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View Full Version : LAMY 2000 quality control issues are not related to the "sweet spot"



Xuben
May 28th, 2019, 02:58 PM
Just got my LAMY 2000 in the mail yesterday; now it is snug in its box headed back to the distributor I ordered it from for a full refund. I REALLY wish I had listened to the quality control complaints that are so ubiquitous, but I loved the look of it and wanted to believe the dismissals from the pen's advocates that said it was just an angle issue and that the complainers just didn't know how to hold the pen properly. After realizing to my horror that it wrote like a chicken bone, I took it to a nearby fountain pen store where the staff confirmed that the nib was very catchy. For a $250 (Canadian) pen to write like that out of the box is ridiculous. I saw a lot of people online saying it wrote badly until they cleaned it many times, or after 3 ink refills, or after getting the nib ground and now they love it. Thanks, but not thanks. If I'm paying hundreds for a pen, it's going to, you know, actually write well without manipulation. That's something I ask of my $30 pens, let alone a gold nib from LAMY.

What really irks me is the glib dismissals of what I now know are genuine and accurate complaints about LAMY's embarrassing quality control. If you are considering buying a LAMY 2000, and are worried about this issue, don't let people tell you it isn't real. It 100% is and I've experienced it first hand. Buyer beware.

silverlifter
May 28th, 2019, 03:08 PM
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have bought three over the last decade or so. All of them have been fine out of the box…

My experience of pen fora is much more limited, but if I were to generalise I would say that, going by posts like yours, German pens tend to suffer from baby's bottom (Pelikan, Kaweco, Lamy) and Italian pens just suffer.

azkid
May 28th, 2019, 04:19 PM
You are certainly not alone in experiencing Lamy QC issues. I have. And I've read about it more than a few times.

We don't have a large sample set or a scientific approach, only anecdotes, but there are enough to encourage exercising caution when purchasing, certainly.

Too, it is worth remembering that one anecdote cannot disprove or dismiss another.

Robert
May 28th, 2019, 04:40 PM
My experience of pen fora is much more limited, but if I were to generalise I would say that, going by posts like yours, German pens tend to suffer from baby's bottom (Pelikan, Kaweco, Lamy) and Italian pens just suffer.

Ah, but so many of the Italian pens are so beautiful. But I do understand your point.

Xuben
May 29th, 2019, 09:39 AM
This is embarrassing, but I went and got a new one. I had it cleaned in the store and then took it home and inked it. I wrote about 20 pages with it and it skips, on average, about ten times per page. So that's two absolute duds in a row. Although I will have owned a LAMY 2000 only briefly (I'll be returning this one this afternoon), it will rank as the worst pen I've owned in any price bracket. When you factor in the price, I can't think of anything that I've bought for this amount of money that felt like I was getting something that should cost about $2.

It's a shame, because I love the design and feel of the pen and there is nothing else quite like it. A pen, however, should write.

carlos.q
May 29th, 2019, 11:18 AM
Have you tried changing the ink? Many pens prefer certain inks over others.

Sailor Kenshin
May 29th, 2019, 11:42 AM
I don't at all doubt the OP's experience.

While I don't really care for piston filers, the 2000 is such a talked-about pen that, after agonizing over which nib size to buy, and whether the little nubs would annoy me, or if the pen would feel too heavy, I watched a brief Tube demonstration vid. it featured an EF nib, filled with Sailor Souten. And it looked soooo coooool.

That decided me. I got one off Amazon. What sweet spot? It wrote beautifully out of the box, no flushing ('cause that's just how I am), with Souten. I don't use it often, but it was great for me.

Of course, this was several years ago. QC may have slid downhill since.

arrow
May 29th, 2019, 12:00 PM
I have used Lamy pens, but not the 2000. I have to admit, it was the greyness, charcoal, the idea of perpetuating neutrality, brut beton, ratty colors, smog, copd,... I rather have a Safari or a different brand for the gold nib. In the least, shiny black with gold trim should always be an option ;- )

On the more practical side, I have heard complaints on most brands, including the best top models, just not two times in a row by the same buyer. I allow a bit more scratchiness on extra fine nibs, but a minium of smoothness and evenness for any fountain pen. Dip pens on the other hand you just have to accept come with a certain resistance and sqeeky noise to the paper. I fuzz a lot with getting the right nib too.

azkid
May 29th, 2019, 01:17 PM
You may know all this but in case it helps anyone someday:

Since it is skipping you might try thoroughly flushing it with a pen flush liquid first in case there is any residue left on the nib or feed from the manufacturing process.

