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Any 60% wired keyboards that DON'T have RGB LEDs?

Jan 28, 20221107 VIEWS

I recently restored and modded a vintage Mac Color Classic. Its ADB keyboard has a bunch of dead keys, and as it's the membrane version and not the switched version, I need a replacement keyboard. After being underwhelmed by the selection of ADB keyboards on eBay, I found someone making a new USB to ADB adapter and decided I'd really like to get a new compact mechanical keyboard and then swap the old Mac Univers font keycaps onto it. Oddly enough I found an image of pretty much exactly what I am going for-

After looking through the available 60% keyboards though, it seems like every single keyboard is a metal base with RGB lights, so I end up paying $80 without even adding key switches. Are there any 60% keyboards available that DON'T have lights, since they would detract from the look anyway? I don't see any...

(Edited)

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wwiggins

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DinoBaconSaurus

Feb 19, 2022

big fan of the gingham 60

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OscarCharlieZulu

Feb 14, 2022

There is the slightly ugly matias clicky board with Mac layout that has those Alps clone matias switches.

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Linkmeup82

Feb 12, 2022

I'm not trying to be smart but what does it matter if you just turn off the rgb? Lots of PCB's out there that support it. It doesn't mean you need to turn it on. I have a couple builds I did that have non transparent cases and I just turn it off since you can't really see the rgb anyway. There are a few instances where the hot swap sockets can cause fitment issues with cases designed for non-rgb boards but you can normally read in the description or do a Google search to make sure.

(Edited)

Lonkeebs

Feb 11, 2022

Bakaneko60. Alu case and a non-rgb pcb. I just built mine and love it.

Viperxvenom

Feb 7, 2022

If you want something without RGB, you could go for a RGB keyboard, but turn the lights off

Viperxvenom

Feb 9, 2022

ViperxvenomYou could also buy a solid prebuilt keyboard that's modular, like an RK61, and then put some custom keycaps on it that are grey with the Univers font, and get a nice USB C cable

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tristinDLC

Jan 30, 2022

To answer your original question, yes, there are Alps 60% out there without RGB if that's not your thing. A couple of problems:

Alps-compatible boards in general are harder to come by
When you do find an Alp PCB, more often than not, it'll come with RGB as a lot of people are into it (whether you use it or not, that's up to you).
Then there are fewer Alps boards without RGB in your standard 60% layout. Most community-built boards these days come with very unique layouts as people are now having fun with them as they usually don't see the love MX PCBs overwhelmingly get.
For a non-RGB board, you'll have to reach back and look at the Alp64 made years ago by Hasu (a guy out of Tokyo). He was making small batch runs, but he now no longer ships outside of JP as far as I'm aware. He never had a shop and was selling limited runs on certain forums.

If you're just looking for a cheap Alps board, I have an unused XD60 which is MX and Alps-compatible (which admittedly has RGB) that I would let go for cheap, and you can just not use the RGB. While this is 100% new, you could try buying one from KBRepublic out of Korea and play the waiting game. I also have a previously mentioned Alps64 from Hasu that has been collecting dust for years now as I just haven't found the right components to build a full board out of it yet. I haven't sold it because it was one of the first PCBs I bought and finding a replacement with Hasu gone is difficult. I could be persuaded to let that go too if I just stopped being stubborn. The last two [related] things you're going to run into is that the switches you're currently using are not the normal Alps-style that people are using in their builds. So you will need to source old Alps units or buy new Matias clones. You will also need to buy true Alps keycaps as the ones you have only work with the dome-style switches you have and will not work on any other switch. I have plenty of vintage Alps Whites (clicky) clones I can sell and I have an extra set of AEKII keycaps you'd need (I might even have an old Pok3r case I can throw in... so all you'd need is a plate cut). Let me know, I have a ton of new and vintage Apple keyboard stuff.

JetSerge

Jan 30, 2022

Check out Freebird60. Should be available in Q1 2022 and doesn't have RGB.

wwiggins

Jan 30, 2022

Here’s the adapter I’m looking at, which is nice because it simulates the power key on adb keyboards from this era. https://www.bigmessowires.com/usb-wombat/

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wwiggins

Jan 30, 2022

Ah, you’re right, I pulled some caps and they’re not usable. I guess the Mac-homage biip keys drop is selling could probably work in a pinch instead.

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robert.t

Feb 19, 2022

wwigginsthat's one filthy keyboard ROLF

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A community member

Jan 29, 2022

Oh, I noticed something else - these caps aren't standard-sized for modern boards, so finding one that will take them might be tough. Looks like this has a 1.25u Esc key (usually 1u), a 1.5u left shift (usually 1.25u in ISO), and a 6.5u spacebar (usually 6.25u or 7u). The whole bottom row may be tricky, with each side having 1.5u, 1.25u, and 1.5u keys. More often you'll see all 1.25u keys along the bottom, or 1.5u, 1u, 1.5u on each side. I can't tell about the backspace, but it looks like it might be 1.75u instead of the normal 2u.

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