Gateron Yellow Appreciation Society

[aisle9]

This thread is for us all to thank our great Gateron overlords for providing us with the yellow switch. What is a Gateron yellow, you ask? It's a blend between a red and a black. A buttery smooth linear typing experience that's light enough to not get tiring over long sessions at the desk, but heavy enough that you're not goingg to accccidentally double-tap the living shit out of everything like you do with reds.

 

All are encouraged to participate. Talk about how Gateron yellows have changed your life, how you discovered Gateron yellows, why Gateron yellows are the best switches ever made. Talk about the switches that expertly pay homage to the Gateron yellow, and the lowly imitators infesting so-called "budget boards". Once you've tried the Gateron yellow, there is no going back to inferior noob-colored switches. There is only the silky-smooth motion of the perfect linear switch. God's switch.

 

Come one, come all, join the Gateron Yellow Appreciation Society, and give thanks to our Lord and Savior of Switches.

 

[Skiiwee29]

Many different versions of gateron yellow switches. Are you alluding to a certain specific model or all?

[aisle9]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Many different versions of gateron yellow switches. Are you alluding to a certain specific model or all?

We do not discriminate. All Gateron yellow switches are welcome here.

[ImWilly]

1 hour ago, aisle9 said:

Come one, come all, join the Gateron Yellow Appreciation Society, and give thanks to our Lord and Savior of Switches.

Amen to that

 

I only have the reds, black box, pink box (recently purchased), but I will consider on Yellow sometime later 

[saintlouisbagels]

Never tried Gateron Yellows before. This thread had me going down the rabbit hole for a little bit.

I might have to pull out my Vortex Race 3 and replace all of the switches with Gateron Cap Gold V2.

 

Haven't used my desoldering gun in months.

I've only ever used Cherry MX Brown and Gateron Red and Pro Red 2.0 my whole life.

[aisle9]

36 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

I've only ever used Cherry MX Brown and Gateron Red and Pro Red 2.0 my whole life.

I think you'd like yellows. I'm in the same boat. My first mechanical keyboard was blue, but I quickly fell into browns and reds and still love them both. I discovered yellows by chance when the board I'm using now appeared on Amazon for a way underpriced $40 and I had to grab it, figuring I'd just pull the Gateron browns from my full-size board to replace the yellows. After using the yellows for a while, nope. That sweet spot between red and black works perfectly for me.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

Yellows are amazing, I have been using either Gateron G Pro 2.0 yellows or, very recently, Oil Kings in my builds.

 

I honestly think manufacturers do people a disservice by using reds as the standard and not yellows, as the slightly stiffer spring really helps with not accidentally pressing multiple keys.

 

What I haven't found a really good answer to but would really like to know is the difference between a "flat" force-distance curve and a steeper one. I would imagine the former might be perceived as more smooth, but I think a lot of people would prefer a steeper curve for that softer bottom-out and clearer response.

 

 

[aisle9]

On 8/19/2023 at 4:52 AM, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Yellows are amazing, I have been using either Gateron G Pro 2.0 yellows or, very recently, Oil Kings in my builds.

 

I honestly think manufacturers do people a disservice by using reds as the standard and not yellows, as the slightly stiffer spring really helps with not accidentally pressing multiple keys.

 

What I haven't found a really good answer to but would really like to know is the difference between a "flat" force-distance curve and a steeper one. I would imagine the former might be perceived as more smooth, but I think a lot of people would prefer a steeper curve for that softer bottom-out and clearer response.

I didn't even know yellow switches were a thing until stumbling into a keyboard that uses them. I'm using that keyboard now, btw. I've fallen slightly down the rabbit hole on mechanical keyboards over the last couple of weeks. I'd been aware of the basic Cherry-clone colors: red, black, brown, blue, green, but had never really paid attention to switch brands outside of Cherry, Gateron and Outemu. With the knowledge that Kailh, Razer, Logitech, and an infinite number of knockoff brands were out there. I mean, technically, Gateron and Outemu are knockoffs. Although Gateron has made switches that are, imo, generally better than their Cherry equivalents, and Outemu...yeah. We won't sully this thread with an explanation of whatever the hell they are.