A wetter flowing ink like Iroshizuku Take-sumi, Pilot Black, Quink Black, or Skrip Black could help mitigate other issues. What ink are you using?

If ink doesn't help perhaps the nib tines are too tight. Lamy or a nib meister should be able to easily fix this. Or you can too—if you've practiced on a number of cheaper pens first. :)

In my internet search for Lamy 2k issues, flow tuning seems to be one possible issue of several posited across various threads.

Some posters indicated that their pen needed a little more than usual pressure to deliver ink to the page. Or that upstrokes—usually much lighter than downstrokes—skipped.

I've tuned a few of my pens so they deliver a very fine, faint line of ink under only their own weight, but adequate ink flow under normal writing on downstrokes, so that the finer line appears on fast upstrokes of certain loops in letters like h or y. The result has been a reliable writer with subtle line variation.

On a few occasions I have observed pens with misaligned tines to skip. Again that's something that Lamy or a nib guru can fix. And so can you with practice.

If the pen suffers from baby's bottom it will tend to hard start when first starting lines, in my experience. This issue makes printing is a nightmare while cursive is less annoying. The hard starts may only appear after pausing cursive writing for a few seconds.

By contrast, skipping in the middle of a continuous line (of cursive writing, say) would likely be a flow issue, I think.

Hope this is helpful.

Xuben
May 29th, 2019, 03:42 PM
Have you tried changing the ink? Many pens prefer certain inks over others.

I haven't although I get that. I just have some run of the mill LAMY Black that, in my opinion (and I hope LAMY's) should work in a LAMY pen, at least to the point that it is not extremely annoying to write with. Also, I've had other people say things like "try this ink, or that paper". Okay, but it should work with standard paper and ink, not only when I have really nice, expensive wet ink and only on the most high quality paper and only when the planets are all properly aligned. Lots of pens will feel smooth like that.

I appreciate that you're trying to help me out though and I genuinely appreciate that. I just want a daily writer that writes consistently, and the LAMY is touted as such.

Xuben
May 29th, 2019, 03:45 PM
I don't at all doubt the OP's experience.

While I don't really care for piston filers, the 2000 is such a talked-about pen that, after agonizing over which nib size to buy, and whether the little nubs would annoy me, or if the pen would feel too heavy, I watched a brief Tube demonstration vid. it featured an EF nib, filled with Sailor Souten. And it looked soooo coooool.

That decided me. I got one off Amazon. What sweet spot? It wrote beautifully out of the box, no flushing ('cause that's just how I am), with Souten. I don't use it often, but it was great for me.

Of course, this was several years ago. QC may have slid downhill since.

I don't doubt your experience either! Enough people that know a lot more about fountain pens than I do love them and say that they are one of their favourite pens. I just think you got a good one and I didn't, and that's all there is to it. I want so badly to love this pen, but every time I pick it up it's just. Not. Right.

Xuben
May 29th, 2019, 03:47 PM
You may know all this but in case it helps anyone someday:

Since it is skipping you might try thoroughly flushing it with a pen flush liquid first in case there is any residue left on the nib or feed from the manufacturing process.

A wetter flowing ink like Iroshizuku Take-sumi, Pilot Black, Quink Black, or Skrip Black could help mitigate other issues. What ink are you using?

If ink doesn't help perhaps the nib tines are too tight. Lamy or a nib meister should be able to easily fix this. Or you can too—if you've practiced on a number of cheaper pens first. :)

In my internet search for Lamy 2k issues, flow tuning seems to be one possible issue of several posited across various threads.

Some posters indicated that their pen needed a little more than usual pressure to deliver ink to the page. Or that upstrokes—usually much lighter than downstrokes—skipped.

