visconti van gogh: midi vs. maxi

i have seen reviews of the maxi van gogh. i know that the opera club and the wall street regular edition are heavy. i have seen no reviews of the midi van gogh. maybe there is a good reason for that.

anybody have anything to say about the midi?

how heavy is the midi compared to the maxi? how heavy are either one compared to the opera club?

last question: the midi is steel nibbed and the maxi is gold nibbed. i can get a gold nib on a midi but it is like $40 extra. i am wondering can a steel nib be modified to also give me line variation or do i start with the gold? it may be more cost beneficial to get the maxi that already has the gold, i dunno.

and since i have a fine nib on my bexley, and this visconti is going to be used to sign letters for the most part (also write checks, maybe make short notes), what kinda nib modification do i need: stub or italic, fine or medium?

sam

maybe there is a good reason for that.

It might be historical too.

I may be mistaken but I believe that when I bought my Van Gogh years ago there were no maxi and midi designations. The fountains were all what we now call the maxi size and the ballpoint/roller balls were what we now call the midi size. Then a few years later they decided to have the option of the fountain pen in a smaller body...

I have the midi, and I do not like it. I'm sure the nibs are different on the other two. My midi nib is probably the worst behaving nib I've ever had. <_<

Edit

No skips on my (unlabeled but maxi-sized) Van Gogh. It's consistently wet. Did you have only the nib exchanged? I wonder if it might be the feed.

Edit

well, i did get to test the opera club, the wall street and the maxi. the opera club may be a tad heavier than the wall street due to the silver on the barrel. however it feels better in the hand. the maxi may be as heavy as the wall street, but is longer and bulkier. if i had to choose, im going with the opera club. still would like comparisons between the sizes of hte van gogh

sam

Actually they exchanged the entire section, keeping only the body shell and converter.

Ah, that makes sense. That's the kind of "nib repair" that even I am qualified to do

Another trick I've seen mentioned here for skipping on new pens is to wash the entire system out with soapy water to remove manufacturing oils. You might want to look that trick up if you haven't tried it.

I have the midi and love it. I have small hands, and the midi is just right (a Pelikan 400 is too small for comparison). It has a steel nib, but it writes very smoothly. Its not very flexible, but is a great writer - and I'm very picky. I'm sure different units may have their faults or virtues, mine is great and I think the vanilla barrel is beautiful to look at. I also like the spring clip.

Just have to say that I have two Van Goghs from Southpaw and I really love them. They put down a consistent wet line and are really smooth. I don't know if Southpaw had to send these pens back and forth until they were perfect but I haven't had any problems with them. Compared to my Pelikan M200 with a binderized flex nib, the Pelikan is much lighter and has a more durable feel. If I were comparing them to cars, I'd say the Pelikan is more like a BMW and the Visconti more like a Bentley. You can roughly handle a Pelikan and it'll keep on working. I'm way more careful with my Visconti's since they seem more fragile.

For modifying the nib, it doesn't matter if you choose gold or steel unless you want to get a flex nib. At least that's my understanding from what I've read on these forums. Steel nibs can be ground to a stub just as well as a gold nib with the exception of flex since gold is more flexible.

Well, to let you know, I ordered a midi in blue. I had someone compare them and it is about the weight of a Waterman Charleston, which is good, and a bit heavier than a Bexley Sheherazade, but not as heavy as a Visconti Opera Club. I am having the nib sent in medium and off to Deb Kinney to modify for my first italic nib

Sam

Good for you, Sam! I'm sure you will like that nib!

One thing I an wondering about between the Maxi and Midi versions:

The Maxi has a steel inner ring where the section screws into the body. Does the Midi have the same ring? Or it like the Perciles - secton screws into the body without the re-inforcements?

I have owned a midi for a year now and adore it!! One of my best writing pens. Flows well with any ink i have put through it. And it fits my hand perfect!!!

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