The 1.57 stabilizer wire is consistent along its entire length across all sizes. Compared to what’s going on with Swag Knights, this is basically the gold standard. It comes bent out of the box. That’s it. There is a slight curve overall — a slightly bent tip and a banana-like bow in the middle when viewed under light. But it’s very minor. In the video, straight out of the box with no tuning, the 7U is already slightly warped.
The mounting is a semi-clip style, and you screw it in there. But it holds even without the screw. The PCB is only 1.6 mm thick. Still, there’s some tolerance, so it sits with a bit of wobble. If you use tape on the PCB — which is actually appropriate here as a typical sound mod — then the mount becomes tight with no wobble.
In theory, you could assemble it even without the screw. But if the keycap is very tight, when you remove it, the stabilizer can get pulled out of the housing.
There are tolerances in the stem for the wire, or rather in how the stem holds the wire itself. One of the stabilizers for the spacebar is too tight — it barely even moves up. But if you flip it so the spacebar is oriented the other way, it works fine. So there’s a bit of a feature/bug situation with spacebars here — some configurations may not move properly.
Without the keycap, the stem and wire can feel very loose. The wire isn’t loose inside the stem — that part is firmly fixed — but it can rattle inside the housing where the stem sits.
This has happened before, especially with the first versions of nylon aeroboards. Small tolerances can result in a smooth, oil-free ride straight out of the box, but can also cause a lack of pressure, a stiff, slow stroke, or even a stall in the downward or upward motion.
I’ve played with several keycaps on the 7U spacebar. Sometimes there are no problems at all, but sometimes the smoothness or ease of pressing varies. And there’s one where the keycap gets stuck if the LED is facing south, but if it’s facing north, there are no problems at all.
The 2U size is good. I tried different keycaps and switches.
I’m thinking about converting some of my existing setups, including permanently assembled ones, to this model.
Since it sounds and clicks without lubrication, it’s the same as mine with lubrication.
I finally picked up a plastic vortex model M tribute board. Very happy with the purchase. Significantly under retail from aftermarket but essentially NIB
The keyboard is similar in execution to their previous tribute boards (the pc jr tribute and m0110 tribute). I own them all and they’re remarkably similar in feel. The TKL might be slightly less rigid overall but I suspect that’s because of its size.
I believe this is spray coated, similar to the command65. I’m not sure why they didn’t use the same color and texture as the the other tribute boards.
I prefer the lighter beige that leans towards gray like the original Model M. The vortex model leans a bit more brown. But it’s still a versatile color and although it isn’t as pleasant to the touch, it doesn’t feel quite as dry/chalky as the command65 board (although I do miss that clean ABS feel)
I may pick up the metal case now that I’ve seen this one.
Also, the newest release is the Model M65. I’m not exactly fond of the layout but I do like the tall forehead it has going.
Good news is they look and feel great. Bad news is that I screwed a couple of things up. It’s really my fault for not looking over everything and not starting from scratch. But they’re 100% usable and quite lovely.
They feel exactly like the other PBS sets I have. Same texture, just with my custom legends and colors. I still wish their PBS keys had more texture and felt less silky, but it’s not a deal-breaker.
I grabbed a previously designed set here:
Then, I added a few extra keys (7u bottom row and accents). I also made the gray lighter and changed the blue to a green (with a hint of blue)
It still needs a split right shift and FN key added. I also need to add a stepped caps lock. Maybe I should have gone with GR2 for the accent caps. They look good in gray, but I think white might have looked even better.
The colors turned out really well. I wasn’t surprised to see them IRL b/c it was very close to what I had been imagining based on the product photos. Perhaps the colors on the website are a bit more blue overall than IRL (both on my calibrated monitor and iphone).
The most problematic keys are 100% my fault. The 1, 4, and 5 keys have the font reduced one notch from the rest. I totally overlooked that. Again, I was going off of a previously designed set. I’ve already fixed it in my profile.
I forgot to add a split right shift. So I cannot use these on a 65%. Not a huge deal. Also, I forgot to add a stepped capslock.
Yeah, the ability to upload custom fonts is lovely. I made a Skyrim Dovahzul-themed set for my roommate (who was pretty into Skyrim til Diablo4 came out, anyway) along with a Klingon set for myself and the ridiculous LongBoi.
I really appreciate that they send you an actual photo of the keyset before shipping so you can check for any issues.
And thank you for the link to the font from Matt3o! I hadn’t realized he’d released it b/c I definitely would like to use it on some PBS or KAM caps.
I’m a linear fan, so I ordered Mint and Strawberry
MINT
The Mint smoothie are pretty legit great silent linears. Very snappy but light spring and a true 4.0mm travel. They feel a bit different from other silents I’ve tried and liked. They sound similar to silent Lucy but the spring and 4.0mm travel makes them feel distinct. They have a 20mm single stage 45g spring. Longer springs like this usually feel quite heavier than listed, and this one feels essentially like a 53-55g spring. Light but loaded a bit at the top to keep from making accidental presses.
I do think I would like to try them with a Medium spring (15mm) as well.
STRAWBERRY
The pink linears were up next. I tried them in a board and really disliked them. They were extremely inconsistent in sound (probably b/c of the factory lube). Also, the spring ping is off the charts on some of them. I don’t think they bothered to lube the springs at the base. I’m sure some thick lube at the bottom of the spring would fix it.
I’ll give them another shot and report back if I grow to like them.
Also ordered some Gateron Lanes in a recent order from Prototypist:
These are truly unique switches. I believe at was @Rob27shred that previously stated these were nice, and there really is something quite Alpsy about them. A few have already begun to click a bit, which really makes them feel even more like alps (being inconsistent and all!)
I would say if you’ve tried alps switches and appreciate them for their sound and quirky nature, you will probably enjoy these tribute switches. They don’t feel heavy at all, and the tactility was not enough to fatigue me while typing or gaming.
Very unique switch. I’m looking forward to see how these change over time. I’ve got them in a hotswap board, but IDK… I may solder these in. Something good an rigid with a hollow cavity for maximum noise.
I tried some Gateron Lanes samples last year, and they were so interesting that I tried to order more.
But they were out-of-stock most everywhere.
This year, I was able to acquire enough for a TKL. Thought I’d put them in an NCR-80, for retro looks and feel.
But it was actually kind of harsh. They were much better in a flex-built Transition Lite with stock PC plate. So I’m thinking of a retro-build Transition Lite for them. Very unique switch, and I like to support these efforts.
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