Black & White Custom Keyboards
It’s finally happened: I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of custom mechanical keyboards. I’ve avoided it for years, but slowly made my way into it over the last few months– and now I’m hooked. What drew me in is the aesthetics of what modern keyboard manufacturers are now bringing to the table. What made me obsessed is the endless possibilities of look, sound, and feel. For someone like me– who’s curious about how things work and is into continuous improvement– this is the perfect hobby to sink my tinkering tendencies into.
Recently I completed two custom builds around a black and white theme. Both have very different characteristics, and like both of them for different reasons. While I’m still fairly new to the space and don’t proclaim to be an expert of any kind, I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to put together.
I’ll breakdown the parts of each below, and provide my affiliate links, which I receive a small commission for, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my content.
Black Keychron Q2 Build
Keyboard: Keychron Q2, Carbon black, barebone knob version, hot-swappable 65% keyboard
Plate: Q2 FR4 Ansi Plate, with plate form
Switches: Mode Linear Switches
Keycaps: CannonCaps CXA White on Black Keycaps
Stabilizers: Q2 stock stabilizers
Details: Gasket mount
Mods: Tempest Tape mod. Added in the base PE foam and silicone dampening sheet.
My initial thoughts
I love the look of this board. The centered geometric typography on the keycaps is gorgeous, and the CXA profile is very comfortable to type on. The knob is a surprisingly good feature– it feels good to turn and fidget with. The keyboard itself is very heavy compared to the MODE SixtyFive. The sound, to my ear, is very loud and “clacky”, and the keycaps sound a little thin. To help tune the sound of the board to be deeper, I added the Tempest Tape Mod. To mute the loudness, I added silicone sheet (left over IKEA drawer liner) and a thin layer of PE foam. Getting inside the board is very easy, which makes modification a breeze. Everything feels very well-built and is a very great value for the cost (roughly $300 of this build).
White MODE SixtyFive Build
Keyboard: MODE SixtyFive, hot-swappable 65% keyboard
Plate: FR4 Ansi Plate, with plate foam
Switches: MODE Signal Tactile Switches, hand lubricated
Keycaps: GMK cherry profile White on Black Keycaps
Stabilizers: Durock V2 Stabilizers, hand lubricated
Details: Black mirror back, silicone dampener, stack mount
My initial thoughts
The difference is in the details. The MODE design team has done an incredible job at designing this board. All of the materials and manufacturing of the board are ultra-high quality. Pair that with the hand-lubed switches and the GMK keycaps, and you have a premium keyboard that’s a dream to type on. The sound of this keyboard is deeper, and quieter compared to the Q2– most likely due to the silicone dampener in the base and the switch and keycap combo. Some might call it “marbly” or “thocky”, but what do I know really– I’m still learning about these qualities. Getting inside to modify this board was a little bit tricker than the Q2, but after I watched this video from Haurjue, it was a lot more approachable. This build was fairly expensive ($700+ due to aftermarket GMK costs) and there was a short wait from the pre-order (2-3 months), but in my eyes is totally worth. At least that’s the story I’m telling myself.
This is just my first foray into the mechanical keyboard hobby, and I plan to do more detailed content around this on my YouTube channel and Instagram. Subscribe and follow there, if you’d like more content like this. In the meantime I’ll be continuing to fine-tune these builds and explore other options to get the right feel and sound for these boards. Sound tests coming soon (if you’re into that sort of thing). If you have any questions, drop them below.