I've tuned a few of my pens so they deliver a very fine, faint line of ink under only their own weight, but adequate ink flow under normal writing on downstrokes, so that the finer line appears on fast upstrokes of certain loops in letters like h or y. The result has been a reliable writer with subtle line variation.

On a few occasions I have observed pens with misaligned tines to skip. Again that's something that Lamy or a nib guru can fix. And so can you with practice.

If the pen suffers from baby's bottom it will tend to hard start when first starting lines, in my experience. This issue makes printing is a nightmare while cursive is less annoying. The hard starts may only appear after pausing cursive writing for a few seconds.

By contrast, skipping in the middle of a continuous line (of cursive writing, say) would likely be a flow issue, I think.

Hope this is helpful.

Thanks for your advice. For what I paid for this pen, I'm not willing to start doing a bunch of fiddling with it or getting repairs, etc. I am going to walk back to the store, calmly and politely ask for a refund, and not think about the LAMY 2000 again.

carlos.q
May 29th, 2019, 03:57 PM
Before you return the pen give it another opportunity and try it with something else than Lamy black, which is a notoriously dry ink. My Lamy 2000 with a fine nib doesn't like dry inks either. However it works great with Sailor Souten. Same thing happens with a vintage MB146: it definitely dislikes dry inks but it sings with Sailor 4B.

azkid
May 29th, 2019, 05:29 PM
I don't blame you for taking it back. I would expect a lot better at that price point.

Lamy Black is a very dry-flowing ink, but even if your pens were tuned on the dry side, they should still write with Lamy Black anyway, though perhaps faintly and not very smoothly.

Which is to say it sounds like Lamy needs to fire one or more of their nib grinders.

pajaro
May 29th, 2019, 05:48 PM
This is embarrassing, but I went and got a new one. I had it cleaned in the store and then took it home and inked it. I wrote about 20 pages with it and it skips, on average, about ten times per page. So that's two absolute duds in a row. Although I will have owned a LAMY 2000 only briefly (I'll be returning this one this afternoon), it will rank as the worst pen I've owned in any price bracket. When you factor in the price, I can't think of anything that I've bought for this amount of money that felt like I was getting something that should cost about $2.

It's a shame, because I love the design and feel of the pen and there is nothing else quite like it. A pen, however, should write.

So, you bought a Lamy 2000 and put it to an acid test. I have thought about this for a while and about my two Lamy 2000 pens, both extra fine, that perfectly suit me. One is dry and one is wetter. The dry one will skip sometimes after writing a few pages or if I have paused writing. The wetter pen will go interminably with long pauses and never dries out or skips. Someone tuned the wetter pen to write wetter. It isn't 10/10 wet, but perhaps 8/10. The dry pen is about 5/10 or a bit drier. It could conceivably be that your pen needed tuning to a slightly wetter state.

gbryal
May 29th, 2019, 07:39 PM
I just want a daily writer that writes consistently, and the LAMY is touted as such.

All pens are, aren't they? At least by their makers. And some get hyped and become the "it" pen for a while. Usually not for no good reason at all, but these days if a few youtube reviewers get nice pens, then it seems persuasive... all of their pens are probably good.

I absolutely believe you got two bad Lamy 2000s in a row. Pens should write, I totally agree, and at some price points a fixer upper might be acceptable for some and not for others, and at the price of the Lamy, besides the known "rolling" sensitivity, no adjustments should be necessary.

However -- if someone touts a whole pen line as being perfect out of the box every time (unless you know each one going out of the factory are hand tested as some fine brands indeed are), then you mustn't believe that person. There is just no way for them to know that unless they have a very large sample size. You can believe the reverse more readily: someone who fixes pens and see a lot of brand x in their shop. Even that could just be that brand x pens are popular.

Anyway, I'm sure you get that and I am not helping. But assume you're going to have to send one back once in a while. Or twice in a while.

Xuben
May 29th, 2019, 08:05 PM
Before you return the pen give it another opportunity and try it with something else than Lamy black, which is a notoriously dry ink. My Lamy 2000 with a fine nib doesn't like dry inks either. However it works great with Sailor Souten. Same thing happens with a vintage MB146: it definitely dislikes dry inks but it sings with Sailor 4B.

