New Grandson Hospitalized but back home

Ever since Gideon, my newest grandson, made his first public appearance on Wednesday, July 25, I have been sporadic at best as far as keeping up my blog. I offer you my sincerest apologies. Gideon was not doing well Monday and Tuesday, with fever and lethargy, as well as loss of appetite. His father took the day off Wednesday, when Gideon was exactly one week old, and took him to the Doctor, who immediately took him to the Emergency Room.

The medical folks at first suspected viral meningitis, which is never good, and is life-threatening for a week old infant. They did a spinal tap, and took blood and urine samples for cultures, then started an IV drip with saline and antibiotics, and administered tylenol orally. He was in the hospital Wednesday and Thursday, and came home Friday. Wednesday evening we got the results of the spinal tap, and thankfully, they were negative for meningitis. Wednesday and Thursday I was at the hospital from just after work until bedtime, checking on my grandson, and taking his nephews to visit him, and give comfort and assistance to my son and daughter in law. Last night I was so exhausted from the rigorous schedule, that after I called Dish Network to get my bedroom setup working again, I went to bed. One of my kids, or somebody, had changed the VCR setting, and I couldn't get it back right, until the Dish Network support desk person talked me all through it -- about a half hour ordeal, with polite assistance from Dish Network.
.
I thought today I would review another guitar, this time an Oscar Schmidt OE-40B (gloss black finish). The OE-40 is a budget version of the Washburn J-9, and both, as you can see from the stock photo, are copies of the Gibson L-5, full bodied archtop jazz guitar. Also available in natural or tobacco sunburst finishes, it has 20 frets, 25 1/2 inch scale, trapeze tailpiece, adjustable rosewood bridge, rosewood fingerboard with pearl inlays, standard 2.7 mm fretwire, Grover Tuners, Washburn gold-covered humbucking pickups, amber colored bell shaped control knobs, maple top and body, and a fully adjustable neck. At this price point, it is a huge bargain.

Now, for playability and tone. I put flatwounds on it and had it set up for those. It is much easier to play with those than my OE30 was with a stop tailpiece. The trapeze tailpiece on this one might make the difference. Through my Epiphone Galaxy 10, clean setting, you can pretty much hear the wood. Dark, smoky jazz rolls out of this guitar just like it was made to do. I tried to learn "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Fats Waller when I first got it, and I could close my eyes and see the portly gentleman playing stride piano accompaniment to my feeble attempts at mastering his masterpiece. It is a real Wes Montgomery type tone. Same results through my Carvin MTS-3200 2 x 12 combo, but much louder at 50 watts than at 10. The guitar can get down and dirty on the distortion side, but it doesn't really feel right. This guitar was made for coaxing mellow, perhaps into the bluesy tones, not for heavy metal or grunge. If you don't have a jazz or blues background, I suppose you could easily use it for that, because the pickups are humbuckers, but my youngest son has a Dimebag Darrell guitar, which as he put it, "is only good for metal and heavy metal". The OE-40 is as smooth and mellow as the Dimebag is aggressive.

I have been very pleased with this guitar, and regret that I have not played it more. If you would like one, it is available Here.

Until later. . .

Sounds of Silence

It has been 8 days since I last posted, a time of busyness, and of joy. Last Wednesday saw the arrival of my newest grandson Gideon, and the weekend saw me attending a four-church family camp at Baylor University in Waco, with my wife and youngest son, and connecting with old friends.

Most joyous first! Gideon arrived Wednesday afternoon, weighing 10 lb 9 oz at 22 inches tall. When the baby is 22 inches or more, I think it should be listed as tall, rather than long. Mother and baby are doing great, and my bride and I went to see them at the hospital on Thursday, and took several pictures. Gideon has an older sister, age two and a half, who is, typical of that age, somewhat ambivalent about her new baby brother. She loves him, but does not like the division of attention. It is earth-shattering for her that she is no longer the center of the universe. I have provided pictures of Gideon, and of the three generations of Gideon, his father, and me.

