Schneider Base

[rockydoggy]

I'm a huge fan of the Schneider Base--I've currently got one inked with Noodlers 54th Mass and one with Sailor Epinard. The grip may not be to everyone's taste (see the Safari) but I'm more than comfortable with it. I don't have a writing sample to post; but if it helps, I find the nibs on all of my Bases to be smooth and slightly wet (depending on the ink). The nib on the Base I happen to be using at work today is marked "A," which I think is a "medium"--like Newjelan, I find it to be somewhat on the "fine" side.

 

By the way, I also have a couple of Schneider Designa fountain pens. The Designa is sleeker, thinner, and more cigar-shaped than the Base; it also comes with a screw-on cap and an articulated clip. Like the Base, it's a dependable, sturdy pen for not a lot of money. For me these two Base models and the Pilot Metropolitan are among the best deals out there in terms of $20-range pens.

[Elizabeth in NJ]

  On 5/18/2009 at 2:30 PM, Russ said:

While Schneider is on the market, little is said about them on FPN. I was glad to see this review.

This was posted 3 years ago, but it still holds true. Not much is said about Kaweco pens either, at least compared to many other pens in the same general category.

 

I'm guessing it's a result of the Goulet Effect. (I just made that up) From a U.S.-centric and non-vintage-pen perspective, it seems that unless a pen brand is already really well known among the general public (Parker, Montblanc), there is a high correlation between how much attention a pen brand gets here and whether Brian offers it on his site. Correlation does not imply causation and all that, and there are complicating factors,* but I'm guessing the Goulet Effect is quite significant at this point. The Goulet Effect is likely even stronger amongst newer FP enthusiasts, especially American ones. And it's not because everybody is buying their pens and/or ink from him. It's because his store/blog has become a clearinghouse for information and it's by far the most extensive and enjoyably browsable site around. If a pen is on his site, it will defintely have lots of very clear photos and full product specs available, and likely have a bunch of useful user reviews to read. That means that people will be much more confident buying an unfamiliar pen from him. Same goes for ink. The swab shop, nib nook, etc. are invaluable for buying mail-order. Combine that with the fact that people DO like to do business with him, and the result is that more Americans who weren't initially familiar with either Lamy or Kaweco are ending up with Lamy Safaris than Kaweco Sports. And that means Safaris get talked about more here, which leads to more of them being sold and so on and so on. The converse doesn't seem to hold true, however. Some things he stocks don't get talked about much here at all.

 

Now there are many exceptions to this of course, especially the super-cheap Chinese pens, but I think it holds overall.

 

And speaking of Schneiders and Kawecos and Lamys--is there any interest in a forum for German pens like the ones for Italian and Japanese pens? For German pens other than Pelikan and Montblanc, I mean, as those already have their own forum. I'm sure this has been asked before but I haven't been able to turn anything up on search. There seem to be a lot of interesting German pens out there.

 

 

* The main complicating factor that I see here is that Brian et al are personally choosing what they sell, so I'm guessing that many of the brands and models he has on his site really are some of the best at their price point and therefore amongst the most worthy of repeat purchase and recommendation. Again, the converse is not true. I'm sure there are many fantastic brands and models that he does not choose to (or can't) stock for any number of reasons.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Elizabeth in NJ

[Sherwood Forester]

It's good to hear that at least a few other folk have enjoyed the Schneider experience.

 

Several years ago my wife spotted some pens in a branch of Poundshop, a chainstore, the forerunner of plenty more of it's type where everything costs £ 1.00. Figuring that it was no risk to get a pen at that price, she bought three of them. Each was mounted on a card along with a full cartridge.

 

All these years later I am still using the first of those three and the other two remain sealed onto their respective display cards. I subsequently managed to buy a huge number of cartridges for only a few pennies and I sometimes refill the empties with different inks.

 

And you know what? Despite having an ordinary medium steel nib, that £1.00 pen, made by a company I'd never heard of, writes as well as any other in my collection, which includes Sheaffer, Parker, Cross, Onoto, Conway Stewart, Yard-O-Led and, as of today, Montblanc.

 

That is nothing to do with the standard of those celebrated brands but merely an indication of the outstanding performance of a rock-bottom price economy pen.

 

Or maybe I got lucky.

[rockydoggy]

This interesting exchange raises the issue of how folks end up trying regularly produced brands of pens that go under the radar for one reason or another. I think that I came across the Schneider Base completely by chance. There was an Ebay seller 5-6 years ago who was offering relatively inexpensive modern fountain pens in lots of 3 or 4, most of which I'd never heard of. I bought a few of these lots--a Schneider Base was in one of them. I liked it so much that I tried finding more Schneider pens. That search turned up vendors like Passion4Pens <http://www.passion4pens.com/> run by Joseph C. Ptasinski and Deutsche Pens <http://shop.deutschepens.com/main.sc>. (I bought my Schenider Designa from the latter.) I'm not sure why small dealers like these get so little play--all of my transactions with them have gone smoothly [no connex, etc.]. All I know is that had I not bought my first Schneider Base by accident, I would've missed out on one of the better, low-cost brands. By the way, in another of those lots I ended up with a Schneider Expressiv pen--it looks a bit like a Rotring ArtPen and it's been one of my go-to desk pens for a while.

