My New Pilot Custom 74 SF vs my Old 742 Falcon

[FlexySouthPaw]

I just got a new soft-fine custom 74 in the mail today, and I like it a lot!  It has great line variation, while also being comfortable enough and light enough that I think it could be a daily use pen.  

I like my 742 Falcon also, but for my left-handedness, it's not a practical everyday pen. It requires more concentration and deliberate writing to avoid dragging into the paper. It can smear if I'm not careful, being a side-writer.

 

My normal EDC is usually TWSBI Eco XF or a Parker 61 M.

 

My handwriting isn't too good, but this should give you the idea of the difference in flex between a Pilot Falcon nib vs a Pilot Soft Fine. Both offer line variation, but the Falcon nib is almost like a paint brush. My custom 742 FA is modified with a flexible nib factory ebonite feed. The factory feed could not keep up with western flex writing. 

Edited March 8, 2023 by FlexySouthPaw

[A Smug Dill]

Thank you very much for sharing!

 

I also (still) have a Pilot Custom 742 with an FA nib and replacement ebonite feed from Flexible Nib Factory, although I sold my black Custom 74 that was factory-fitted with a SF nib (as well as the C74 with a MS nib — I just don't get along with it ergonomically). Sadly, I found both of those pens not writing finely enough when little or no downward pressure was applied. For some reason, my Pilot Custom Heritage 91 with (also a size 5, 14K gold) SFM nib wrote consistently finer than the C74's SF nib. Consequently, my C742 with FA nib almost never sees any use, except for some sort of (comparative) testing once in a blue moon.

[FlexySouthPaw]

Thanks for feeding the addiction, but I will have to try a Custom Heritage 91 SFM a try once my wallet recovers.  I like a fine line for normal writing, but I also like having some line variation. It's nice to find a fine nib pen that's not a nail. 

[A Smug Dill]

5 minutes ago, FlexySouthPaw said:

It's nice to find a fine nib pen that's not a nail.

 

You might like a Pelikan Classic M20x with steel F nib, then, if you're able to find one on which the tipping is not a big glob. You'd have to rely on the luck of the draw these days, unfortunately; so I'd strongly suggest inspecting the item before you buy. If my first Pelikan M200 (Smoky Quartz, even though to be honest I'm not that taken with its physical appearance) didn't have such a usable F nib (which produced the writing in the bottom third of the page here), my wife and I wouldn't have accumulated over ten of the M2xx pens since (and one is on its way by post to me right now).