Nib recommendations

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glycerine

glycerine

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I would like to hear from people who have used some "upgrade" nibs from Lou, Brian Gray (Edison, Nibmeister) and any other source for better nibs. I've heard alot about Lou's nibs here, but not Brians. How do they write? Compared to Lou's, how do they write? Are there others out there that I should consider? I would like to keep my busines here with IAP members, but I'm still fairly new to the forum and not sure who else offers nibs around here. Just PM me if you don't want to state your opinions "outloud". Thanks.
 
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glycerine said:
I would like to hear from people who have used some "upgrade" nibs from Lou, Brian Gray (Edison, Nibmeister) and any other source for better nibs. I've heard alot about Lou's nibs here, but not Brians. How do they write? Compared to Lou's, how do they write? Are there others out there that I should consider? I would like to keep my busines here with IAP members, but I'm still fairly new to the forum and not sure who else offers nibs around here. Just PM me if you don't want to state your opinions "outloud". Thanks.
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Although I am known for my bashfulness on the forum, but I will come out of my shell and share my thoughts on this subject. :wink:

First, I don't think this is a good way to determine which nibs are the "best". I think this could easily turn into a popularity contest which would serve no purpose whatsoever.

Brian has not been offereing his Meister nibs that long so I doubt there would be many who have had a chance to try them and compare them to the Heritance® nibs Lou offers and I cannot find where Anthony offers steel nibs as I can only see 14k nibs on his site.

If you are really interested in finding a nib to use in your pens, why not just do what I did and order a few from Lou and a few from Brian and compare them yourself? I didn't get Brians nibs in time for my recent show to have customers determine which they preferred so can't say.

The only way to learn which are "best" is to offer each nib to a customer to test drive then decide on which one he or she wants to purchase.... THAT is the real test as it is the customer in the end who decides which nib gets the nod, not fellow forum members... unless they of course are buying your pens!

BUT... I have a feeling that even if you offer a customer each nib to try, you might be prepared to have several of each on hand since neither will be chosen over the other 100% of the time! :smile:

Just my thoughts, not "taking sides" in an issue than could be taken personally. With all the above said, actually I do have a "favorite" nib, it has been in the pen I use every day for going on two years now and I LOVE the way it writes, here is a shot of it with a close up so you can see the nib markings.....
 

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What George says is very accurate. Every "writer" will have his own preferences. In fact, the "stock" nibs would probably score well too, if they didn't have the markings that have become known as "kit pens".

However, as George learned last week, "Iridium, Germany" will drive customers away in droves -- if they are "pen people". So a good, affordable replacement steel nib will keep those people in your booth. These are usually the people who also understand "gold nib" and realize that an extra $100 for a nib is NOT "ridiculous". So, talking about gold and having them available for replacement also indicates that YOU know something about nibs.

I also have not had the chance to SEE Brian's nibs yet. But, like Tex, I will offer many alternatives at shows.

In selling, we call this a "Yes or yes decision". IF you have many options, the bottom line is, you WILL sell YOUR pens. You LOOK knowledgeable. People like to deal with salesman who know WHAT they are selling --- not always easy, these days.
 
ed4copies said:
What George says is very accurate. Every "writer" will have his own preferences. In fact, the "stock" nibs would probably score well too, if they didn't have the markings that have become known as "kit pens".

However, as George learned last week, "Iridium, Germany" will drive customers away in droves -- if they are "pen people". So a good, affordable replacement steel nib will keep those people in your booth. These are usually the people who also understand "gold nib" and realize that an extra $100 for a nib is NOT "ridiculous". So, talking about gold and having them available for replacement also indicates that YOU know something about nibs.

I also have not had the chance to SEE Brian's nibs yet. But, like Tex, I will offer many alternatives at shows.

In selling, we call this a "Yes or yes decision". IF you have many options, the bottom line is, you WILL sell YOUR pens. You LOOK knowledgeable. People like to deal with salesman who know WHAT they are selling --- not always easy, these days.
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If you think about it, it IS all about what the customer wants and the worst thing that you could do when asked about your nibs is to say something akin to... "Well, a lot of the guys on a pen making forum say these are pretty good so that's what I offer" :eek:

What has helped me more than anything in selling fountain pens is to totally imerse myself into the fountain pen culture and learn as much as I can rather than just offer them for sale. That way, being a user myself, I can more readily understand the likes and dislikes of certain aspects.
 
Texatdurango said:
If you are really interested in finding a nib to use in your pens, why not just do what I did and order a few from Lou and a few from Brian and compare them yourself? I didn't get Brians nibs in time for my recent show to have customers determine which they preferred so can't say.

The only way to learn which are "best" is to offer each nib to a customer to test drive then decide on which one he or she wants to purchase.... THAT is the real test as it is the customer in the end who decides which nib gets the nod, not fellow forum members... unless they of course are buying your pens!
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I plan on ordering several of Lou's for sure, but wanted to know what other sources there may be and peoples' opinions on them. And no, forum members may not be my customers, but they have many customers of their own and thus more experience than me. I have only just begun this hobby and am not really selling them yet. I've sold a few rollerballs and ballpoints locally, but haven't done any shows, don't have a website, not quite ready for that yet. There's definitely interest, but I'm still researching, learning, building inventory, etc.

Texatdurango said:
What has helped me more than anything in selling fountain pens is to totally imerse myself into the fountain pen culture and learn as much as I can rather than just offer them for sale. That way, being a user myself, I can more readily understand the likes and dislikes of certain aspects.
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That's kinda what I am doing right now. That's why I want to get some nibs other than the "kit" nibs. I've written with the kit nibs and they write just fine for me. But I haven't used many fountain pens in my life, so I'm trying to learn more about them, learn more about the people who use them, etc.

ed4copies said:
What George says is very accurate. Every "writer" will have his own preferences. In fact, the "stock" nibs would probably score well too, if they didn't have the markings that have become known as "kit pens".
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Yes, I agree about the look of the "stock" nibs. I saw a custom pen in a shop the other day that had one of Lou's nibs on it and that's what made me want to go ahead and start looking into other nib sources. It made a big difference to me in the "classiness" of the pen.
 
Thanks for the responses, by the way.

Another thought, everyone says that a writer has his own preference on nib, etc. and will find that preference by trying out a few. Once I get a website up, would you say that I am unlikely to sell many foutain pens online for that reason? Should I try to sell more fountain pens at shows where people can "test drive" them and focus the website on the rollerballs and ballpoints?
 
Have a peek at my website. Probably 20% of my pens are fountain pens and the other 80% split between rollerball, gel and ballpoint yet 90% of my sales the past year have been fountain pens!

From my website I sell more Jr. Statesman and Emperor fountain pens than all other types combined but that is due to me having more repeat customers than first time buyers and they like fountain pens.

Another thing to consider is that some folks could probably care less what nib is attached. I have one customer who orders the same pen whenever I get a new burl in. He's now well over two dozen pens and I doubt he writes with them all but can imagine a nice display area in his office where the caps seldom come off!

I don't think there is a pat answer just prepare for lots of scenarios.
 
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