OC Now I know why the first buyer returned it: LTC Neon 75 from Warehouse deals, minor mods.

I found this board for $34 on Amazon Warehouse deals. Tri-mode, 5-pin hot swap, reputableish maker. I replaced the "Jerrzi" red Outemu-style with some Kailh Box Whites pulled from my work keyboard, and I used an Ember Dawn clone XDA set from an earlier raid on Warehouse Deals. A tape mod would need to be pretty precise not to block the downlights, so I didn't bother. I did throw a little thin bit of foam in the bottom of the case to absorb a bit of sound (placebo?). I also superglued a small neodymium magnet to the back of the case to get some sort of tenuous dongle storage. I haven't brought myself to messing around with lube and stabs yet; I'm still playing in the shallow end price-wise, and I still have a thing for clicky switches where noise is half the point.

I'm burying the lead, though. There was also the fact that I supplemented the solder job on all 84 hot swap sockets. After I replaced the switches, I found a couple of dead keys. I took it back apart and saw that the act of changing the switch had literally broken the solder joint on a couple of the sockets. I saw several more that were straining. I could have just sent the thing back, but that would be admitting defeat. Instead, I busted out the iron, put on some music, and fixed it. It's working well.

If I decide to change the switches again, we'll see if I overdid it, but for now I have a wireless capable keyboard, used up the big pile of pretty decent switches I had lying around, and for the actual act of typing stuff, it's rather nice.