Man, I’ve been staying out of the loop for a while but that’s a gorgeous board. I’d be real tempted to buy one if it weren’t a 65% haha
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Not sure what your preferred layout is, but MODE also has a 75% board called the Sonnet that’s otherwise pretty similar; the accent strip is on the forehead and faces up instead of on the back face. Here’s a green one I found on reddit;
I think this one has a copper accent, but all the same materials / finishes are available, and from the test videos I’ve watched the sound profile is pretty similar.
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Changed-up my rescued NightFox a bit.
I nixed the black 1/16 allen key screws for some gold-colored phillips ones - I like this keyboard more already.
I decided to go with some keycaps that would better match the TTC Ace switches soldered-into the board, NovelKeys’ PBT Cherry Sage.
I’m liking the sound and feel of these caps more with this build. It doesn’t have the sonorous thonk of the MT3 caps or the finger-snap poppiness of the Envoy I was using yesterday - but this really is satisfying to use. Side-by-side with a stock one it’s night-and-day. Oh, this might make a fun video…
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This is amazing, looks really well done, and the support idea is very smart.
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Thanks, next build will be a matching numpad.
The PCB is done so I only need to adapt the case…if I can find the time.
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AKB-OGR finally built today!
Used my gateron UMHKnown housings with Wuque stems (P3)
21KB Irish gray keycaps.
Springy board with good deep clack. So nice
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This set should also look amazing on Yolk.
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Same keeb I posted in the mailday thread yesterday, but under different lights and with a recording;
Massdrop CTRL
- High-Profile case upgrade in “Bronze”
- TTC Silent Brown V2
- DCX Latte
- Stupidfish foam kit
- Don’t even remember what stabs are in there
The occasional spring wiggle or crunch is really the only thing marring an otherwise lovely sound profile as far as I’m concerned - which is something I could say about a lot of “almost there” factory-tuned switches. I’d say most folks could install these in a board and be satisfied, but sound-focused enthusiasts may be left wanting something more clean.
All of these colors look quite at-home with each-other, right down to the switch stems almost matching the keys. This is a pretty unforgiving chassis having its plate integrated with the chonky top half, but I think these modest TTCs manage to sound & feel decently satisfying in it anyway.
I just took that photo in here, and looking at my screen and then down at my keeb - it’s still not even close. I’ll have to take some comparison photos with some other well-known brown keys and such - it’s elusive to photograph but I do quite like it.
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Got my Mode Envoy last Friday, but didn’t have time to put it together until today. Using the Tomorrow key caps from Mode as well. This definitely met my expectations.
Some notes:
- I also got the Obscura switches from Mode at the same time. This is my first time using long pole switches, and they’re kinda really loud? It sounds nice, but yeah LOUD.
- Also the first time I did a foamless build, and installing the switches took me a long time. I had to keep adjusting the plate initially.
- I used TX AP stabs, and I don’t remember the V2 being this much of a pain to install. Both getting the wire snapped in, and getting it installed on the PCB took a lot of force.
- The key caps are nicer than I expected. They have a nice texture to them, and I like the little colour accents.
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Man, now I can’t post my Copper on Green Envoy! 
Looks really slick and I am sure those Obscuras sound really nice in there!!
I really love them in my Sonnet, but wanted to go with something a little different (read: tactile) with mine… 
I will try to post pics of it some time this week, but may have to wait for a post or two so that it’s not just Envoy Overload 
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GMK Tuzi arrived last week so I’ve got it set up on my lilac Sagittarius!
Of course, the colors don’t quite match up how I had hoped but its tough to really see the color of the board anyway and the color of the caps is very calming and satisfying, will probably keep this setup for a while.
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Green + copper + wood Envoy gang rise up! It’s such a nice combo.
I saw that you got a polycarb case too. The more pics I see of that, the more I kinda want to get one for myself.
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How’s the quality? I’ve been thinking about ordering the Hell in the city one
Okay, I’ve been on the fence so many times about buying one. It just looks uncomfortable to use. Like the stretch between Y and P seems huge. Do you like typing on it? Do you have an alice board to compare it to? For the record, I don’t find Alice style boards that comfortable either.
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It’s really good. The guy actually has stock in hand and ships from Australia. I first thought he outsources it completely, but no. Note that this mat is slightly oversized. It’s 900x450, so slightly larger in width.
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Unfortunately I don’t have an Alice style board to compare it to. I do often use a “split” layout board at work and find that I generally prefer boards with a split layout. I think the curvature is a little deceptive and makes the distance between keys look a bit larger than it is, but I think it is probably on the larger end of the normal range.
I really like the board and don’t find it uncomfortable to use, but at the same time I wouldn’t say it’s more comfortable than any of my other boards, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to someone who doesn’t generally like Alice style boards.
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@pixelpusher convinced me to finally put my Class80 together over the weekend.
More photos, aesthetic rambles
Growing up in the beige era, the light indicator module was basically a must for me. The LEDs are white, but all it took to get the classic green was a simple mod:
Just a folded bit of scrap adhesive signage vinyl between the daughter board and light-pipes. Folded both to darken the lights a bit with more material, but also to keep the adhesive off of the module. Any colored film will work for this purpose, though - doesn’t have to be sign vinyl.
I have a bunch of this stuff left-over from my days in the industry, but some local sign shops will give their scraps to local crafts-people for free. This piece was way too small for a sign, but perfect to put the retro-flavored cherry on top of my keyboard.
The left-most label is a bit distorted - I could have a replacement made (also from a sign place) but it’s minor. A bit funny the derp made it on to the final product, but no biggie.
To finish-off that mod, I covered the other caps-lock indicator LED (under the key itself) with a small strip of matte black vinyl still on the backing paper:
I tried Red Samurai on it - looked nice, but wasn’t quite for me:
I bet it would look great on either the black or red versions of the case.
Speaking of case, I think the details are very nice on this one. A pet peeve of mine is afterthought seams - none here - every line is clean and deliberate, and the material quality is excellent.
Before that I tried a theme based on an artisan I’d gotten for this keyboard:
While the forehead design on this keyboard would be at home on any beige era piece, it’s actually a specific reference to original Game Boy cartridges:
Along with the bottom weight on this keyboard…
…it seemed only fitting:
Fits the theme like a glove, but after seeing it, I decided it might look better on a little stand nearby on the desk than on the keyboard itself. I settled on the optional stock PBT dye-sub set sold alongside the keyboard. I wish there were scooped homing keys, but that’s a nit-pick - I think it’s a very fitting set, at least for this beige version of the board.
So far I’ve been using the hotswap PCB, FR4 plate, Staebies 2.1 polycarb stabs, and Gateron X linear switches that I’d originally bought for this build.
They feel nice and smooth, plenty smooth enough for me to use as-is. Travel sounds fine, too. They have another quality that in any other circumstance I’d immediately want to address, but that at least fits the theme here: very ring-y springs. I haven’t decided if I’m going to tune that out or not.
I’ve also got the polycarb plate to try, as well as a soldered PCB which I intend to use plateless. Between the two PCBs, I can freely switch between three mounting styles; top-mount from the plate, gasket from the pcb with a plate (with or without standoffs), and gasket plateless.
The solenoid is way too much fun - and honestly, so is the beeper, which isn’t half as annoying to me as I’d expected - I kinda like it. It would absolutely drive coworkers nuts, don’t get me wrong
This really is quite a fun keyboard - I bought it for one of the gimmicks, but it really is an excellent custom omitting them completely.
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