I just took a nib from a El Grande Streamline, which I believe is the same nib as an El Grande, put it into the fron section of a Statesmen and it worked just fine. You can use the front section from a Statesmen and screw it into the plated threaded nib couple on the Emperor, it will fit. I have used the front cover for the Statesmen on the Emperor on some occassions, I think it looks better than the front cover for the Emperor, but that is personal taste. So you can buy fine steel nibs from BB in the El Grande and just switch out the nibs, should work.