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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: ChanceKJ on Wed, 20 March 2024, 18:00:07

Title: What Mods (if any) would you do?
Post by: ChanceKJ on Wed, 20 March 2024, 18:00:07: OK, very new to this whole thing and I'm not finding anything online about the Keychron Q Max series. No videos, threads, etc. I bought a Q6 Max with banana switches and the stock keycaps, (they feel good, sound good, & look ugly). Is this thing just the perfect sounding/working board hence why there isn't much talk about it online mod wise? or does it need to be modded? If you've worked with one, what would you do to it straight out of the box? Tape mod, force break, something else? Obviously keycaps and switches to taste, but what should I be looking with my new purchase?
Title: Re: What Mods (if any) would you do?
Post by: _rubik on Wed, 20 March 2024, 21:18:30: Welcome to the hobby and the forum!

I'm not all that familiar with Keychron boards but it looks like the number of products they offer has exploded since I last checked.

That board specifically is already pretty decked out. The switches are pre lubed, the board has acoustic foam, etc etc. You have some options though; it all depends on what you're interested in.

If you're interested in aesthetics, you could try different key caps. A big chunk of the community (myself included) likes GMK caps but they come with a price tag. You might even try exploring the differences between PBT and ABS keycaps.

If you're interested in sound and feel, you could sample different switches. No need to re-switch the full board; most vendors sell switches in packs of five or ten so you can try things out. Once you find some switches you really like, you can play around with filming, lubing, spring swapping, and frankenmodding. There are endless combinations, and your PCB is hot swap so the barrier to trying new switches is pretty low.

Stabilizers are almost always in need to tuning, especially with off the shelf boards.

One less obvious route but one that I've found the most satisfaction with is working on your keymap. That board is QMK compatible and Via enabled, which makes it really easy to try alternate layers and layouts. The depth here is surprising, honestly. Macros, media layers, mouse controls, home row mods, space fns, chording, etc etc. You can really do some wild things with keyboard firmware, and Via makes it so so easy to tweak on the go
Title: Re: What Mods (if any) would you do?
Post by: Tseg on Wed, 20 March 2024, 21:20:06: Welcome. Rabbit meet hole.
Title: Re: What Mods (if any) would you do?
Post by: henny12 on Fri, 13 December 2024, 03:03:52: Quote from: ChanceKJ on Wed, 20 March 2024, 18:00:07
OK, very new to this whole thing and I'm not finding anything online about the Keychron Q Max series. No videos, threads, etc. I bought a Q6 Max with banana switches and the stock keycaps, (they feel good, sound good, & look ugly). Is this thing just the perfect sounding/working board hence why there isn't much talk about it online mod wise? or does it need to be modded? If you've worked with one, what would you do to it straight out of the box? Tape mod, force break, something else? Obviously keycaps and switches to taste, but what should I be looking with my new purchase?
If the Q Max series is a recent release, it might not yet have the widespread attention or community feedback that other Keychron boards like the Q1 or Q6 have received.
Retro Bowl College (https://retrobowl-college.com)
Title: Re: What Mods (if any) would you do?
Post by: Sup on Tue, 17 December 2024, 07:57:32: It’s like any other keyboard. Modding the stabilizers is still common practice, even though OEM stabilizers have become pretty decent out of the box. As for switches, lubing feels unnecessary these days since most come pre-lubed. I haven’t manually lubed switches in over two years—I prefer to let them smooth out naturally with use.

Keycaps? Sure, but the worst mod, in my opinion, is stuffing the keyboard with foam or similar materials. If a keyboard needs foam to sound decent, it’s a sign of poor design.

As for mods to improve it, there’s not much left to do. Swapping switches to suit your taste or adjusting the keyboard profile to your liking are worthwhile changes, but it all comes down to personal preference in the end.