It truly is wonderful to have our grandchildren so close by. Gideon and family live two and a half miles away, and my remaining grandschildren are only ten miles away from us. Much easier to build and maintain a loving relationship with grandchildren and adult children when you are a few minutes drive away, than nearly 1500 miles and a two day trip just to say hello, or contact primarily by email and telephone.

Since the blog is about pens, guitars, and coffee, on to pens! On Thursday, my new project arrived by UPS. It is a five drawer jewelry chest which I am converting to a pen chest. I already had acquired some pen trays, and trimmed them to fit inside the drawers; however, I need to get additional trays, and trim to a more exact fit. After trimming and inserting the trays, I sorted out the bulk of my pen collection into the drawers. I was a little surprised to find that I mostly filled it already. I will have to rearrange things, particularly the accessories, to make room for the pens remaining. I was going to convert a cigar humidor into a pen chest, but this came along, and it is much more suitable, so now I need to sell the humidor. If you are interested, email me at dovecreekwinns@sbcglobal.net and I can send pictures and we can discuss price.

Here is a picture of the pen chest loaded. I can't get a single picture with all the drawers open, because they overlap. The chest is likely not a family heirloom, but then I didn't pay an arm and a leg for it. It is nicely built and attractive, however. The top lifts, and there is a mirror inside the lid, which is fine for a jewelry chest, but less functional for a pen chest. The left side of the top is occupied by nonremovable ring rolls. The two bottom drawers are deeper than the other three, and I have put accessories, e.g., pen carriers, ink, silicone grease for my eyedropper fill pens, kleenex to blot the ink after filling, in those drawers.

When I get the pen trays redone, and the project completed, I will post new pictures, with an empty drawer, as well as drawer full of pens, and another with accessories.

Until later. . .

Day of Rest and eBay

Yesterday, Sunday, I took a day of rest. I don't know if I will take the day off blogging every Sunday, but I did yesterday.

Now about eBay. i have been buying things on ebay for several years now, with overwhelmingly positive results. Only one bad guitar deal out of many, one bad deal on a turntable (did you not expect someone who uses fountain pens to also have a penchant for vinyl records?), and one definitely bad deal on pens, and one possibly in process.

The first key to buying on eBay, in my experience anyway, is to always ensure that expectations are very clear from you to the seller, and hopefully from the seller to you. The bad experiences I have had so far have been from sellers who were, shall we say, less than forthright and accurate about the condition of the item being offered.

But Saturday, yesterday and today were banner days in my eBay experience. I won several really good items -- at least I hope they will be, time will tell. Saturday I won a Pelikan level 1 pen for $10.99 including shipping. It usually goes for $25 plus shipping, so that is a definite plus. Sunday I won two desk sets, one a Sheaffer, the other my first Esterbrook, and a Sheaffer 12.50 white dot. Today I won two more Esterbrooks, and six (6) count them, six Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens, at a price good enough I could easily resell them for a small profit, and still keep one for myself. If you are interested, email me and make me an offer.

The other key is to use a sniping service. I won't discuss my experiences with AuctionSniper today, because I have had several problems with them. But find one you like, and use it. That way you don't drive the price up too early, and you don't have to sit at your computer counting down the seconds to place your bid in the last three seconds.

Until later. . .

Pelikan Grand Prix (Orange!!)

The Pelikan Grand Prix, currently available in the US by parallel import (gray market) only in orange, is an entry-level fountain pen, aimed at the youth market. That would explain its "in your face" image in bright orange. I am no spring chicken, so I am not even close to the target demographic. My youngest son, age 16, is barely still in the target demographic. However, I wanted an introduction to Pelikan pens at a minimum cost, and this seemed to fit the bill, at $8.99 plus $5.00 shipping on eBay from ebay seller zerocoo01 pens.

