I did some blind testing this morning with blue Alps, click-modded orange, and click-modded dampened cream. I wanted to see if I could tell the difference by sound and feel alone.
It seems like the click-modded dampened cream Alps are much closer to blues than the click-modded oranges. Orange Alps have a stiffer bump, which makes them feel more like whites when click-modded. It doesn't feel like oranges have a heavier spring (at least not by much), but the stiffer bump makes them feel heavier. Not bad, but different.
Meanwhile, I had an incredibly difficult time telling apart the blues and creams. The blues have an ever so slightly deeper click sound, and when I plug my ears I perceive that blues are slightly heavier than creams. But other than that I can't tell them apart.
Next, I broke out a stack of nickels for a good old-fashioned actuation force test. I discovered that both the cream and blue switches require about 60g actuation force. Oranges were about 70g. Interestingly, non-click-modded cream Alps were also about 70g, so it's true that the click mod substantially affects the feel. White Alps are about 60g, but they feel much stiffer than blues or click-modded creams. I believe this is due to the combination of a lighter spring and a more pronounced bump on the leaf.
Summary: Click-modded oranges are closer to white Alps, and click-modded creams are closer to blue Alps.
I'm glad I did this because it's helped me make a decision on which switches to use for my next builds. I was going to click mod my remaining oranges and use those on my ANSI 60% build, but I already have some white Alps boards and I believe a board full of click-modded oranges would be too similar. Besides, I really like tactile oranges as-is, and if it ain't broke...
Instead, I'm going to click mod some cream Alps and use those for my next 60% build. I'm saving my bag of blues for my Monarch build, but after this experiment I truly believe that click-modded creams are a solid substitute for hard-to-find blues. The best part is, this simple mod takes an otherwise forgotten switch (dampened cream Alps) and turns it into something very desirable.
Now I'm just trying to figure out what to call this cream alps click mod. I was thinking about Ghetto Blues, because they're so similar to blues. But they're not blue, so that's confusing. I really like the fact that this mod has the potential to save cream alps from obscurity, so I was thinking of calling them Rescue Alps, kind of like a rescue dog that you save from the pound. Then again, the last thing this hobby needs is more jargon, so maybe just Click-modded Creams.