – Nib Unit View – Top Pilot Custom 74 – Nib Unit View – Side Pilot Custom – Nib Unit View – Bottom The pen actually came only with black ink cartridge so had to purchase the converter separately. It actually takes all the Pilot proprietary converters , CON 20, CON 50, CON 70 and also Pilot cartridges. I like CON 50 because its easy to fill and clean and also I like its small ink capacity because I like changing inks. Pilot Custom – Ink filling via Pilot cartridge or converter The pen can not be used as eyedropper because of metal tenon underneath the grip section which accepts the cartridge or converter. Pilot Custom – Metal tenon I have enjoyed writing every single letter with this pen. Below are the images of my handwritten review containing ink drying times and writing samples: Pilot Custom 74 – Handwritten Review – Page 1 Pilot Custom 74 – Handwritten Review – Page 2 Pilot Custom 74 – Handwritten Review – Page 3 Pilot Custom 74 – Handwritten Review – Page 4 CONCLUSION: 13.5/15 The pen is no nonsense , classic looking pen. And at 82 USD shipped via EMS from Japanto India in 5 days, its terrific value for money. Cant beat that. Lot of retailer are selling it at 160 USD. So buying via Rakuten really helped. I recommend this to all the fountain pen users who like using stub nibs. Must buy. What I Like: Classic Design Superb Finish & very well detailed Ergonomic Size & Wonderful Balance Beautiful 14K wet Nib Better than many higher priced pens Complete Value for money What I don’t Like: Material quality is same as Pilot 78G Proprietary Converter and Cartridges. This is for the love of my life My other reviews can be checked at my blog here : MEHANDIRATTA

I have a Pilot Custom 74 with a CON-70 converter. Getting the converter filled is no problem, but ink flow is. The problem does not seem to be air bubbles. Rather, the black rubber piece that falls down to create the seal when filling the converter falls down while I am writing and thereby cuts off the ink supply. Is there a way of preventing this? Many thanks.

I know there have been many similar topics like this one, but I had to ask myself. I'm planning on buying myself my first gold nib as a Christmas gift to myself. I'm looking at the following pens: Pilot Custom 74 (M) Pilot Custom Heritage 91 (M) Pilot Custom Heritage 92 (M) Platinum 3776 Century (M) As I understand it, Custom 74, CH91 and CH92 all have the same feed and nib. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Are the medium #5 nibs the same width as Metropolitan medium? Is the 3776 medium nib broader or finer than the Pilot medium? Those of you who have tried both the 3776 and any of the Pilots, what are your impressions? Pros, cons? I prefer the design of the CH91 and CH92. I'm not a big fan of the cigar shape, but it's not a deal braker. I know the CH92 is a demonstrator with piston filler, which makes it slightly more expensive than the others. Is it worth the money or is any of the other a better buy? Greatful for all your input.

Hi all, Having recently begun to use a Pilot Custom Heritage 91 as one of my daily writers, I started to wonder how to go about completely disassembling the pen for cleaning. I have found several disassembly videos for the Custom 74, such as the one by SBREBrown (here), but no comparable videos for the Custom Heritage 91. Since the differences between the Custom 74 and Custom Heritage 91 seem mainly to be cosmetic (flat top and differently-shaped clip, but same nib, feed, and similar-looking section), I was wondering if the Custom Heritage 91 would disassemble in the exact same way that the Custom 74 does. Has anyone owned or fiddled with both these pens and know the answer?