The Grand Prix is a cartridge filler, unlike most Pelikans. It came with a Medium nib, and blue ink. The pen is rather large diameter for its length, made of plastic, with a rubber cover over the body of the pen. Grand Prix is inscribed in white on the plastic cap, which, like the section is gray, with no rubber cover. The pen body has "racing stripes" running most of the length
of the pen, with a white plastic raised oval with the raised capital letters GP in the center. Photo is stock photo from eBay site mentioned previously.

The nib is steel, and broader than the medium on a Waterman Phileas. I understand that most Pelikan nibs run broader than other brands. The nib is a nicely wet writer, and the overused cliche "writes like butter" is more than applicable to it. Zero pressure is required to get the pen to start, even after it has been sitting for over a month, as mine has. It is so smooth, in fact, that unless you either exert downward pressure, or watch the pen in progress, you have no tactile clues as to whether the pen is actually writing and putting ink on the paper.

A coworker of mine, who shares my penchant for pens, liked mine so much she got one of her own. When she figured out she really was not going to talk me into selling her mine, she got one on eBay, with a roller ball, and an orange knit vinyl case. If you are looking for a relatively low cost knockaround pen, which coworkers are unlikely to try to snatch (the orange puts many people off big time), this could be a winner for you. It certainly is for me. I use it only occasionally, for signatures, as the line is too broad for my tastes for any other use.

Johnson Herringbone 000 JG-030EN

I bought a Johnson JG-030EN a couple of years ago. I ordered it through a local shop in San Diego, and paid a little more than I could have bought it for online, because I like to support local business, especially that which is not owned by a mega corporation. I have nothing against mega corporations, but they tend not to truly tend to the needs and wants of musicians.

Enough of a rant; on to the review. The reason I ordered this guitar, a 000 size, is that I like the sound of a smaller bodied guitar, for its bass and treble balance with the midrange. Not too boomy like a dreadnaught, and not too trebly like a Grand Auditorium. I believe it is no accident that Eric Clapton selected a 000 size (Martin 000-28) for his unplugged concert. When I picked up the guitar and played it for the first time, I knew it was a winner. The solid spruce top has that wonderful snap that a laminate top cannot give, as well as the octave to octave balance typical of the 000 size. I also own a JG-420, which is a laminate top Johnson, without the pickup, but the same body style. My youngest son, 16, now plays that one, and was shocked when he picked up and played a Jasmine dreadnought, at how large is is. He had become used to the smaller, more easily handled 000 size.


Add the nicely wide string spacing and wide fingerboard, which makes it ideal for fingerstyle guitar, and you get a guitar with something for everyone. Smaller body for smaller people, male or female, low action with no buzz for ease of play, wide fingerboard to make fingerpicking a joy, and, almost as an afterthought a pickup for reinforced volume.

And not just any pickup; it's a b-Band pickup. The b-Band is not a piezoelectric pickup, so it does not have that piezo quack so common in acoustic-electrics. It is in fact an electret pickup, sort of a contact condenser microphone. It gives that pure tone which only a condenser mike can. It solves the problem most acoustic electrics have in that with a piezoelectric, what makes a guitar sound good acoustically makes it sound bad amplified, and vice versa. This one sounds great acoustically, and the same, only louder, amplified.

I usually play the guitar acoustically only, because I am not a perfomer; however, I did test it with my Epiphone Galaxie 10 and my Carvin MTS 3200 2 X 12. The Galaxie 10 is a 10 watt, 12AX7 and 6L6 fueled tube amp with a 10 inch speaker, and the Carvin is a 12AX7 and 5881 fueled switchable 100/50 watt 2 X 12 powerhouse. The Galaxie 10 sounds a lot like a tweed deluxe, and doesn't get very loud while staying clean, but the Carvin's clean channel goes on not just for miles, but for light years. I had to keep the volume below 2 on the 50W setting at my home in San Diego to prevent it from causing structural damage. But that headroom is really perfect for an acoustic. It just sings.