Too late, it's returned as well! That was a LOT of anxiety. I hope it doesn't kill my nascent fountain pen fascination. I planned on getting that LAMY for months and was really excited when I finally pulled the trigger it; like a kid at Christmas. Now i'm leery.

pajaro
May 29th, 2019, 08:16 PM
Before you return the pen give it another opportunity and try it with something else than Lamy black, which is a notoriously dry ink. My Lamy 2000 with a fine nib doesn't like dry inks either. However it works great with Sailor Souten. Same thing happens with a vintage MB146: it definitely dislikes dry inks but it sings with Sailor 4B.

Too late, it's returned as well! That was a LOT of anxiety. I hope it doesn't kill my nascent fountain pen fascination. I planned on getting that LAMY for months and was really excited when I finally pulled the trigger it; like a kid at Christmas. Now i'm leery.

Yes, it's too bad it didn't work out better. I think the seller should have adjusted the nib for how you intended to use the pen, so you rightly returned it. Results like this do sour some people on fountain pens. If you still have the interest to buy a fountain pen, you might consider a Pelikan. These pens usually have the ink flow to support a lot of writing. The seller should adjust the pen to how you intend to use it.

azkid
May 29th, 2019, 08:54 PM
Too late, it's returned as well! That was a LOT of anxiety. I hope it doesn't kill my nascent fountain pen fascination. I planned on getting that LAMY for months and was really excited when I finally pulled the trigger it; like a kid at Christmas. Now i'm leery.

Fear not. I really feel you will have far better luck with certain other brands.

What other pens do you have currently?

We can always recommend pens that are more likely to work out of the box.

Also, some of the folks on here sell vintage pens they repair and restore (penwash, Deb) so you know a live human has tested the pens. I occasionally do too (for fun; I am no pro). I always test and tune them until they work properly or I won't sell them.

Xuben
May 29th, 2019, 09:53 PM
Too late, it's returned as well! That was a LOT of anxiety. I hope it doesn't kill my nascent fountain pen fascination. I planned on getting that LAMY for months and was really excited when I finally pulled the trigger it; like a kid at Christmas. Now i'm leery.

Fear not. I really feel you will have far better luck with certain other brands.

What other pens do you have currently?

We can always recommend pens that are more likely to work out of the box.

Also, some of the folks on here sell vintage pens they repair and restore (penwash, Deb) so you know a live human has tested the pens. I occasionally do too (for fun; I am no pro). I always test and tune them until they work properly or I won't sell them.

On a whim I bought a Pilot Metro fine point which I enjoyed and then I bought a LAMY Studio (fine) which I love and which writes like glass although a bit wetter than perfect. It's because I like my Studio so much that I was so surprised and disappointed with my 2000. I'd like to buy an "entry level" gold nib and now that I've written off the 2000, I'm kind of thinking about the 3776. I don't love the look of it, but a traditional style to start off with might not be the worst thing and I tested the medium in store and liked the way it felt. I went with the medium instead of the fine, because the fine in the Studio writes like a medium anyway.

I'm not interested in amassing a huge collection, but rather spending about $200-$300 (Canadian) in a pen like once a year and then, in ten years, getting a grail pen in the $1,000 range. I figure that would be a decent collection in about ten years.

Xuben
May 29th, 2019, 09:54 PM
Before you return the pen give it another opportunity and try it with something else than Lamy black, which is a notoriously dry ink. My Lamy 2000 with a fine nib doesn't like dry inks either. However it works great with Sailor Souten. Same thing happens with a vintage MB146: it definitely dislikes dry inks but it sings with Sailor 4B.

Too late, it's returned as well! That was a LOT of anxiety. I hope it doesn't kill my nascent fountain pen fascination. I planned on getting that LAMY for months and was really excited when I finally pulled the trigger it; like a kid at Christmas. Now i'm leery.

