Pilot Custom 74 Nib Sizes

[MuttonChew]

Hello,

I am planning on purchasing a Pilot Custom 74 (Black),

but want to pick the right nib so I will love my pen as much as possible!

Since I have been reading that Asian nibs are one size finer, i have been leaning towards a medium, medium-fine, or broad.

I am aiming to get a nib that looks something close to a Lamy Medium.

I have also noticed many listings on eBay selling a "soft" nib. Does this mean it is a full flex nib, or that it is a semi-flex nib?

If you have any experience with this pen, or Pilot nibs, I would love to hear your feedback!

Thanks,

Mutton

 

 

[SujiCorp12345]

A Soft Fine nib is a nib with more spring, but it's not at the level of a semiflex or a full flex nib.

[rochester21]

The soft version of the nibs seems to write broader than the standard version. Thus, if you want a western medium, you should probably go with the soft medium nib. I had the sfm and the sf nibs, and they were not as fine as i expected them to be. Of course, the fact that the C74 has quite a good ink flow means that it puts down slightly more ink than a standard pen(6/10 wetness). At least in my experience.

 

Btw, soft means soft, not flexy. The nib acts like a cushion on paper.

Edited February 22, 2015 by rochester21

[J.P.]

I have a broad Custom 74 that was ground to a cursive italic by John Mottishaw at Classic Fountain Pens (nibs.com). It is an excellent daily writer, juicy and smooth. According to them the Pilot broads run .70mm

 

I'm attaching a small exemplar taken with my phone. The quality is not so good, but you'll get a sense of scale. Unfortunately, I didn't have a safari on me when I wrote that sample.

 

Edited February 22, 2015 by J.P.

[rochester21]

OK, OK, here`s one of mine:

http://i57.tinypic.com/35iu9o5.jpg

[Algester]

I would probably consider the Soft nibs to be semi-flex at least you can get some line variation out of it but of course custom 74 has some more nib options with the cosu and music nibs in the mix
I own a Soft medium Heritage 91... my brother has the soft fine but is never used :X

Edited February 23, 2015 by Algester

[MuttonChew]

OK, OK, here`s one of mine:

http://i57.tinypic.com/35iu9o5.jpg

I really like the look of the SFM. I think thats what i'll order. Thanks for the help everyone!

[wastelanded]

For the record, the BB on my Custom 74 is wider than my Kaweco BB. What a delicious nib, sensuous.