I use D'Addario EXP coated extra light strings on the guitar, .010 .014 .023 .030 .039 .047 high to low, and it really rings nicely, and provides good volume. It came with Martin Marquis light strings, which are nice, but I got a good price on the EXPs, and they actually sound a little better, and last a lot longer.

If you are interested in a smaller bodied guitar, with or without pickup, which will not require a second mortage, you could not go wrong with the Johnson JG-30 or JG-030EN.

Until later. . .

Sick Today, hopefully back tomorrow with a guitar

Sorry, fighting a really bad cold.

Cross Solo Fine Point in Green

The Cross Solo has unfortunately been discontinued; however, it is widely available on eBay, and through various online retailers. I find the pen quite attractive, in a subdued green plastic. 

Fit and Finish: The pen appears sturdy, and well put together. I am careful with my pens, and it is unlikely I will drop one from any height; however, this pen gives the impression it would survive a fall, if it did not land nib-first. I give F/F a 4.5/5 I am providing a stock photo. My digital camera does not do justice to the pen.



The nib is reported to be outsourced to Namiki/Pilot, and possibly the same nib as the Pilot 78G previously reviewed. As I own both types, I believe it is possible. The smoothness of the surface of the nib, and the measured flow (not too wet, nor too dry) are very similar, enough that, if no sisters (or brothers) they are at least first cousins. I give the nib a 5/5.

The filling system is somewhat problematic. It is a cartridge/converter (converter at additional cost), which gives you options; however, both the cartridges and the converter are proprietary. The variety of ink available in cartridges is very limited, but the converter works very well, and opens up new vistas of expression, if you are tired of blue, black, or blue/black for ink colors.  Filling system gets a 3/5.

In size, the pen is medium size, roughly the same as the Pilot 78G, or a Pilot G3 ball/gel point. It is lightweight, being plastic, and well balanced. It posts nicely, and is comfortable to write with posted or not. Its diameter might be a little large for those with tiny hands, but small hands and larger will find it comfortable for long-term writing. Size and comfort get a 5/5.

I purchased the pen from eBay, for very little. The price is still excellent, based on a recent survey and search of eBay. It would make an excellent introductory pen to give someone to get them hooked on fountain pens, or for a knockaround pen for work. It is generally available in XF, F, M and B. I have used only the F, but then I really like a fine point. A pen with broader than a fine point has to be really special to convince me to purchase and continue using it.

Until Later. . .

Imitation Frappuccino

Do you have a serious Starbucks habit? I used to. I could hardly believe how much I spent at the place. The Cuban origin/Puerto Rico grown coffee I reviewed a few days ago broke me of most of the habit, but summer is now in full swing, and the lure of the Frappuccino was growing stronger.

Enter my lovely bride of just under 35 years, to save the day with a recipe for a home grown substitute. Today I will share with you two versions -- one regular, and one low-carb guilt free.

Start either version by making double-strength coffee. If you make coffee like I do, it will require putting enough grounds for a 12 cup pot, and 6 cups of water, because the basket won't hold twice as much coffee grounds for a 12 cup pot. Chill the resulting coffee until you are ready to make your frozen beverage. 

For low-carb, 

* 3/4 cup double-strength coffee, cold
* 3 tablespoons granulated Splenda (or equivalent in sweetener of choice)
* 1 cup Hood Calorie Countdown Dairy Beverage
* 2 cups ice

To make drink, combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until ice is crushed and drink is smooth. Pour into two 16-ounce glasses, and serve with straws.

For Regular, substitute sugar for artificial sweetener, and 2% or whole milk for Hood Calorie Countdown.

CARAMEL

For this variation, omit (or reduce) Splenda, and add 3 tablespoons of caramel sugar-free Da Vinci syrup or 2 tablespoons of Walden Farms Caramel Dip to the original recipe and prepare as described.