Pilot Custom 74 Soft Fine Review This is my first ever review, so please bear with me and please let me know of any mistakes. Table of ContentsIntroductionPackagingForm Factor and AppearanceNib and SectionConclusion (TLDR) Statistics · Name: Pilot C74 · Country of Origin: Japan, imported to US · Model Number: FKK-1000R-B-SF · Color: Black with Gold Accents · Price: $84.39 from Amazon (free Prime one-day shipping included) · Included Items: Box, warranty papers (no converters, just a cartridge) Part I: Introduction The Pilot Custom 74 is perhaps one of the most well known 14k next-step pens on the market. Its name comes from when it was first manufactured, in 1992, 74 years after Erich Drafahl and Ryosuke Namiki created the Namiki Manufacturing Company, which would go on to be named Pilot. The Custom 74 looks extremely different in Pilots US and Japanese markets. In the US, it is sold to distributors for around ¥20,000 ($168), and is available only in demonstartor colors. In Japan, the pen is called the C74, and is available only in solid colors. In Japan proper, the pen is sold from Pilot for ¥10,000, however, it is available from most importers for around ¥8,500 (~$86). The Amazon vendor Future Station, from where I purchased the pen, is currently selling it for $84.39. However, it is a direct Japan import, so it only ships with a cartridge, box, and papers (no converters included). Luckily, Con-70s are not rare, so I ordered one with the pen for an added $9. Part II: Packaging (85/100 It serves its purpose in a very no-frills fashion) The packaging the Japanese Market C74 arrives in is rather nondescript and utilitarian. There is a grey cardboard sleeve, with the Pilot logo embossed in a glossy gold finish on the top. Besides this, the box has a set of letters Z-C-GN on the front, and some Japanese recycling notifications of the back. Once the sleeve is open, the utilitarian focus continues. You are greeted by a black, lightweight plastic boxwhich I personally think looks more like a chest. It, like the sleeve, features the Pilot logo in gold on the top. Once opened, the box has the Pilot logo on a stitched fabric background, with the pen sitting in its plastic sleeve and clip tag on top of a plastic felt-ridged cover with a decorative ribbon. Once you take out the plastic pen rest, you are left with a warranty card (in Japanese), a return policy guide and fulfillment form (if you are not satisfied with the product), and a sticker of some sort. Also included is an instruction manual with English, Japanese, and pictograms. It is very detailed. In some similar reviews Ive read, people often describe the box as being cheap, and to some extent, theyre right. The box is in no way comparable to that of a Pelikan m205, or even perhaps a Conklin or Monteverde. However, the box serves its purpose excellently with no frills attached. It is protective of the pen, built well using the least expensive materials as possible, and is brilliantly functional. This seems to be a bit of a metaphor for the not only the box, but also for the entire pen itself. Part III: External Form Factor & Appearance This pen is the classic cigar shape. From end to end, I measured the Pen as being 14.1 cm with the cap, and 12.6 cm without the cap. By itself, the cap is 6.7 cm. Compared to my current pens, its just a couple millimeters longer than my TWSBI Eco, Lamy Safari, Platinum #3776 Century, and Waterman Kultur capped. With the cap off, it is longer than the Century, but shorter than everything else. However, it does stand out due to its narrowness. Its maximum circumference is 11 mm, and is 10 mm at the grip (about the same as the barrel of a Safari). Most of my other pens hover around 12 to 14 mm, and those two to four millimeters do make the pen seem thin. Although it is not uncomfortable for me (my hands are about average size, erring towards slightly large), it definitely feels awkward compared to some of my other pens. For someone with big hands, it may be uncomfortable for long periods as time). It gets a little bit tiresome for me after 40 minutes of writing. (This week, I had final exams, and challenged myself to use each pen for the essay portion of the test.) However, this pen, by the end of the test, did make my hands cramp up. The pen is made out of black resin (aka plastic) with gold-colored accents. It is very light, weighing 12 g without a converter or ink inside. Although it is light, and plastic-y, the build quality is excellent. It is sturdy and has so far received no cracks even after a small number of drops onto hardwood flooring. It also looks nice; it has a very classic, almost Mont Blanc-esque feel to it. The clip is a triangle with a sphere on the end. It is connected to the cap by a simple gold ring separating the finial. It is stiff, but serves its purpose well. To keep things symmetrical, the pen also has a similar gold ring by the end of the barrel. At the end of the cap, there are two gold bandsone wider, raised band with the text ☆ Custom 74 ☆ Pilot Made in Japan. Next to it, is another thin gold band like on the finial and barrel. The cap screws on tightly in about two rotations. The threading is firm and there is no movement. In my short ownership, the pen has not once become loose without me unscrewing it. The cap is firmly attached to the barrel, and there is little to no movement. It does take a little force to unscrew if it has been screwed tightly. It friction posts posts securely. The pen is also well balanced, both with the cap on and off. The pen, although it seems to be cheaply made, is very well made. It feels good in the hand, and is not cumbersome or obstructionist. It also looks good. It has an understated, functionalist beauty to it that some may not like. It is not gaudy or attention-calling, it just looks classic and feels sturdy. Part IV: Nib, Section, and Writing Like the body of the pen, the grip is simple. It is a small section, only a centimenter in diameter and 1.6 mm long. There is no ledge between the threads and the grip, and the threads themselves are not sharp, so they can be used as a grip if need be. It is a normal, circular grip, and the pen feels nice in the hand. Now, we get to the #5 nib, the golden portion of this instrument (pun not strictly intended). It is a 14 karat (58.5%) gold Soft Fine nib. (Roughly a JoWoTWSBI, Goulet, Monteverde, etc.EF size). It writes gorgeously. I inked it with my go-to Noodlers black, and as soon as it touched my Rhodia paper, I was astonished. The nib is very smooth, with just the right amount of feedback (as I got to cheaper and cheaper paper the feedback got more and more intense). It feels incredible in the hand. Not only that, but it is gorgeous. It features some really nice scrollwork besides the pilot name, model and size number. It really gives the nib some visual character. However, this is no normal fine nib, it is a soft fine, and it feels amazing. With it, you can get line variation going from a western EF to a western M or maybe even a B. Every once in a while, it will get to a BB, but it normally railroads before then. And although this is not a flex nib (and please, please do not use it that wayyou will kill the poor tines), it does make it possible to add some panache to your writing quite easily. The feed keeps up with the nib no matter how fast, providing a nice, steady, wet flow of ink. It is really a joy to write with. Writing Sample on 90g Rhodia Part V: Conclusion (or TL;DR) For $86, this pen is truly incredible. It has a 14k nib with great variation and wonderful characteristics. It is built well and it feels sturdy; the resin is wonderful. It is compatible with all Pilot convertersespecially the incredible Con-70, and is all around an incredible pen. I really recommend it. Final Score: 265/300 88%. Would recommend. As this is my first review, please let me know what I can do better next time, Caleb

