Pilot Custom 74 Review

[onionoil]

Thank you for the review. I just got my custom 74 (M) yesterday and it does have exactly the same flow issue you described. The flow is very little to the upper right, lower left, and lower left; also the vertical stroke feels kind of scratchy and makes unconfortable noise. My writting looks uneven with this pen, which makes me quite disappointed with this pen at this price. It's really appreciated that you have a method to solve the problem, but I don't quite catch what you're describing. Could you post a photo of the method you fix it. Thank you very much.

[ateke]

omg this was extremely helpful! Recently i have bought pilot custom 74 with fine nib and was really disappointed about how it writes since it skipped like a lot on the upperstroke as you mentioned. In order to fix the issue, I tried to give it a good flush and making it wetter by pushing the nib on the surface of my finger nail but both of them didnt work. However i have just tried the method you explained and it worked!! Thank you very much!

 

• Place the pen on a surface and hold it nib up, with the nib facing away or towards you
• Take the pen and grip the nib shoulders between two fingers on the left and right
• Use your thumbs to push on the top surface of the nib, essentially "flattening" the nib a bit
• Check that the tines are aligned
• Try writing with the pen, if it isn't satisfactory then repeat the process
  
  by
  imadeadend

[garthmorgan]

Thanks very much for this fantastic review. I've been on the fence about getting one of these, but this helped me decide to go ahead and get the Custom 74.

[arcadeflow]

I received yesterday my maroon (bordeaux?) Custom 74 with a medium nib, bought from Rakuten. I opted for this color because it was cheaper, and also, the red 78G was my favorite of the 4 available colors, so I guess I would also prefer this color. And I did love it indeed, very gorgeous color, a lot darker, it is like dark burgundy tone. Lately I have been using my red 78G more than the gray fine nib Prera (it is finally working great with Pilot Blue ink) and I found it to be very smooth, so that is why I picked up the medium nibbed Custom 74. I am having a bit of trouble figuring out which of the two is the smoother. There is a noticeable difference between the steel plated and gold nibs. The size of the Custom 74 is absolutely amazing, it feels perfect in the hand. It is a bit too fancy, but compared to other pens, it is still sober, but that shiny light golden nib surely feels expensive, I'd rather use the Prera in public (even the 78G might seem too dandy in some eyes).

 

I inked it with Diamine Blaze Orange because I wanted to see some shading, and it is shading fine. I don't see any skipping or problems with diagonals, I crossed lines in all directions trying to find out if I had problems like those mentioned here, and I guess I am lucky. I got the pen still wrapped in a sealed plastic bag and it looked pristine, nobody touched it, straight from the factory, amazing. I really liked it, I am glad I changed my mind at the last minute, I was going to get a Custom Heritage 91 (Tsuki-yo) which I am sure is a nice pen, but it does not have the class of this pen (maybe it would be better exactly for that reason, so I could use it in public without feeling pretentious). I have big hands but not huge, and I can even use an unposted Prera without complaining (altought I never do long writing sessions), the 78G still feels nice, but the weight and girth of it are absolutely spot on, I doubt I would ever need a bigger pen, or would prefer a slimmer pen over this one. I could prefer a shorter one for carrying in the pocket and a slimmer one to fit a notebook or something like that, but for a favorite pen this is spot on.

 

A note about the nib size: I have this red 78G with a medium nib which was my first fountain pen since a Chinese one my dad bought me as a kid (which I got rid decades ago), and because of flow problems I was having with Sheaffer inks, I did a lot of fiddling with it. A lot of washes, kraft paper smoothing and a bit of pressure on the tip of the nib to spread tines. It is still a Japanese medium, smaller than a Lamy medium, but it is a bit thicker than my brand new green 78G that has the same nib type. I am not sure if this is just factory variation or my 78G has gave in, due to my usage and tuning. That said, my maroon Custom 74 with a medium nib is aboui the same width of the red 78G. I believe the fine medium nib is probably similar to this green 78G I have. The Custom 74 still doesn't feel as wet and thick as my medium Lamy (that I got rid of), but it could be because it is not as wet and the nib has some flex, so it writes with less pressure. I still have an untouched teal 78G with medium nib, I will try it next in rotation to figure out which is the real size of the steel medium nib from Pilot. I remember my medium Metropolitan was probably the same as the red 78G, it felt smooth and not fine in my standards.

 

My advice is, if you never tried the Japanese fine nibs and you are used to Western fine, get the FM nib or the M for the Custom 74 (if you don't hate Western medium), don't go directly for the fine. Also, the non-soft versions like mine are still softer than steel, if you don't have a preference for nibs with some flexibility, I don't see why I would want my nib to be softer than it is, I would only try that if I was not buying this pen to be my main pen.

[XiaoMG]

Good overview.

 

I'm a big fan of the C74 and have my third one on the way from Japan. This year there's a limited edition in sparkly blue and sparkly grey with rhodium trim, and I opted for the grey. Since I have an excellent EF, F, and SF that I can swap around as needed (SF is yellow gold though), I opted for the FM this time. There are a few pics online but I'll try to take some when I get it.

 

It might be helpful for some to know that Pilot gold nibs do frequently come out with tight tines that can restrict ink flow and produce anemic lines like others have mentioned. I do not prefer to press the nib down to bend it, but rather take a thin sheet of mylar or anything strong that won't scratch the nib, floss down between the tines, bend the mylar around each tine, and gently pull them apart. This lets me relax the tines without the twisting and uneven bending.

Edited September 13, 2014 by XiaoMG

[dreamzchm]

I ordered mine demonstrator with fine nib from Japan, waiting for the EMS parcel. Your fantastic review was one of the reasons behind my choice of the Custom 74!

Edited April 23, 2016 by dreamzchm

[Larrabeiti]

According to Dirk De Lint's article about Pilot on Raven's March, "611" means the pen was produced in June 2011, and 1111 means it was produced in Novembre 2011.

[TaizoOkagaki]

Thank you imadeadend for your detaied review.
I like custom 74 pen too.

I think considering price-function-ability, custom 74 is one of the best.

You can choose many type of nib with custom 74.

But for some nib like posting, falcon, waverly, stub, corse, and music, they only available with 742, 743 or 912

But still custom 74 is affordable pen with so many choices

[Burtbricker]

Thanks for the review! I was look at getting a Pilot 74 your review was very helpful.

[NicolausPiscator]

Wow! Terrific review! Thank you! I have bought this pen and I come to the same point: Highly recommendable! I have ordered it with a SFM nib which is very smooth, a delicious writer.