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I've long liked Asa Gao but thought it came out too dark in several pens I tried. I settled on a Pelikan m600 with an 18k F nib, which had the advantage of showing some shading, but still came out dark. Then came along Hisoku which needed a pen that made it come out with the same colour consistently, and Asa Gao lost its home, although I'm waiting for another Pelikan. http://i66.tinypic.com/2eygh7t.jpg In the meantime I remembered I had a busted Waterman Lauréat with a nice nib, which leaks all its ink onto its cap, rendering it useless; and a no name pen a friend gave me some time ago, which I never really used but whose nib I still managed to destroy and lose. I fished it out but its rubberized finish felt sticky, so I applied some alcohol to remove it, revealing a plastic layer. Unexpectedly the Waterman nib fits, and makes Asa Gao look like I've always thought it could. Of course it remains to be seen if this will be a reliable combination, but it's a nice surprise that I can finally use Asa Gao in all its glory and the old Lauréat nib is still as smooth as I remember it. http://i63.tinypic.com/2h6dohi.jpg Conclusion 1: for me its clearly ink first, nib second, pen third. This unknown pen is heavy as it's made of some metal, but comfortable and has an inner cap which always helps. Conclusion 2: don't give up on that ink, it might look boring in a pen, as good and expensive as that might be, and spectacular in another, even a lesser pen.