Editing The Pen Addict 516/transcript (section)

== International Pen Shows Experience ==


'''Myke:''' It felt like an orderly pen show, which is not an experience I've ever had before. Everyone was going in the same direction around the room, right?

'''Brad:''' There were random cues popping up, and as packed as that was, the level of cuing was amazing. Yep. So I guess that's what the other shows are known for. They're the cueable pen shows.

'''Myke:''' There is something that Andrew left out here, which is the Atlanta pen show, which is known for Brad Dowdy. Is it, though?

'''Brad:''' It's known for Waffle House. Waffle House 1.

'''Myke:''' I don't know about that. It's like, if people want both the first and the last word in pens, they go to Atlanta.

'''Brad:''' Oh, just wait. There's a question about that later. So we'll get to that. I don't know if we're going to get to it. But actually, we'll finish on that one.

'''Myke:''' We're going to finish now, because we're running long again, which I can't believe.

'''Brad:''' Shocker. Shocker. All right. I hope to get to more international pen shows. That's a goal of mine. So that's why I'm not trying to hammer five or six U.S. pen shows every year, now that traveling's back on a little bit. But I'm going to mix it up and try to get out of the country maybe once a year or once every other year to experience. And then I can answer this question better, because right now I don't have a great answer, but I certainly look forward to trying to find out the answer.

'''Myke:''' It's gone from Jacob. I really like the M200 brown marbled. That's a Pelican, right? Pelican M200 brown marbled. Yep. I love the aesthetic and design and the chatoyancy of the barrel. What on earth is that? What's chatoyancy?

'''Brad:''' It's the shiny. Like if you go back to the Leonardo that you linked before, it's kind of that bright, foily looking aesthetic, if you will. Right? That brightness of the shine. So it's not just like color depth. It's essentially like the extra chatoyancy. Chatoyancy. It's one of my least favorite words.

'''Myke:''' I don't get it.

'''Brad:''' You will get it when you see it. Think of it. It's like the pearl looking thing.

'''Myke:''' Yeah. I have different words for this. Anyway. Right. And the chatoyancy of the barrel matched very well with the black cab and the gold color trims. Really liked it. And Pelican has superb reputation. But I fear of a miss out of a gold nib because of the same similar price of the M200. I can also get a Pilot Custom 74, which is widely regarded as one of the best entry gold nib pens. I can only spend money on one of these. Which should I get? Should I be FOMO on the Custom C74's Gold Nib or get the Pelican or what?

'''Brad:''' All right. We're going to combine two questions here. I want you to read this next one that I just moved up from Michael. And then we'll have one larger conversation here.

'''Myke:''' From Michael, I have long wanted you to discuss the frequently heard and written admiration of gold nib pens. As an example, Jeff Abbott's remarks in his recent review of the BBS 456, quote, The 823 has a 14-karat gold nib, so it automatically just feels nicer to use when writing. It has soft flex and smoothness on paper that a steel nib can't touch. Given that tipping materials are very similar, I have trouble with the understanding the frequent comments about smoothness. Softness may be evident, but not necessarily. Having a stable over 300 fountain pens, I speak from experience. I have golden, quote, nail nibs and soft Estabrook steel nibs. I'd love a considered commentary about this gold nib meme. Is it purely psychological bias?

'''Brad:''' All right. So this is a broader steel nib versus gold nib questions on both of these. Jacob being new and trying to learn the difference and Michael being experienced and wondering, is there actually really a hubbub? So let's take Jacob's kind of first, but I'll preface that with my personal preferences is I'm almost material agnostic, right? The nib has to feel right to me, regardless of whether it's steel or gold. And what that means to me is my nibs, I want them to be firm, okay? This is something that I have discovered about myself in the long term of what I like, okay? So I've used plenty of steel nibs that are soft and I've used plenty of gold nibs that are firm. In general, it's the opposite, right? So most steel nibs are firm and most gold nibs are soft. It's not universal. I agree that there's opposite ends pretty frequently of the spectrum here. So Jacob, you should never fear missing out on a gold nib, in my opinion. I think steel nibs are great. I think they're some of the best nibs on the market. They're some of my most used nibs. They're some of my favorite nibs. So you should be looking for the writing experience that best suits you. And if it's a steel nib because of the firmness, you should use that because it fits on a pen that is aesthetically pleasing to you, like the Pelican that you're mentioning. Knowing that you will always be able to get a Pilot Custom 74 with a gold nib from here till the end of time, right? That is just a common Pilot Custom 74. You will always have the opportunity to have that gold nib. And it's a good gold nib. It's a little bit soft. It's pretty smooth. Each manufacturer finishes their nibs differently, which is kind of rolling into Michael's part of the question, right? Like, I can tell the difference between Piler, Salid, and Platinum nibs, right? But a lot of people will just say, hey, 14-karat gold nib. Like, that's what it is. Well, Pilates are very glassy, almost sticky, right? Pelican, excuse me, Platinums have a kind of tactile feedback. Right? And then Sailors are the firmest of the three and can be a little bit more scratchy, right? Not all gold nibs are created equal, just like not all steel nibs are created equal. So, Jacob, if I can only spend money on one pen, what should I get? You should not worry about FOMO and only being able to buy one pen and not getting a gold nib. Like, I'm not going to tell you how to answer this question, but that should not be in the calculation, the FOMO of, well, I could have spent this money on a gold nib pen. Because that doesn't mean that that gold nib is going to be good for you. It just means you paid for a gold nib. I hope that, does that make sense? I think I said that like as clear as I could say.