I bought a Custom 74 with a medium nib about a month ago. I thought it was just a temporary issue, but it's not getting better. When I draw a line downwards the nib feels smooth and the line is wet and nice. The same with lines from left to right. However lines from down to up and right to left are very faint and dry and the nib feels scratchy. The pen in this Youtube review show the same issue. https://youtu.be/f_Egx_bAwAs?t=15m41s It there an easy way to fix this issue by myself, or do I have to contact the seller in Japan to sort it out?

Hi, I have some questions about the smoothness and fineness of nibs between Pilot Vanishing Point and Pilot Custom Heritage 92/Custom 74. I have Pilot Decimo with a fine nib and I like the smoothness and fineness of this nib, but it is little heavy for long writing. While I was searching for a smooth, lightweight, and fine fountain pen for long writing, someone has recommended me Pilot Custom Heritage 92. I see it has pretty good reputation in this forum. Thus, I would like to know more about the nibs of this pen. As I said, I like the fineness and smoothness of my Decimo fine nib. How is Pilot Custom Heritage 92 nib like comparing to Decimo nib? I see they have F, FM, M, and B nibs. I wonder if I should get F nib or FM nib for Pilot Custom Heritage 92. Also, is there any place to purchase Pilot #5 nib separately? I am asking this in case that I may not like the nib I order, and I am also interested in trying SF nib. Thanks,

I am trying to decide between getting a pilot custom 74 with a medium nib and a platinum 3776 century with a medium nib. To me, their designs are similar but I am not sure how their nibs compare and what the big differences between the two are. If anybody is able to help I would greatly appreciate it.

Just bought a new Custom 74. The softer nib is taking some getting used to, it is not bad though. What I am wondering is: Does yours have any feedback on the nib? I have read several reviews that talk about the nib being smooth, but mine seems a little scratchy. Not digging into the paper scratchy just not as buttery smooth as I thought with this pen. Feels kinda like I am writing with a pencil at times. Thoughts?

So I recently bought a Pilot Custom 74 from an online retailer, and I love the pen but the nib is a huge disappointment. When I first inked up the pen it was incredibly scratchy, and there were some ink flow problems. However, since using it the scratchiness has evened out a bit, but the flow still remains problematic--sometimes it dries out completely and won't write a single line. I've contacted the seller, and they've said that I can mail the pen back to them and they can "re-tune" the nib for me, but I'm not sure I should. 1. I'll have to pay for return shipping to them, and 2. they were supposed to have tuned the nib before shipping the pen out to me in the first place. I'm not sure, if they weren't able to tune, or they did and the pen was jammed back into its cap, but all I know is that the new pen I received does not write very well. My cheaper Pilot 78g and Metropolitan steel nibs write smoother and wetter than this pen There's a FP shop near me, and I'm tempted to just take the pen to them and see what they can do....any advice? Should I just mail the pen back to the original seller and hope that it gets tuned properly? For the record, I first inked the pen up with Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun and wrote on Tomoe River paper, so I wasn't expecting any issues. The pen is currently inked with Sailor Jentle Yama-dori, which seems to be working better (in terms of scratchiness). Thanks, Lovely Pen

Hello! I recently found a Pilot Custom 74 for sale for a nice price, and it's equipped with a Soft Fine nib. For anyone who has ever had their pens reground by Mr. Pendleton, do you know if it is possible to get a BLS grind from that Soft Fine nib? And if you have such a nib, does it write just as springy and "flexy" (term loosely used) as it originally did, along with its new stub properties?

Why does an orange or blue clear custom 74 cost nearly twice as much as a plain clear one?