Ducky Shine 3 question

noobie94

17 Feb 2014, 15:08

Hello everybody,

I dont know anything about keyboards so I would like to know if I can put PBT keycaps on my ducky shine 3?

Thanks in advance

User avatar
kint

17 Feb 2014, 15:32

Yes you can. With the light turned on it'll look like this (scroll to "The Shining" ):
http://deskthority.net/news-reviews-f4/ ... t7130.html

Except if you have doubleshoot clear legends PBT caps, which are not that common.

User avatar
Muirium
µ

17 Feb 2014, 15:45

Indeed. Any MX mount caps (in the right layout) will fit just nicely. PBT and ABS are interchangeable. Backlighting is the tricky part…

Image

That's my yellow Shine 3 Kint linked to. Its default blank yellow caps are thick PBT and let the yellow backlight through quite nicely. But the white PBT set I got with it aren't as backlight friendly. Perhaps the colour of the backlight matters?

The only caps that are really backlight compatible are the thin ABS ones I put on the Home/End block (WASD) for that shot.

I'm not sure there's any straightforward difference between ABS and PBT for backlight visibility. The red ESC and blue cursor keys are thick ABS doubleshots. They don't let light through at all:

Image

noobie94

17 Feb 2014, 16:11

Well..If I don´t care for the leds I could have gotten the G2Pro instead? Or what will be the difference if I change the keycaps after all.

I dont know how to say but the PBT´s look better and a bit bigger.

User avatar
Muirium
µ

17 Feb 2014, 16:27

Depends on the cap. PBT is just a different kind of plastic. I prefer it. (I'm typing on some just now, on a Model M which were PBT only.) The difference is how the surface feels (a bit rougher, less slippery) and whether it goes yellow after a few years in daylight.

The biggest, thickest caps I've got are ABS doubleshots. But Ducky's thick PBTs are pretty solid in their own right. A selection: the yellow space bar and the yellow cap at the top are Ducky's thick PBT. The grey cap next to it, and the red/white one below, are those doubleshot ABS Round 4 SPH I like so much. Standard Ducky Shine caps are thin and slippy in comparison. The pale yellow one and the pink looking red are backlight compatible. They're plain thin, essentially.

Image

You don't see PBT space bars every day. Even this Model M likely doesn't have one. But I have two from Ducky right there. The yellow and the white. (The other one is a Nuka Cola special from Kayvee at Ducky Nordic.)

So, PBT caps tend to be high quality, because Ducky and others don't do them cheap. But plenty of high end caps are ABS.

noobie94

17 Feb 2014, 16:43

I have never had PBT but when I type with my Ducky, as you said they are very thin. When I look at the WASD v2 for example the button look so huge. Or even the G2Pro "black mamba", the button just look way bigger and more comfortable :P

Maybe it is just an optical thing because the keycaps are blank but I dont know -.-

User avatar
Muirium
µ

17 Feb 2014, 17:22

Backlit caps must be thin. That's what you're feeling. It's no illusion.

Thick PBT is a great upgrade. Or thick, doubleshot ABS. My Round 4 SPH caps are my favourite of all time because they're so big. The shape wins for me.

noobie94

17 Feb 2014, 17:51

So can you recommend me any? .. and where can I buy them in EU

noobie94

17 Feb 2014, 18:01

or could I take the one from here?

http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ ... t6819.html

Cherry profile thick PBT Pitch BLACK edition

User avatar
Muirium
µ

17 Feb 2014, 18:07

Yeah, sure, those should work. So long as you like black! Look at the mods on the bottom row. See how they're all the same size? (1.25 units = a little bigger than the main alpha keys) And the space bar is 6.25 units. That's what you want. Make sure to choose either ISO or ANSI, though. (ISO has tall RETURN key, Europe style, while ANSI has a single row rectangular RETURN key.) Just ask about compatibility with your Ducky (including whether it's ISO/ANSI or fullsize/Tenkeyless) on that thread. Ivan will know more for sure about his keys than me.

For the biggest caps that money can buy, Deskthority's own 7bit is running Round 5. The earlier Round 4 looks like this on my Ducky:

Image

I'm getting a red set just for this keyboard.

Round 5 is huge and intimidating. But your Ducky, like mine, is a standard layout so you only need one of the main kits, plus a space bar. Are you TKL or full size by the way?

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Round_5

As for thick PBT Ducky caps, Teraset probably has the best selection in Europe (because they're close to Kayvee at Ducky Nordic, who knows his stuff). Their site:

https://teraset.net/ducky.php

The Premier caps are thick PBT dyesubs. If you like the colour scheme (I think there's just two choices for now) then those are top notch, too.

Image

Hit them with an email about specifics and shipping etc.: ducky@teraset.net

The main thread for Ducky stuff, like keysets, is here:

http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ ... t4718.html

noobie94

17 Feb 2014, 18:17

I have a regular size so no TKL. I think I should have gone with the YYY or G2Pro because they would fit better with me :(

User avatar
Muirium
µ

17 Feb 2014, 18:19

Maybe. But nothing you can't fix with some fancy caps. All these ones I listed are better than you'll find on almost any keyboard. (Only the Ducky Premier comes with them.)

noobie94

17 Feb 2014, 18:26


noobie94

18 Feb 2014, 21:06

any help please

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