Glorious Gaming GMMK PRO 75% Barebones (Frame Only) - Modular Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, TKL Size (75%), 1.5kg Frame, RGB, Customisable, 5-Pin Switch Support, American/ANSI Layout - Black Slate

This is not my first custom keyboard, but it is my first aluminium board. With this in mind I can happily say this board (which I got on an Amazon Warehouse deal) is a fantastic option for its full price for the barebones kit. The box includes a reasonable (straight) braided USB-A to USB-C cable, a switch puller and a keycap puller, along with a lot of foam to keep the board safe in transit.On to the board itself: first off, this thing is heavy, coming in at 1.6 kg without switches or keycaps, far in excess of any other the plastic case boards I already own. It feels solid, and the case was well made with no visible tool marks and nothing to deface the anodization. The board lacks any adjustable feet, but the case gives a comfortable typing angle, especially if you use it with a wrist rest. For gaming there are no issues of comfort that I have noticed.When it comes to adding to switches and keycaps, the LEDs are south facing, so shine through keycaps won't give their usual light up legends. However what you do get is no interference with cherry profile caps and a very pleasant (and pretty bright) underglow around the keycaps (seen in the picture).Sound-wise the board includes case foam and a decently thick plate foam too, which ensure there is no ping coming from the metal case. The included plate is aluminium and sounds pretty decent, providing a solid typing experience without an unpleasant noise. I have tried several types of switches in my board, and it sounded decent with some lubed reds, but fantastic with some Holy Panda clones.Is this board perfect? No, obviously there are always things that could be better. The biggest thing that struck me was the stabilisers. Lots has been written and said online about Glorious' GOAT stabilisers, and I have to say it mostly rings true. Even in early 2023 the GOATs are still massively over lubed, to the point where my space bar was mushy. After cleaning, relubing and then reinstalling they were ok (although the space bar stab wasn't brilliant). I replaced mine with some Durock V2s which sound great but lead to my other 2 points of note. First off, opening the GMMK PRo to work on the stabs requires in excess of 15 screws to be removed, which is one hell of a lot for a board that is made to be customised, plus there are at least 3 different lengths and shapes of screw (although all use the same sized Phillips bit). The second issue tha working on the stabs brings to light is that the plate is very tight for some after market stabilisers. I am pretty confident working on boards, and even I had concerns in pushing the Durocks through the gaps in the plate. I know early models of the GMMK Pro couldn't even fit Durock stabilisers, but even newer ones are quite tight. Once they are in the sound fantastic, and really show the potential of this board.Overall, the GMMK Pro is a decent board, and as a barebones kit makes for a decent value proposition, especially as it is widely available. It can be used stock and you will have a decent sounding and feeling board that looks good. If you go ahead and mod it, you can really make it sound fantastic, just be aware it presents some challenges in this regard.A very quick thing to note. The listing I purchased mine from lists as the ISO Black version of the board, but in fact delivers the ANSI Ice White (which is silver, not white). This would explain why the board was from Amazon warehouse. Must have been returned as the incorrect item!

After a little research I paired this up with some self-tuned Durock T1 Switches and Durock T2 stabilizers. Absolute DREAM to type on if you like THE THOCC!As many have said online the stock stabilizers in this are a bit naff. My Backspace and Enter keys would get stuck down due to a combination of factory over-lubing and the stab pads being soaked in lube. The Space bar had insane wire rattle too.I swapped these out for Durock V2s and a set of new stab pads.A WARNING for those looking to do the same. my Durock V2s DID NOT FIT with the plate included with the revision I received. Apparently this is fixed in the more recent version of the board but mine had this issue. I just removed a couple of mm of material from the stab cutouts in the plate using a file and it was fine.The software is also kind of MEH. I just used QMK to customize my key setup. (To set CAPSLOCK as a function key and the number row to matching NUMPAD keys)

Right out of the box, the keyboard has some heft to it, in a good way!I will be honest and say that the only thing holding the keyboard back is the stabilizers for the spacebar, backspace and enter keys. they are incredibly stiff because of the factory lubrication, which if you're comfortable opening the keyboard and modifying it, it is definitely worth doing to make it smoother, Glorious in fact encourage this on their website.The typing feel is rather stiff, despite it being "gasket" mount, and again with further modification, you can add 3 gaskets to centre points to give it some movement, and remove the stock case foam; you will need to either get some 1mm thick o rings or tighten the 4 outer screws to about 50% of the tightness to give a more flexible typing experience.To summarise, this is a great entry point into the custom mechanical keyboard scene, especially it being hot swap, it means that you can experiment with lots of different switches and keycaps to suite your preferences!