 

I've heard that a good budget option if you like yellows would be to look at the Akko matcha green switch, and I'm thinking about doing just that on a TKL Micro Center keyboard that's using Outemu reds at the moment. Bonus points in that Akko is one of only a few switch brands compatible with Outemu's three-pin nonsense. If I go in there, tape the PCB, drop in some foam and swap the Outemus out with factory-lubed Akkos, that might just be a respectable board all of a sudden.

[saintlouisbagels]

1 hour ago, aisle9 said:

I didn't even know yellow switches were a thing until stumbling into a keyboard that uses them. I'm using that keyboard now, btw. I've fallen slightly down the rabbit hole on mechanical keyboards over the last couple of weeks. I'd been aware of the basic Cherry-clone colors: red, black, brown, blue, green, but had never really paid attention to switch brands outside of Cherry, Gateron and Outemu. With the knowledge that Kailh, Razer, Logitech, and an infinite number of knockoff brands were out there. I mean, technically, Gateron and Outemu are knockoffs. Although Gateron has made switches that are, imo, generally better than their Cherry equivalents, and Outemu...yeah. We won't sully this thread with an explanation of whatever the hell they are.

 

I've heard that a good budget option if you like yellows would be to look at the Akko matcha green switch, and I'm thinking about doing just that on a TKL Micro Center keyboard that's using Outemu reds at the moment. Bonus points in that Akko is one of only a few switch brands compatible with Outemu's three-pin nonsense. If I go in there, tape the PCB, drop in some foam and swap the Outemus out with factory-lubed Akkos, that might just be a respectable board all of a sudden.

I'm not even sure if knock-off is even an appropriate word to use anymore.

Every company just makes their own slightly tweaked switch while adhering to standards for maximum compatibility. Kind of seems like a Kleenex situation now - plenty of brands make tissues, but is everyone's tissue a "knock-off" because they aren't Kleenex?

[aisle9]

On 8/21/2023 at 1:03 AM, saintlouisbagels said:

I'm not even sure if knock-off is even an appropriate word to use anymore.

Every company just makes their own slightly tweaked switch while adhering to standards for maximum compatibility. Kind of seems like a Kleenex situation now - plenty of brands make tissues, but is everyone's tissue a "knock-off" because they aren't Kleenex?

Fair point. I still kind of think of Cherry as OG for red, brown, blue, black, etc., but the general concept of a mechanical keyboard long predates them. The best keyboard I've ever typed on was vintage 1980s and used something called a Futaba clicky switch. Weird af, noisy as hell, and requiring a lot of force, but somehow not a bad typing experience. Doesn't approach modern switches, mostly because of how much force was needed to trigger it, but a nice smooth switch up to the loud and clear tactile bump. The very loud tactile bump.

[aisle9]

And thus begins the yellowfication.

 

 

[Jorgemeister]

On 8/17/2023 at 4:31 PM, aisle9 said:

We do not discriminate. All Gateron yellow switches are welcome here.

I am not a fan of milk but the milky yellow is the exception.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

After binging on theremingoat reviews half the day, this might be interesting to a few more people in this thread: https://www.theremingoat.com/blog/gateron-g-pro-3-yellow-switch-review

[Noca]

I use lubed and filmed Gateron milky yellows for all my keys except the WASD keys which I use lubed Kailh speed silver switches.  Perfect combination for an enjoyable typing experience and casual gaming.

[aisle9]

3 hours ago, Jorgemeister said:

I am not a fan of milk but the milky yellow is the exception.

I do like a glass of milk from time to time, but I am looking forward to installing these milky yellows more than that.

[Monkey Dust]

I have Yellow North Pole switches in both my mech boards.

 

Reds are just too light. Yellow is truly king of the linears!

[aisle9]

Yellowization complete:

 

My first time modding a board, and I did, unfortunately, bend at least one stem. I was able to bend it back at least, but lesson learned. I thought about a tape mod, but opted against it.

 

Tough to tell from that shot, but the milky yellows do a really nice job of diffusing the LEDs. Oh, and they feel great to type on. I hung onto the Cherry reds because, come on, they're still Cherry reds, but I like this board so much more now. Also, from the realm of jankier mods:

 

 

Yes, that is foam taped to the inside of a spacebar because I didn't feel like investing in lube for the stabs. I need to trim it back some because right now it's rubbing and maybe a little too thick, but this spacebar was so freaking twangy. The only real weakness to this board, which ships with foam between the PCB and the plate, foam at the bottom of the housing, nice battery life and a really nice feel is that spacebar. The stabilizers are atrocious.