Yes, it's too bad it didn't work out better. I think the seller should have adjusted the nib for how you intended to use the pen, so you rightly returned it. Results like this do sour some people on fountain pens. If you still have the interest to buy a fountain pen, you might consider a Pelikan. These pens usually have the ink flow to support a lot of writing. The seller should adjust the pen to how you intend to use it.

Does Pelikan have a gold nib in the price range of a LAMY 2000?

pajaro
May 29th, 2019, 10:22 PM
I can't really say, because it has been some time since I bought any pens, and prices have gone up, and not all equally. The Pelikan M4xx has a gold nib, but the M6xx would be a closer model to the Lamy 2000 in terms of size. I suspect the Pelikans might be more expensive new.

Both the Lamy 2000 and the Pelikan M400 and M600 are pens that normally write perfectly all the time and do not dry up for months or years. Almost as good as a vintage Parker 51 or a Sheaffer inlaid or Dolphin nib Touchdown Imperial. If you buy a new pen, you should be sure to have the seller adjust it for your intended use, and you should tell the dealer what that use will be, or you might find yourself in the same position as with the two Lamy 2000s you bought. Purchase from such a seller isn't going to be the lowest priced, but it will probably be worth it in the long run.

carlos.q
May 30th, 2019, 06:39 AM
Both Pelikan M400 and M600 will be more expensive than a Lamy 2000. If you're looking for a gold nib pen at a similar price point as the L2k this video may help:

https://youtu.be/2lShhpHfApg

Sailor Kenshin
May 30th, 2019, 07:49 AM
Too late, it's returned as well! That was a LOT of anxiety. I hope it doesn't kill my nascent fountain pen fascination. I planned on getting that LAMY for months and was really excited when I finally pulled the trigger it; like a kid at Christmas. Now i'm leery.

Fear not. I really feel you will have far better luck with certain other brands.

What other pens do you have currently?

We can always recommend pens that are more likely to work out of the box.

Also, some of the folks on here sell vintage pens they repair and restore (penwash, Deb) so you know a live human has tested the pens. I occasionally do too (for fun; I am no pro). I always test and tune them until they work properly or I won't sell them.

On a whim I bought a Pilot Metro fine point which I enjoyed and then I bought a LAMY Studio (fine) which I love and which writes like glass although a bit wetter than perfect. It's because I like my Studio so much that I was so surprised and disappointed with my 2000. I'd like to buy an "entry level" gold nib and now that I've written off the 2000, I'm kind of thinking about the 3776. I don't love the look of it, but a traditional style to start off with might not be the worst thing and I tested the medium in store and liked the way it felt. I went with the medium instead of the fine, because the fine in the Studio writes like a medium anyway.

I'm not interested in amassing a huge collection, but rather spending about $200-$300 (Canadian) in a pen like once a year and then, in ten years, getting a grail pen in the $1,000 range. I figure that would be a decent collection in about ten years.


What color 3776 are you thinking of? I have the Bourgogne in Medium and it has NEVER been de-inked since I bought it a few years ago.

I also have the Chartres blue in Broad, and it's a firehose. I haven't yet found an ink I like for it.

Got both from Amazon.

azkid
May 30th, 2019, 08:19 AM
I'm pretty pleased with the gold nib on my Stargazer which I guess is a fancy Stella 90s. I've tested a Pilot Falcon and a couple other gold Pilot nibs all of which were really quite nice.

Based on my own experience and what I've read about low end Pilot nibs—not only have they all worked for me, they all write exactly the same—I have a feeling you're very unlikely to get a bad high end Pilot nib. That's why I got the stargazer as my first $150 pen

I have a feeling Pilot has applied automation and Denning style statistical process control to their nib manufacturing. To me they are the Seiko of pens where even the cheap stuff is really good and consistent.

I've also tried high end Pelikan (400, 600) and those were excellent without qualification. But the M205 I just got is really disappointing. It looks and feels really cheap and the steel F nib writes really rough, like a stick on cement, as if it was "polished" with 80 grit sandpaper. Ugh.

My Kaweco Dia2 is easily twice the pen and more, and the nib is very nice, albeit small-looking. The level of detail, fit and finish, and overall design just exudes high quality. It is about as heavy as a Metropolitan.

