Matias Linear Switches have been available for purchase
here for a while now, which to me hasn't seemed to be publicized on GH all that much. So I purchased a 200-pack and built an Infinity with them. (Just due to the perception of low cap/layout compatibility out there, it was my first real dive into ALPS building.) As someone who enjoys linear switches, I actually ended up being really unimpressed with the switch feel, because I thought the throw was too short. So it's mostly just been sitting in my closet.
Today I inspected an individual switch and noticed white dampeners, so I searched around and found
this thread, whose geekhack reply alert told me not to necro bump (hence the post here, presumably in the more appropriate subforum). jacobolus pointed out that yes, these sound dampeners are indeed present inside of the switches.
I took out the dampeners and.. wow, hell yeah! This is exactly what I love about linear switches! I'm going to have to do this to the whole damn board, which I know shouldn't be too hard, since ALPS switches are openable without desoldering. Maybe I can try this with my other non-linear Matias boards too, since I haven't particularly cared for them as much as I thought I would.
Now that I think about it, is the dampener what makes a Matias switch a Matias switch? It'd be a little funny if that's the case, because maybe that's exactly what I personally don't like about them. So these might just end up essentially being a modern source for classic-like ALPS switches for me.
This thread is probably way more boring without a picture, so here's a shot I took of the dampeners:
Cliffs: they're amazing!
