This is my first post on geekhack because the people on r/MechanicalKeyboards really don't like me because I hate the sticky 
). But anyways I have Gateron Yellow switches in my keyboard right now and was wondering if I could turn them into alpacas by using different housings and stems. Also I really like the sound of Alpacas and if you find anywhere that sells them then let me know. I might call these "Gateron Yalpacas" or something like that. From what I see they use Cherry Housings and POM Stems, also I heard that Gateron Yellow springs work fine and that I might not need to change them, any thoughts. (hope you guys aren't as ****ty as the guys over at r/MK 
)
Hahah to be fair though they're probably right. You maybe should've read the sticky or looked around a bit more.
You can't really make Alpacas, since they are no "mod" switch. They come as they are. Since they are Cherry MX "clones" (made by JWK), just as Gateron, Kailh, etc. most parts are usually interchangeable - including the top and bottom housings, the springs and the stems.
The sound comes mostly from the bottom and top housing, depending on their thickness, shapes and material used. Springs may also change the sound a little as well as the stems if they are shaped differently (e.g. Novelkey Creams where the pole in the middle is longer and touches the bottom housing when bottoming out). Stems are pretty much exclusively made out of POM, except some specialist stems that were available recently from Invyr and are made from UHMWPE. So in most cases exchanging the stems doesn't make that much of a difference in linear switches (except maybe for tolerances and more or less wobble) or sound in the case of e.g. Creams.
When it comes to the Alpacas, they don't use Cherry housings (though they are clones) but are made by JWK instead. Other JWK switches thus may sound similar due to the probably identical housing molds used to produce them, though you'd still need to get the exact same materials used as in the Alpacas. So if you really want exactly that sound... why not just get the Alpacas? Alternatively there are other JWK made switches that are very popular currently and have a rather similar sound and smoothness to them (though still not identical): HHHH H1 and C3 Tangerines. I think most people rate both of these even better than the Alpacas because the first uses a custom JWK mold which makes them supposedly even smoother and C3 Tangerines because they are using the smoother UHMWPE material in their housings. To be fair though both of these switches are "the latest hot sh*t", which might give them some additional hype and some people already mentioned they couldn't feel a difference in smoothness between the 3.