Regular: Use regular caramel syrup, and drizzle some on top after you pour it.



MOCHA
For this variation, you have two options. The simplest is just to use Hood Calorie Countdown Chocolate Dairy Beverage in place of the regular white kind.
Or, omit (or reduce) the Splenda, and add 3 tablespoons sugar-free Da Vinci chocolate syrup or 2 tablespoons of Walden Farms Chocolate Dip to the original recipe and prepare as described. 

Regular Use regular chocolate milk in place of white milk, or add 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup to the original recipe.

If you are interested in more low carb or weight loss strategies, you can go Here

Until Later. . .

Wality 71J Eye Dropper Fountain Pen

When I first heard of an eyedropper fountain pen, I wondered what on earth it meant. Upon further research, I discovered it means you fill it with an eyedropper, rather than a piston mechanism, a squeeze filler, a twist filler, a slide filler, or an ink cartridge. What this means, generally, is that the ink capacity is huge, as everything between the section and the end of the pen is available for storage.

The Wality 71J pen made in India, is itself HUGE! It measures 6 1/4 inches long capped, and a full 7 inches posted. Empty, it weighs in at 26 grams, just 2 grams under an ounce. With its 4.5 ml ink capacity, even half full it is a full ounce. However, the pen is so well balanced, it does seem not overly to me. I do like a large pen, because my hands are large (fingerspan of 11 white keys on a standard piano). How does the pen look? It looks like it came from India. I have provided a stock photo from the importer's web site.



The pen comes with a gold tone fine point nib, made by Wality. Included in the package are a plastic eyedropper, and a velvet textured sack. Mine pen is black, and the sack matched the color. The pen is also available in Maroon and Blue, with matching color sack.

The pen is easy to fill, as long as you are careful. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that unless well sealed, an eyedropper pen will leak. I have another eyedropper in addition to this one, which sealed nicely with plumber's teflon tape; however, this one required silicone lubricant (not sealant) to ensure it was leakproof. Another caveat about eyedroppers - if they get 1/4 full or less they will tend to randomly spit out a blob of ink, so keep it full. This one has no ink window, so the blobbing might be the first indication it is getting low.

The pen writes beautifully. It is buttery smooth, leaving a medium wet, nicely fine line. I have not had a problem with this pen on papers which caused my Pelikan M200 and Parker 51 to throw up their piston (Pelikan) or aerometric (P51) and surrender to feathering, and turning a fine line into a broad line. I have so far unsed only Noodler's la Coleur Royale (royal blue) in this one, and it does exhibit the nib creep typical of Noodlers, but not to an excessive degree. The pen has actually been in my daily carry case sitting idle for about 3 weeks, due to the arrival of new pens which I could not resist trying out. So, the first time I tried to write with it after 3 weeks, it started immediately, and without a skip. That is pretty good in my book.

I acquired my pen via eBay, at a savings over the usual sale price. The pen is sold by eBay seller pbachran, and a search for Wality will turn up whatever pens they have on the bay at that time. If you cannot, or do not want to wait, you can purchase direct from the importer Here
The Wality 71J is a wonderful opportunity to sample the eyedropper filler pen, with a quality pen at a reasonable price.

Oscar Schmidt OE-30R Guitar

Taking a break from fountain pens for the day, and doing a review of my favorite red guitar. Oscar Schmidt is Washburn Guitars budget line, made overseas. Several of the models are overseas versions of Washburn guitars made in USA. The OE-30 is the overseas version of the Washburn HB-30. Both guitars are based upon the Gibson 335, which was first introduced in 1958, along with the then brand new humbucking pickup, of which the Gibson 335 and all its clones or copies have two.

My cherry red guitar has a 21-fret bolt-on neck, with medium jumbo frets, and Grover Tuners. Fret dressing is good, with no sharp edges. The neck is comfortably thin, and the dual cutaways on the body make the higher frets easily accessible. Playability is excellent; I give it a 4/5 for fit and finish.