 

Tieti B-2 Spirit Mini, btw. I got mine for $20 with a promo code, looked like a perfect little 65% to get started modding with.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

27 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

My first time modding a board, and I did, unfortunately, bend at least one stem. I was able to bend it back at least, but lesson learned. I thought about a tape mod, but opted against it.

Welcome to the hobby!

And don't worry, bending pins is totally normal and happens all the time. As you noticed they can be bend back relatively easily, plus I usually make sure to have a few spare switches in the order in case one really goes bad.

 

27 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

The stabilizers are atrocious.

Yes, this is indeed one if not the biggest thing to learn how to do properly for the stabs to not rattle or do other unwanted sounds. Especially space bars can be a pain to get right.

 

If I see this correctly those are clip-in plate mounted stabs, right? then there is a trick you can try in addition or as a substitute to lubing. I usually have some foam tape pieces left, like double-sided tape with foam on it. I place a small strip/pad of that either on the plate or PCB under the wire of the stab, cushioning the wire.

 

It is not intended to really apply a lot of pressure, just to cushion it. So the softer the stuff the better.

The idea is that this keeps the wire from moving or rattling around, similar to how lube prevents the rattling in the housing. In my K10s this worked great with the plate mounted stabs, in the V6 and Q6 with their PCB mounted ones not so much though.

 

27 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

 

Tieti B-2 Spirit Mini, btw. I got mine for $20 with a promo code, looked like a perfect little 65% to get started modding with.

I'll definitely have a look at that, a small and affordable board might be ideal to test some more switches or keycaps. Would be nice to only pay for like 70 instead of 110 switches, lol.

Edit: wow, just had a quick amazon search and the thing apparently costs more than 120EUR here. Either EU gets shafted with taxes/customs, or you found one hell of a coupon.

[aisle9]

5 hours ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Welcome to the hobby!

And don't worry, bending pins is totally normal and happens all the time. As you noticed they can be bend back relatively easily, plus I usually make sure to have a few spare switches in the order in case one really goes bad.

Yep, my original pack of 70 milky yellows wound up having two extra. I've been using the board all night, and it's safe to say that even if any other switches are bent, they're still working as planned. That board is just so damned smooth now, I love it!

 

5 hours ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Yes, this is indeed one if not the biggest thing to learn how to do properly for the stabs to not rattle or do other unwanted sounds. Especially space bars can be a pain to get right.

 

If I see this correctly those are clip-in plate mounted stabs, right? then there is a trick you can try in addition or as a substitute to lubing. I usually have some foam tape pieces left, like double-sided tape with foam on it. I place a small strip/pad of that either on the plate or PCB under the wire of the stab, cushioning the wire.

 

It is not intended to really apply a lot of pressure, just to cushion it. So the softer the stuff the better.

The idea is that this keeps the wire from moving or rattling around, similar to how lube prevents the rattling in the housing. In my K10s this worked great with the plate mounted stabs, in the V6 and Q6 with their PCB mounted ones not so much though.

Interesting, I might give that a try. For now, it's working well with the foam taped inside the space bar. I've seen similar things done using neoprene or glue to fill the void, but I think the foam has worked out well. It seems like it's absorbing most of the shop. There's still a plasticky smack sound, but it's much less than it had been. I'm still considering going back in for a tape mod, but I honestly think the board came out sounding more than ok without needing to do it.

 

5 hours ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

I'll definitely have a look at that, a small and affordable board might be ideal to test some more switches or keycaps. Would be nice to only pay for like 70 instead of 110 switches, lol.

Edit: wow, just had a quick amazon search and the thing apparently costs more than 120EUR here. Either EU gets shafted with taxes/customs, or you found one hell of a coupon.

120EUR? Damn! It's a nice little board, but I don't think it's that nice. Gotta be customs. I want to say it's usually $60 over here, so what's that, 45-50EUR? I did hold on to the Cherry reds, because you never know when you'll find a really appealing budget board that bears the curse of Cherry-compatible blue switches.