Greetings from a newbie in Lexington, KY!

[alertArchitect]

Hello! I'm alertArchitect. I'm not super comfortable giving out my IRL name outside of DMs for now, but I'm based in Lexington, KY, and I just started getting into this hobby. In fact, I've almost finished my first board that I've built! I'm currently using a Corsair K70 Mk. II at home, and my call center job requires me to use the keyboard they provide (though I'll be checking to see if I can use my own soon... Hate the rubber domes. Just doesn't feel as good.). The board I've almost completed, and in fact had the last parts of ship today as of time of writing, is basically a Drop CTRL from top to bottom. Using the high-profile CTRL case in lilac, the CTRL PCB, the basic HyperGlide Panda stabs that Drop sells with it because I wasn't sure if the PCB accepts screw-ins, their LED diffuser, and Drop Halo Clears for the switches, since I like something with a bit higher actuation force, and I miss the tactility of my old Razer Orbweaver macropad I used back when all I had to work with was a laptop keyboard and said macropad, though I definitely don't miss the sound. No lube currently, but when I have a bit of extra money, that's next on my list! Currently eyeing the Krytox 205g0 Taeha Types recommends and uses, though if anyone has some good alternatives I'm definitely open to hearing more!

Also, please don't judge my buying decisions when it comes to buying everything from Drop; I know people who've ordered from them before and I wanted something that could ship relatively quickly, knew going in was reputable as I didn't see some other sites I felt I could trust until after I had already bought the PCB, and that I could get everything at the same place basically at once. I also didn't have many resources at the time that I knew of, and couldn't find another good TKL in my price range that was made to be assembled by the end user, though that was probably more of a "me being impatient and wanting to start building right away" thing. Either way, I can't wait to finish it! I've already learned so much from the mistakes I've made along the way, and I can't wait to learn more (though, hopefully, with fewer mistakes!), and I can't wait to interact with this community and share my journey into keyboards with you all!

[HoffmanMyster]

Welcome! Sounds like you're well on your way to hacking your wallet. And please don't post your personal information, or else we'll have to remove it manually (no self-doxxing allowed).

Also, please don't judge my buying decisions when it comes to buying everything from Drop; I know people who've ordered from them before and I wanted something that could ship relatively quickly, knew going in was reputable as I didn't see some other sites I felt I could trust until after I had already bought the PCB, and that I could get everything at the same place basically at once. I also didn't have many resources at the time that I knew of, and couldn't find another good TKL in my price range that was made to be assembled by the end user, though that was probably more of a "me being impatient and wanting to start building right away" thing. Either way, I can't wait to finish it! I've already learned so much from the mistakes I've made along the way, and I can't wait to learn more (though, hopefully, with fewer mistakes!), and I can't wait to interact with this community and share my journey into keyboards with you all!

No judgment here. Drop can be pretty divisive in the community, but honestly they are not a bad option. The Ctrl board and components that you've purchased are well-made and should do you quite well. Whether they're super competitive on price per quality & feature is not something I'm too in-the-loop on at this point in my hobby life. I wouldn't worry too much about that either way though, if you like the board then that's all that matters. You can always keep exploring and trying new things; over time you'll refine your tastes even more and narrow in on what you really like.

Note: Drop has owned this forum for a couple years now, but the mod team has no affiliation with them and they do not control what we do or how we run the site. This is in no way a shill post or anything similar.

[alertArchitect]

Welcome! Sounds like you're well on your way to hacking your wallet. And please don't post your personal information, or else we'll have to remove it manually (no self-doxxing allowed).

Ah, I should've clarified. The reason I mentioned specifically no IRL name is because I saw some older posts where people went by their IRL names for a bit, but wasn't sure how applicable that is to the current forum. I don't plan to state my IRL name to anyone unless I'm already talking to them as a friend in DMs because, quite frankly, I just don't like giving it out or associating it with my online name outside of my friend groups.

No judgment here. Drop can be pretty divisive in the community, but honestly they are not a bad option. The Ctrl board and components that you've purchased are well-made and should do you quite well. Whether they're super competitive on price per quality & feature is not something I'm too in-the-loop on at this point in my hobby life. I wouldn't worry too much about that either way though, if you like the board then that's all that matters. You can always keep exploring and trying new things; over time you'll refine your tastes even more and narrow in on what you really like.

Note: Drop has owned this forum for a couple years now, but the mod team has no affiliation with them and they do not control what we do or how we run the site. This is in no way a shill post or anything similar.

Good to hear it's considered pretty high quality! I was a bit unsure at first, but I didn't just want to jump into the deep end with something super expensive on a hobby I wasn't even 100% sure I'd even like. But now, I know how much I enjoy it, so I'll probably be posting in a month or two something along the lines of "Building my first 60%!" after using the Ctrl for a while! Or maybe document my first experience of going in and lubing the stabs and switches after I get my hands on the materials to do so... Not sure on which yet  )

[funkmon]

Lexington Kentucky and you don't have a Model M? How dare you! Head over to Unicomp right now and pick one up!

[alertArchitect]

Lexington Kentucky and you don't have a Model M? How dare you! Head over to Unicomp right now and pick one up!

I've only got room for one keyboard at a time right now, Funk. Current one's going to my sister to replace her membrane one when I finish building my CTRL, but I guarantee you, once I have more room for storage and I'm NOT in a living situation that consists of 3 people in a 1 bedroom apartment, I've got a Model M on my list!