The guitar originally came with 10-46 strings. I put on flatwound 12-52's, and had it set up by a luthier. The replacement strings were a little heavy for me, and the tone was so dark and woody, when replacement time came, I put back on 9-42's. I am not a proponent of using the thickest cables available to maximize tone. B B King uses 9-42's, and his tone is not widely criticized for being thin and lacking body. On playability, I give it a 5/5 with the proper strings.

The pickups on the OE-30 are actually Washburn 700 series humbuckers, with full, rich sound, and the usual high output a humbucker gives. It positively sings in both the clean and dirty channels on my Carvin MTS-3200 combo amp, with good balanced sound on both; however, on my son's Carvin Belair 212, the EL34 tubes and tone circuits roll off the high end too much on the dirty channel. That particular amp is more single-coil friendly, while the MTS series is a switch hitter for both single coils and humbuckers. For sound, I give the OE-30 a 5/5 with the right amp.

For value, I give the guitar a 5/5. Mine was actually a Father's Day gift from my children, who pooled their money and ordered me one online. A black version of the guitar is available Here.

No coffee review today. I do not currently have that many coffees I drink, so many of my coffee posts will be regarding brewing tips, or recipes for coffee beverages, including a low-carb version of a frappuccino style beverage.

Until later. . .

Pilot Crystal Clear Pen and Pilon Gourmet Coffee

Yesterday at the end of my review of the Pilot 78G, I promised a review of the Pilot Crystal today. I have been cautioned that my review was too wordy, so I will have an abbreviated review today. The picture is a stock photo from the eBay site where I acquired the pen.

The Pilot Crystal I have is clear, with gold trim, and roughly the same size as the Pilot 78G I reviewed yesterday, although slightly heavier. The nib is labeled FS, which I am told means Fine, Soft. Soft is to distinguish it from rigid or flexy, but it does provide more variation in line thickness than that on the 78G, and is slightly finer than the 78G when writing under no pressure.



I acquired the Crystal from speerbob on eBay, at a cost of $12 plus $6 shipping, total cost $18.00. Until I got the 78G a week later, it was definitely my nicest under $30 pen. The pen is currently offered either up for bid on eBay, or as a Buy it Now for $24.95 from one vendor, or as a Buy it Now from speerbob, still for $12.00. If you are looking for a high quality, low cost, fine point pen with a hint of flex, you would be hard put to do better.

Tomorrow I will write about my thinline archtop electric guitar, and a different brand of coffee.

Today, for coffee, I will tell you about my personal low-cost favorite. It is Pilon Gourmet Espresso Whole Bean, from which I make coffee, rather than espresso.  My second son's father-in-law brought me some from Florida last year as a gift. He told me it is Cuban coffee, grown in Puerto Rico by Cuban expatriates. Regardless of origin, it is wonderful. I grind it fresh in my Cuisinart Burr Grinder, set for 10 cups, with the grind set one click to the left of the M in Medium. This ground coffee goes into the metal filter basket of my Cuisinart 12 cup thermal coffee maker. I then add enough filtered water to make 12 cups, start the machine, and roughly 10 minutes later, I have wonderful, aromatic coffee. The coffee, even though I make it very strong, is neither acid, nor bitter. The coffee maker, by virtue of its metal filter basket, has the major benefit of the French Press, in that the oils of the coffee, which contribute greatly to its flavor, are not absorbed by a paper filter, with the advantage of having a thermal pot, which will keep the coffee fresh and hot for several hours.

The coffee is available Here.

Until tomorrow, a guitar, and more coffee. . .

Donnie Winn

Today is a Good Day

Today, according to the emails I received, 5 new pens arrived at my home while I was at work, from 2 different sources. I had a 4-pen order with my favorite online store, which included 2 new bottles of ink, and the other was an eBay win. I don't even know if I will be able to test them out this evening, though, as there is much to do.

