Pilot Custom 742, FA nib.
Pilot Custom 742, FA nib
If you can get past the if-it’s-Monday-it’s-the-maroon-tie sobriety of its design, the Pilot Custom series can be a nib discovery tour. The 742 and 743 series come with music, stub (or sutab), coarse, wavily (akin to Sailor’s zoom) and falcon nibs, aside from the usual fine, medium and broad. The falcon nib, also known as the FA nib, has shoulder cutouts like Nakaya’s elastic nib, but unlike the elastic nib, it can flex.
I had a 743 with an FA nib, which I sold to a friend. The 743s come with size 15 nibs; perhaps the size of the nib has something to do with how flexible it is, because the 742′s size 10 FA nib feels significantly more flexible than its larger sibling.
Pilot Custom 742, FA nib, top view
The trace of blue on the nib is from the Pilot Iroshizuku line of inks; asa-gao, or morning glory, is a vivid blue with a tinge of purple. It is not the shocker that is Noodler’s Baystate Blue, but then again shocking blue would probably be part of a Pilot Harajuku line.
Pilot Custom 742, FA nib, writing sample
The writing sample is much enlarged, but it should give you an idea of the proportion of thick to thin lines this nib can produce. The sample below is closer to true size.
Pilot Custom 742, FA nib, writing sample
I gave myself two pens for Christmas this year – this one, and a Sailor 1911 demonstrator with a music nib. It was supposed to be the Pelikan M800 demonstrator with engravings, but Pengallery had sold out all their stock in three weeks, and as my friend Tom always says, the i in Leigh stands for impatient. Or impulsive. (He has yet to say irritating, irascible, irate, or immaculate.)
When I travel, I like carrying at least one vintage pen with a flexible nib, for sketches and journal entries. The FA nib isn’t vintage flex, but it’s quite close – with the advantage of being a cartridge/converter pen, which means less fuss. Heaven knows we all could use less fuss.
December 24th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Wow!!! Nice flex for a non-vintage pen. I love the asa-gao ink….
December 24th, 2008 at 1:00 am
I remember asking you what was special about the Pilot inks you bought. Now I see the answer! It’s a wonderful blue and makes me want to look more into the other colors. This pen has to have the most flexible modern nib I’ve seen writing samples of and you do lovely work with it as usual. Oh, I think the “i” this time stands for ineffable. I’ll get around to the other words later.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:59 am
Wow, I don’t know what to be more excited about, the calligraphy stylings, the nib that enabled the stylings, or the color. Very awesome.
December 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am
The 742FA is exactly what I want: a modern pen with a flexible nib. It really helps to see what it can do in the hands of an expert. Thanks.
December 24th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Very nice pens..and pictures. I think I should start giving myself pens for Christmas too, great idea.
December 24th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Caloy and TAO: I left the other Iroshizuku inks in the office, so no new ink to play with until the 27th or so.
Kim: It’s a fantastic nib, and unlike vintage nibs, is still in production. I have the comfort of knowing that if I (please no) accidentally lose this, or flex the nib beyond redemption, I can buy it again.
Margana: It’s the only one I know of with this kind of flex. Without pressure it lays down a finer stroke compared to the Danitrio flexible EF.
OSG: There are so many other reasons to give yourself pens! Christmas was just the closest one for me. LOL.
January 4th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Now look what you’ve done – I want one!
January 9th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
How does the size of a Pilot 743 nib compare with a Montblanc 149 nib? Thanks – Nestor
February 21st, 2009 at 9:36 am
I have been tempted to buy the 742 or 743 FA but I do not have very tidy handwriting and am not a calligrapher. I do write with a light hand though.
Should I buy a pen with the Falcon nib or is it best avoided in my case?
February 27th, 2009 at 12:17 am
I am keen on Japanise pens as they work from the box in my opinion, I have been wanting a flexy pen, and this has just sold me on the Pilot custom 742 with FA nib, thanks
April 13th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
I’m very interested in this pen as a sketching tool. I’ve read elsewhere that these have issues with the feed not being able to supply enough ink on long lines.
Have you found this at all?
April 14th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Anton: Yes, I found that to be an occasional issue with the 743, but not as much with the 742. I wonder if it’s because the nib size is smaller?
April 15th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Thanks Leigh.
Great blog, btw. Beautiful pens, writing, and photography.
July 3rd, 2010 at 2:17 pm
[...] I first got my Pilot 742 FA, I was very impressed. After several fills, I couldn’t ignore how often it would stutter in the middle of a stroke [...]
July 3rd, 2010 at 3:53 pm
What ink line is that called Harajuku?
BT
July 4th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Oh, it doesn’t exist. I made it up. I just thought if Pilot came out with a line of wild neon inks it should be called Harajuku.