[ballboy]

[a_m]

My review of Schneider Base is here:

 

http://indiapoint.net/archives/2013/05/26/review-schneider-base-fountain-pen/

[rockydoggy]

Your review is spot-on, my experience with the Base completely.

I'd recommend that you try the Schneider Designa if you can track one down.

[a_m]

  On 5/26/2013 at 1:06 PM, rockydoggy said:

Your review is spot-on, my experience with the Base completely.

I'd recommend that you try the Schneider Designa if you can track one down.

 

Thanks that you liked the review.

 

I guess by Designa - you are speaking of

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ball-Point-Pen-Case-Schneider-Designa-Chrome-NEW-/110496121345?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ba150201

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but I no longer use ball point pens.

 

The alternative to Fountain Pen when I really require, I use Gel Pen or the particular pen that comes by name Reynold Tekpoint (aero liquid ink technology) - dont know what that means ! I have found all Gel pens to use "blue black" variety of ink. The Tekpoint, which is not a gel pen, gives that blueish variety of ink. And I require these alternatives only if I have to use the really thin variety of paper where the FP ink seeps through / is visible on the next page. I have found that these Gel pens and the Reynold Tekpoint does not seep through to next page howsoever thin the paper might be. (though some of the other liquid ink pens that I have come through would seep through heavily even on normal / regular paper !)

[zdeveric]

I am just waiting for mine Schneider Base that should come in next few days in local shop. I was thinking that I would able to use it as eyedropper until I read review about unvisible holes on barrel ribs. Anyway I am excited waiting ...

[a_m]

Designa FP not even in their catalogue. Perhaps discontinued or renamed?

 

http://www.schneiderpen.de/fileadmin/user_upload/26110_Katalog_2013_engl.pdf

[zdeveric]

Schneider Base has finely arrived today and I have opportunity to test the barrel ie. where the gaps are. The slot on the top of the barrel has invisible holes where ink can flow freely out. The pen is simple and sturdy, very light, writes smoothly.

[rockydoggy]

The Schneider Designas that I have are fountain pens.

 

Deutsche Pens is one of the places where I was able to buy them:

 

http://shop.deutschepens.com/product.sc?productId=97

 

I've purchased a number of pens from them--no complaints at all (and no connex).

[a_m]

  On 6/6/2013 at 2:00 PM, zdeveric said:

Schneider Base has finely arrived today and I have opportunity to test the barrel ie. where the gaps are. The slot on the top of the barrel has invisible holes where ink can flow freely out. The pen is simple and sturdy, very light, writes smoothly.

 

If you try to plug that point (as I did), and again fill it out, you will find, even the rib (ie. III III III III thing) at certain points has such invisible holes! Why do the manufacturers keep such loopholes in such a good pen. Its not necessary that everyone will buy the same company's ink cartridge

[a_m]

  On 6/6/2013 at 2:11 PM, rockydoggy said:

The Schneider Designas that I have are fountain pens.

 

Deutsche Pens is one of the places where I was able to buy them:

 

http://shop.deutschepens.com/product.sc?productId=97

 

I've purchased a number of pens from them--no complaints at all (and no connex).

 

 

Many thanks, I seem to have missed that one.

[zdeveric]

  On 6/6/2013 at 2:52 PM, a_m said:

 

If you try to plug that point (as I did), and again fill it out, you will find, even the rib (ie. III III III III thing) at certain points has such invisible holes! Why do the manufacturers keep such loopholes in such a good pen. Its not necessary that everyone will buy the same company's ink cartridge

Did you go farther by trying seal these holes on the field of ribs? Do you have any idea?

Do you use converter and if you do what brand is it?

[a_m]

  On 6/8/2013 at 6:28 PM, zdeveric said:

Did you go farther by trying seal these holes on the field of ribs? Do you have any idea?

Do you use converter and if you do what brand is it?

 

No didn't try with the ribs. The plastic there seemed quite fragile! And I thought let the pen be as it is.

 

The international long cartridge holds good amount of ink. For my writing, I can write more than 40 pages of A4 with the international long cartridge. The waterman, schneider, pelikan cartridges are international size cartridges (though I have only seen the long cartridge for Waterman only).

 

I have not tried it with converter yet - but any of the Chinese pen converter should do like the Jinhao or Baoer - as these Chinese pens comes with international size converters. I have used these Chinese pens with both their converters and the mentioned cartridges.

[zdeveric]

The pen was a little too wet for me and I have made it in F nib by playing with it. Simple. Nice pen.

[Anirban4u]

Schneider base (M) is my everyday pen now..(Though as a Software Engineer I have very limited use)

[LazyPen]

I reissue this old topic to ask which one among base and safari can be considered a better nib performer and better for what concerns comfort of use, too.

 

Regards.

[RIO]

I have been using Lamy Safaris since 1995. Its a reliable and easy to use pen.

Last year I bought a "Compactor Solo", which is the Schneider Base sold in Brazil.

Compactor pens used to design their own pens, but recently they are selling this beautiful Schneider fountain pen under Solo name.

These pens are available in 12 different colors and kits.

 

https://www.compactor.com.br/tipo-produto/canetas-tinteiros/

 

The pen is excelent, with a abundant ink flux, the size is big. The clip is strong and makes the design difference.