Yesterday I almost promised a review of the Pilot 78Gs i received that day. I was so busy last night, working with my wife on getting the new online nutrition store set up, that I did not get the time to ink either of them, to test them. However, I filled the black one with Noodler's la Coleur Royale (Royal Blue) ink before leaving for work this morning. It was relatively slow, so I was able to give a little exercise to the little pen. Here are my ruminations. The photo is a stock photo from the vendor where I acquired the pen.

First off, the Pilot 78G was never told to the US market by the Pilot company. Any which made to our shores are gray market, or private import. In addition, sadly, the pen has discontinued production, although is is still widely available through online merchants and on eBay. The Pilot 78G comes in Black, Green, Red, or Teal, with nibs in Fine, Medium or Broad (which is really an italic). 

The Pilot 78G is made of shiny black (in this case) plastic, with a screw-on cap, a gold colored clip, and the base of the cap has one wide and one narrow stripe for decoration. It is a light weight pen, slightly lighter than a Waterman Phileas. My measurements by ruler are 4 13/16" uncapped for writing, 5 3/8" with the cap screwed on, and 5 15/16" with the cap posted on the back of the pen, for a longer instrument. Diameter is approximately 7/16" or 11 mm. Compared to a Pilot G2 Gel Pen, it is 1" shorter uncapped, 5/16" longer when posted, and 1/4" shorter when capped. Fit and finish are 5/5.

The filler on the 78G is a squeeze filler. Just dip the nib into the ink, squeeze rapidly, release, let the bladder fill, repeat 4 - 5 times, and you will have a fair amount of ink in the pen. If you prefer (I can't imagine why) you can remove the squeeze filler and put in a cartridge. Filling mechanism gets 4/5 (I really like piston fillers. You don't have to disassemble the pen to refill, and they almost always have an ink window to tell how much is left.)

The nib is a Fine point. And I mean FINE. Not quite needle point, but close. On some of the forums it is referred to as "Asian Fine" to distinguish from western fine, which is slightly broader. Somewhat surprisingly, the nib has a little springiness to it. It is not fully flexy, or, as the afficionados would say "wet noodle" flexible; however, the line width can vary considerably, depending upon the pressure put by the writer. It is gold colored (plated?) and very smooth. Moderately wet. I like to call these Pilot nibs "Goldilocks" nibs. Not too wet, not too dry, but just right. Verrry smooth. I have three other Pilot pens, with similar performance, and very different appearance from each other, and from the 78G. Oddly enough, the ribbing of the feed under the nib runs front to back, rather than side to side, but it doesn't seem to affect it adversely. Nib gets a 5/5

Overall, I would give the pen a 4.5/5, primarily because the pen has to be disassembled to refill it. It is the best pen I have for under $30, and I am the consummate bargain hunter. Even more telling is the price I paid for this pen. While widely available on eBay or a couple of online perchants for $23 - $29 including shipping, I bought the two I got for $29 the pair, including shipping, on a blowout sale. 

If you are new to fountain pens, or not yet a user, you could do well to get one of these, in either medium or fine point, or a Waterman Phileas in like point sizes. The Phileas is slightly more expensive, but can frequently be found at Staples, Office Depot/Max, or other general office supply stores.

Tomorrow I will review the Pilot Crystal fountain pen I got last week.

I still didn't make time to practice my guitar yesterday evening, so I cannot report on that. I could tell you a little about my collection of guitars, though. I will describe one daily until I am finished.

