Pilot 78G B - Regular Or Italic/stub?

[tvradio]

I'm new to fountain pens and as a lefty have chosen narrower-nibs - Pilot Penmanship EF, Preppy, F, Metropolitan M. But I'm interested in trying something a bit wider. Apparently you cannot buy B Pilot nibs, but there are Chinese 78G and 78G+ pens on ebay ($18-$24) that are listed as B. Pricey for a steel nib alone, but if the pen is decent...

 

But I've read here and there that those may be Italic/stub, which I'm not sure my lefty handwriting would get along with. (I played with a couple of italic pens recently and it did not go well.) Anyone know the answer?

 

 

[Tweel]

The 78G broad is an untipped cursive italic. I think mine puts down a line about 0.8mm wide.

[tvradio]

I did not do well with the stub nibs I tried. The Plumix has a 1.0 italic nib - would you say it's close to that?

 

(If so, I may just have to look at a TWSBI Eco in M or B instead.)

 

EDIT: Also, does Pilot actually make any fountain pens with a non-italic steel Japanese B nib?

Edited December 30, 2017 by tvradio

[Honeybadgers]

Tvradio, it's the same nib. And no, pilot's biggest steel nib is M. You have to go into 14k for a B.

 

If you're looking at any TWSBI other than the eco, you might as well go on amazon or ebay and buy a japanese market pilot 74 or 91 for about ~$60

Edited December 30, 2017 by Honeybadgers

[tvradio]

Thanks, but I'm just looking to play around at this point and see what I like, and how wide I can go given my lefthandedness, handwriting style, and the paper I use. The Eco is more at the price limit for now, even though I don't care about it being a piston filler or a demonstrator.

 

(I was considering a M Kaweco but I've read simply too many complaints here and elsewhere about their M/B nibs not writing well out of the box.)

[LizB]

Yes the 78G is an italic, and at the wider end of the cheap Pilot italic nibs. The Plumix italic comes in a few narrow sizes. I'm not sure which Pilot pens carry round-tipped broad nibs, but I suspect it is at the more expensive end. For cheaper broads, I've got Lamy Safari/Al Star (no problems), Twsbi Eco (v nice), fitted a Bock B to a JInhao x750 (cheapest option probably). Faber-Castell B nibs that I've tried (Loom, Ambition) have been lovely and broad and wet, but a bit more expensive.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I'm a southpaw overwriter. The 78G 'broad' works all right for me; for that matter, so does a Lamy Safari 1.1 and 1.5, and these lend a nice flair to my writing.

 

Be aware the 78G is a very slim, lightweight thing. But it writes well. You might also look at a Nemosine Singularity M...very wet and broad for a medium nib, and around $20.

Edited December 30, 2017 by Sailor Kenshin

[tvradio]

Yes the 78G is an italic, and at the wider end of the cheap Pilot italic nibs. The Plumix italic comes in a few narrow sizes. I'm not sure which Pilot pens carry round-tipped broad nibs, but I suspect it is at the more expensive end. For cheaper broads, I've got Lamy Safari/Al Star (no problems), Twsbi Eco (v nice), fitted a Bock B to a JInhao x750 (cheapest option probably). Faber-Castell B nibs that I've tried (Loom, Ambition) have been lovely and broad and wet, but a bit more expensive.

thanks for the suggestions. There were holiday sale prices on the Loom for $30, but I missed it.

 

When I tried a Safari a few weeks ago it felt very comfortable to hold, but the triangular grip section seemed to enforce an angle this was just a bit off for my lefthanded writing. Yet afterwards I bought a Pilot Penmanship that has a similar grip and it works really well for me. (Except I found that the EF nib is too fine for me to do normal writing.) So now with a little more FP writing experience I might try a Safari again at the next NYC pen meetup in 2 weeks and pay closer attention and see if I can work with it.

[tvradio]

I'm a southpaw overwriter. The 78G 'broad' works all right for me; for that matter, so does a Lamy Safari 1.1 and 1.5, and these lend a nice flair to my writing.

 

Be aware the 78G is a very slim, lightweight thing. But it writes well. You might also look at a Nemosine Singularity M...very wet and broad for a medium nib, and around $20.

 

Hmm. Something to think about. On ebay I can get a 78G B for around $18.

 

I'm not looking at this point for more flair in my writing, just writing larger. I tend to write extremely small - which is not always to go back to read - and the Japanese EF/F/M nibs I have are bolstering that inclination, which I don't want. I'd like to see if by using a larger nib I can get myself to write larger and at least as legibly (while bringing out ink shading and color).

 

I am pretty sure I briefly tried a Singularity and for whatever reason I was a little meh on it.

[tvradio]

Twsbi Eco (v nice), fitted a Bock B to a JInhao x750 (cheapest option probably).

I see I can get a Jinhao 159 in B for $4 (!). Assuming it wouldn't immediately turn to dust in my hands, would it be a reasonably good pen to play with?

[Sailor Kenshin]

I see I can get a Jinhao 159 in B for $4 (!). Assuming it wouldn't immediately turn to dust in my hands, would it be a reasonably good pen to play with?

As it's metal, I doubt it would turn to dust. It's a baseball bat, too, but the Medium I had was very wet and liked many different inks.

[senzen]

Tvradio, it's the same nib. And no, pilot's biggest steel nib is M. You have to go into 14k for a B.

 

If you're looking at any TWSBI other than the eco, you might as well go on amazon or ebay and buy a japanese market pilot 74 or 91 for about ~$60

 

Very useful info, just got a medium Metropolitan, which writes nicely but is too thin for my liking with certain inks.

[Glenn Atkins]

I'm pretty sure I have a 78G with a broad nib.

 

Glenn

[tvradio]

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