If you have a local pen group that meets that is the best way to try different pens and get a better sense of what impresses you and what doesn't.

pajaro
May 30th, 2019, 10:46 AM
I'm pretty pleased with the gold nib on my Stargazer which I guess is a fancy Stella 90s. I've tested a Pilot Falcon and a couple other gold Pilot nibs all of which were really quite nice.

Based on my own experience and what I've read about low end Pilot nibs—not only have they all worked for me, they all write exactly the same—I have a feeling you're very unlikely to get a bad high end Pilot nib. That's why I got the stargazer as my first $150 pen

I have a feeling Pilot has applied automation and Denning style statistical process control to their nib manufacturing. To me they are the Seiko of pens where even the cheap stuff is really good and consistent.

I've also tried high end Pelikan (400, 600) and those were excellent without qualification. But the M205 I just got is really disappointing. It looks and feels really cheap and the steel F nib writes really rough, like a stick on cement, as if it was "polished" with 80 grit sandpaper. Ugh.

My Kaweco Dia2 is easily twice the pen and more, and the nib is very nice, albeit small-looking. The level of detail, fit and finish, and overall design just exudes high quality. It is about as heavy as a Metropolitan.

If you have a local pen group that meets that is the best way to try different pens and get a better sense of what impresses you and what doesn't.


Pelikan M2XX pens are drier writers than the gold nib Pelikans. You could adjust for flow. Sometimes the medium, going up a size, will be satisfactory.

I think a better choice is the Lamy 2000, even for the OP, but buying from someone who can provide the initial set up service of adjusting the nib. I find the Lamy 2000 long run less expensive and more durable than the other brands mentioned. I still use mine. It can survive more accidents and still look nice.

guyy
May 30th, 2019, 02:24 PM
On the more practical side, I have heard complaints on most brands, including the best top models, just not two times in a row by the same buyer.

I went 0 for Pelikan until i got one from Mottishaw. Then i unloaded most of them and went vintage.

I've had to tune most of my Lamys, but then I've had to tune most of my other pens, too.

manoeuver
May 30th, 2019, 03:20 PM
People have problems with high end Pelikans out of the box too (anecdotes).

If you want a 2000 that works, get it from Dan Smith (http://nibsmith.com) or John Mottishaw (http://www.nibs.com). They'll tune it for you and make sure it suits you. I'd recommend buying Pelikan from one of them also.

Pilots I've found to be great writers from the get-go.

Kulprit
June 6th, 2019, 08:34 PM
What really irks me is the glib dismissals of what I now know are genuine and accurate complaints about LAMY's embarrassing quality control. If you are considering buying a LAMY 2000, and are worried about this issue, don't let people tell you it isn't real. It 100% is and I've experienced it first hand. Buyer beware.


Just because your pen had a QC issue doesn’t mean most other complaints AREN’T the result of a small sweet spot. You’re projecting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

welch
June 9th, 2019, 06:21 PM
Lamy offers a gold nib for their Studio. It seems to sell for about $75. Looks easy to install...not as easy as swapping an Esterbrook or Pelikan nib, but you pull the old nib straight out, push the new one back. There are videos on Youtube. Seems like the one trick is to wrap some scotch-tape around your pulling finger.

Or get a Parker 45 and find a gold nib, if you want to try gold.. Parker sold them with gold nibs at first (best I remember from 1960 or '61) and then offered steel, 10K, or 14K nibs. The nib unit unscrews, just like the old Esterbrook or most Pelikans.

However, if you like the feel of the Studio, keep it. If it works for you, then don't replace it. People used to have one fountain pen. I had one P-45 from 1960 - 1968. Feel a little ashamed when I look at the ready-to-hand pens in the mug just to the right of my monitor. No need to buy a stack of fountain pens.

countrydirt
June 10th, 2019, 06:47 AM
I just took delivery of a Lamy 2000 with an EF nib. It is my second 2000 (working on a swap with @HoLmeSlice at the moment). Both 2000's wrote immediately from the box and never gave/give issues. The EF nib seems to have no sweet spot and is so very smooth. I am carrying it in my Franklin planner and using it every day, all day, as I work. I purchased the EF nibbed model from Endless Pens for what seems to be a very good price. I do believe this one could become that mythical One pen we've heard tales about.