My oldest guitar, which I have also had the longest (the two are not necessarily connected, but in this case they are) is an Alvarez classical, nylon string guitar, with a cedar laminated top, and a dark unknown wood back and sides. I purchased it new in 1967, and it is the fifth guitar I ever owned. It is really easy to play, with the nylon strings, and wide fretboard (I have large hands - my thumb and pinky finger can span eleven white keys on a piano). Its tone is much better than it has any business being, considering what I paid for it. I got it for $35 in 1967 dollars, literally, because it had a warp in the neck, which prevented playing above the 6th fret without buzzing, but that has unwarped itself in the past 40 years. The guitar has been all over the western Pacific and Indian Ocean while I was in the Navy, but now just stays at home. As it is a classical guitar, its size makes it easily portable, and not too huge for a smaller person to play.

Tomorrow I will figure out my second oldest guitar, and describe that one. Hopefully I can tell you about what I practiced, and what kind of coffee I drank while practicing.

Speaking of coffee, I have so far successfully fought the urge to begin roasting my own coffee. I am a member of Fountain Pen Network (www.fountainpennetwork.com) and someone on the Chatter (non fountain pen related topics) thread put up a post some time back about roasting your own, and where to get a roaster, and beans to roast. It is supposed to be absolutely the best, but I do not currently need another hobby/vice. Today I ground some fresh Cuban Coffee, actually grown in Puerto Rico from Cuban seed, and brought it to work, as a treat. It was really good. Flavorful and aromatic, not acid or bitter.

Until later. . .

New Pens on the Way!

Today, I expect to receive at least two fountain pens I ordered. Both are Pilot 78G, with fine point nib. One is green, the other black. They are very highly rated, economical pens which I have been desiring for some time. Then, last week, a favorite online vendor of mine offered the pens at a substantial discount, such that I ordered both pens, and including shipping, paid what it would cost me on eBay from any vendor selling the (now discontinued) pens to purchase one, including shipping. I still have several pens in transit, and will keep you updated when they arrive.

Tomorrow I hope to provide a review of the Pilot 78 Gs. For that matter, I could provide a review of a different pen weekly, and it would take nearly a year to make it through my collection.

Unfortunately, my recent preoccupation with fountain pens has cut severely into my guitar time.  Although, when a fountain pen arrives in the mail, my middle child (a 22 year old young man) opines "At least they are cheaper than guitars", alluding to the fact that I have 8 guitars. In our house, the room just off the entry door contains a baby grand piano, an entertainment armoire customized by my wife and daughter in law to servie as a guitar cabinet (I'll have to get pictures and post them one day), a wooden music stand, a chaise, and an armless chair. The chaise and the armless chair were purchased to be seating for guitar playing (no arms to injure the guitar body). If I don't get back to playing soon, my wife might be tempted to get rid of the piano, and turn the front room into an office. There is an old Spanish folk song I was trying to learn, classical style, on my steel string 000 guitar, which I really should get back to practicing. My former guitar teacher is fond of saying "If your guitar practicing isn't driving somebody crazy, either nobody is hearing you, or you are not doing it correctly". He is of course referring to the constant repetition of short phrases until the fingering is correct, then the repeated repetition, to get the rhythm right. 

Last night I spent the entire evening working with my wife, as we work to set up an online nutrition store to serve people working to lose weight.  I was up so late, and so tired, I had to make a pot of coffee to keep me going. My wife smelled the aroma wafting up the stairs, and wanted some too. You have no idea how odd that would have seemed, even last year. She is a tea drinker, and mostly drinks coffee for the caffeine. But the coffee I grind fresh and make now is so good she actually likes it. When I asked her what she liked about it, she said "It doesn't taste bad."

Until later. . .

A Blog for This?

What a combination. Pens, guitars, and coffee. I may be unique in my affection for all three. My idea of a terrific experience is to sit and transcribe music for guitar, with a fountain pen, and playing a guitar to check my transcription, while drinking wonderful coffee.

I hope to inform people about great pens (primarily fountain pens), nice, relatively inexpensive guitars (my budget does not allow for expensive ones) and wonderful coffee, which is sometimes available for much less than so-called gourmet coffee.

Please stay tuned for regular updates on all three.

Donnie