'''Myke:''' It is a preference thing. For my style, I think gold nibs are better. I think in general, they can be too. But it isn't universal. And, you know, on the last episode, I was talking about the fact that one of my favorite pens that I've ever used, one of the best performing pens I've ever used is the M90, which is a steel nib. But it's also like the best, one of the best steel nibs you could get. Like, so it's all relative to you, your preferences and the pens themselves.

'''Brad:''' So, yeah. So to follow up at Michael's question, he ends it with, is it purely psychological bias? And if you read Jacob's question, it's purely psychological. Jacob is saying, what am I, I feel like I'm missing out by not having this gold nib and paying the price for it, even though like the steel nib is a similar price. I think that is psychological, right? So my answer to that, and I think that's what Michael's alluding to, is it shouldn't be. Like, it's false. Like, it doesn't add up in the end because it doesn't matter what you spend on a gold nib. If it doesn't work for you, it's a bad purchase, right? The material doesn't matter. You have to figure out what's good for you. And then if it has to be, for whatever reason, if it has to be gold, well, then you can find some, a specific brand that makes nibs a specific way. Like Aurora, for example, makes a very thick, dense gold nib. That tends to be firm. Where Pelican makes a thinner, bouncier gold nib that is great for like broader, you know, wetter ink flow and wider writing. Like, that's why I can't use Pelicans because the nib doesn't match. I couldn't care less if it's gold or steel. I care if it works for the way my, for, you know, my handwriting is. So, you don't want to get caught up in the FOMO of buying a great pen and avoiding it just because it's a steel nib. And then buying maybe a lesser pen for yourself just because it has a gold nib. Like, you have to erase that from your head and think about what's the writing experience goal that you're trying to get first and foremost. So, yeah.

'''Myke:''' Yeah, I don't agree with the insinuation, though, that like we only like gold nibs because they're more expensive.

'''Brad:''' Oh, I don't buy. I obviously don't buy into that at all.

'''Myke:''' Yeah. But I think there is a slight insinuation there from Michael's question.

'''Brad:''' Sure. No, I think that's like the bias, right? Like, I don't have that. But when you're looking at someone like Jacob who is newer and he's trying to understand what's the big deal. And what I'm telling you is it's not a big deal.

'''Myke:''' But I don't want to say that it's not a thing because it might be the thing for you. Right. Yeah. Last question comes from Andrew. If Brad is the first and last word in fountain pens, what's Myke?

'''Myke:''' All of the pointless stuff in the middle, the things that are wrong, the stuff that needs correcting, I'm all of those words.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, Myke is a thorn in my side. The filler. That's what Myke is. Brad's all killer and I'm just filler. That's how it goes. We'll leave it at that.

'''Myke:''' And that's the last word. Thanks so much to everybody who submitted a question for this episode. If you would like to submit, because we still didn't get to all of them. We didn't even come close. I knew we weren't going to. You can send out a tweet with the hashtag RSTPA. You can use question mark RSTPA in the RelayFM members Discord. And you can send longer questions to hello at penaddict.com. If you want to find Brad online, go to penaddict.com. He is penaddict on Instagram. Dowdy is on Twitter and streams at twitch.tv slash penaddict. And I am imike. I am YKE. Thank you so much to Pen Chalet for the support of this episode. And we'll be back next time. Until then, say goodbye, Brad.

'''Brad:''' Goodbye, Brad. Bye. Bye.

[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]