Xuben
July 1st, 2019, 07:44 AM
What really irks me is the glib dismissals of what I now know are genuine and accurate complaints about LAMY's embarrassing quality control. If you are considering buying a LAMY 2000, and are worried about this issue, don't let people tell you it isn't real. It 100% is and I've experienced it first hand. Buyer beware.


Just because your pen had a QC issue doesn’t mean most other complaints AREN’T the result of a small sweet spot. You’re projecting.




Do some people complain about the pen because they are unaccustomed to the sweet spot? Sure. Do dealers try to pass of genuine complaints as sweet spot issues? Also yes. That's not one Lamy I bought that had this issue, it's two in a row. And many, many people online complaining about similar issues being dismissed by people, like you, out of hand as just having trouble with the sweet spot. It's annoying.

Xuben
July 1st, 2019, 07:48 AM
People have problems with high end Pelikans out of the box too (anecdotes).

If you want a 2000 that works, get it from Dan Smith (http://nibsmith.com) or John Mottishaw (http://www.nibs.com). They'll tune it for you and make sure it suits you. I'd recommend buying Pelikan from one of them also.

Pilots I've found to be great writers from the get-go.

I ended up getting a 3776 directly from Japan and I'm pleased with it. I'll probably have a nib smith open the tines a little to get a bit more flow and a bit glassier/smoother, but it is pretty damn good. The next pen I buy, however, will definitely be from one of these guys, so thanks for the advice. I really feel that paying a bit extra to have a nib smith smooth it out before I even get my hands on it would be worth it.

Xuben
July 1st, 2019, 07:49 AM
Lamy offers a gold nib for their Studio. It seems to sell for about $75. Looks easy to install...not as easy as swapping an Esterbrook or Pelikan nib, but you pull the old nib straight out, push the new one back. There are videos on Youtube. Seems like the one trick is to wrap some scotch-tape around your pulling finger.

Or get a Parker 45 and find a gold nib, if you want to try gold.. Parker sold them with gold nibs at first (best I remember from 1960 or '61) and then offered steel, 10K, or 14K nibs. The nib unit unscrews, just like the old Esterbrook or most Pelikans.

However, if you like the feel of the Studio, keep it. If it works for you, then don't replace it. People used to have one fountain pen. I had one P-45 from 1960 - 1968. Feel a little ashamed when I look at the ready-to-hand pens in the mug just to the right of my monitor. No need to buy a stack of fountain pens.

I have a Studio and I love it, which is why I was so surprised (both times) with the 2000 writing like a dog tooth.

dfo
July 1st, 2019, 03:08 PM
I was unsure if I wanted to weigh in on such a declaratory statement as the thread title.

I am glad you found a pen you liked. My first expensive pen was a Pelikan M805 with massive baby's bottom, though not all of them come that way. It almost turned me off pens. I would highly suggest getting a jewelers loupe. It is such a good investment for this hobby. You can see what exactly is wrong or right with nibs. The nib on the Lamy 2000 is cut way different than any other fp nib I have seen. I have both a fine and a BB Lamy 2000. Both have a foot with less rounded sides than the normal "iridium" blob. I like how they feel and my pens definitely have a sweet spot just like other Lamy 2000s I have seen.

But, sometimes packages fall in shipping or pens leave the factory with a misaligned nib. It happens with every brand.

pajaro
July 1st, 2019, 06:05 PM
So, what is to be done?

I have had three EFs that had no issues. One fine with no issues.

AzJon
July 1st, 2019, 06:15 PM
Just to voice in, I am the current owner of a L2K broad nib and it seems to write swimmingly. I have had no issue with it thus far.

SIR
July 2nd, 2019, 11:55 AM
L2K BB owner here, great writer!

dfo
July 2nd, 2019, 03:03 PM
I always thought my Lamy (f) held quite a bit of ink until I got a bb. Now it holds just enough. 🙂