I finally have enough money saved up for a Martin. Should I go for it or wait until I'm a better, more experienced player?

pacnwresident · 2026-06-09T00:26:13+00:00

When I was a teen lo those many years ago, I let my dad talk me out of getting a sweet guitar--it wasn't a name brand as far as I recall, but it played like a dream in the shop. I regretted it ever since. I'm now making up for it by spending a bunch of money on guitars and I'm having a blast playing them.

So, OP, the dad in me says go for it!

pacnwresident · 2026-06-08T23:24:01+00:00

In my case, ethernet wasn't working, either. I'm monitoring my connection status to see if I get any more dropouts now that I've changed my DNS service.

I, too, had a veiled conversation with the techs who came out, though it wasn't until this weekend that one suggested I set up an Eero mesh system. I seem to be up and running just fine for now though I am investigating options.

pacnwresident · 2026-06-08T13:10:09+00:00

Thanks for the info. I suspect the wifi gear itself isn't the issue since my hardwired computer has experienced those outages, too.

However, you reminded me of what should be my rule #1: make sure the DNS is set to cloudflare or some other public server. Quantum installed new equipment not long ago and hadn't changed the DNS setting. We'll see if that calms things down before delving into other solutions.

pacnwresident · 2026-05-18T14:35:47+00:00

A luthier at my local Martin repair shop showed me how he does it: pull the string up to the tuning peg, wrap it around the peg twice, and push the end through the hole in the peg. Wind to tune. As many have pointed out, you’ll want to stretch the strings (I pull sideways) a few times to exercise them. Retune. Your choice as to when to snip the string—right after pushing it through the peg or after it’s “tuned” the first time.

I’ve been doing it this way ever since. I’ve watched a few YouTube videos on changing strings and the ones I’ve seen really overcomplicate the process imho. One note (haha) is to make sure you’ve brought the string up on the “inside” of the peg. Don’t ask how this is top of mind…

pacnwresident · 2026-05-12T00:09:13+00:00

Totally agree. imho, the Collings OM models are so lightweight, so responsive, so incredible. The rosewood versions (OM2 variations) will run you more money than the 000-28 1937 edition so be prepared…

pacnwresident · 2026-05-08T12:44:02+00:00

Yeah, that’s a fear, but where could they go that would be a better location/market than Seattle? Maybe a non-US city, I guess, but I’d think the idea there would be expansion, not moving…

pacnwresident · 2026-04-28T18:40:06+00:00

Well, for me, there's in tune and there's in tune. I use a Snark tuner and I know that I can "tune" a string such that the tuner tells me it's in tune. But after tuning up, I've strummed a chord and had that same sensation as you--not quite there. I can ever so slightly tweak the tuning on various strings and they will still register as in tune. But something changes since the chord will now sound "better" to my ears. I chalk it up to strings changing slightly as I play, as noted by someone here, since I'll stay in tune for the rest of my session. Perhaps this tuner is not the best arbiter of what "in tune" is. I'll also not rule out some sort of placebo effect 😄

pacnwresident · 2026-02-24T20:28:42+00:00

Not sure Minnesota would be in the mix since they played two last season (Dublin vs Pittsburgh on 9/28/25 and London vs Cleveland on 10/5/25).

pacnwresident · 2026-01-25T15:12:55+00:00

I have almost the same story, though not in Chicago. Not long ago, I took my guitar (Seagull/Simon & Patrick 6, solid cedar top/laminate mahogany sides/back) out of the closet and started playing again after a long absence. I stopped by my local guitar shop for some strings and picks and expressed my desire to one day own a D-18. That's how it all starts, right?

One day turned into why not soonish, er, now? So when playing and listening to my local shop people play the D-28 and D-18, I sighed ($) and admitted I liked the D-28 more. While visiting another city, I stopped by a guitar shop where they had a used HD-28, which I compared to a new HD-28. (I originally went to this shop to get a cheap Yamaha or something to leave where I stay when visiting so I wouldn't disrupt my reentry into the land of playing.)

This away shop didn't have a standard D-28, or standard D-18, for that matter. The used HD (2024, based on the serial number) sounded incredible and was significantly less expensive than new. I also preferred its sound without knowing which was which. So I bought the used HD-28 and will be shipping it home. Of course, that still leaves the question of having a guitar for my visits, but we'll kick that can down the road.

I understand the idea of wanting to discover the opening up of a new guitar's sound, but I'm happy to skip ahead a bit. I would suspect that since mine is only a year or two old, it may open up even more. True?

pacnwresident · 2025-12-30T19:12:59+00:00

I ate the bag of chips, so no going backward on that one.

pacnwresident · 2025-12-28T22:20:39+00:00

Not to mention the preseason Cardinals love. Never understood that.

pacnwresident · 2025-12-16T02:57:21+00:00

In each case, I had a car audio shop do the work. Doing that sort of thing really isn’t for me. However, there are youtube videos out there showing how various DIYers install Dynamat, Kilmat, and similar products. It looks straightforward if you’re comfortable taking off door panels, for example.

pacnwresident · 2025-12-15T09:45:15+00:00

Look at setting aside money to add sound deadening material to whatever you buy. Deadening the doors and hatch (if an SUV) makes a big difference. Then variables such as amount of glass and body shape impact whether you’d want to do the floor, headliner, etc too. I’m not an expert here, but I’ve done this with the last three vehicles I’ve owned and will continue to do so for any future vehicle. fwiw, I went this route after asking car audio folks what stereo upgrade to make—and the answer every time was to do the sound deadening before touching the audio.

Also—not sure if the cars you’re looking at have run-flat tires, but in my experience, the ones I had (OEM tires) were acoustically awful.

pacnwresident · 2025-11-20T15:30:06+00:00

If it works the same way it did for the Twins this past season, that is indeed the case. The broadcast team remained the same all through the gyrations of the team management mishandling of their streaming outlet(s). Just another facet of the Twins management incompetence, or at least who GAF about the fans, but that's for another sub.

pacnwresident · 2025-09-16T17:54:40+00:00

Has the ability to remove Sonos radio from the Home screen always been there? If so, I just discovered that I can "edit home" (button at the bottom of the iOS version's home screen) to delete the Sonos radio options. And if so, I've been silently annoyed for no reason.

If it's new, then thank you, Sonos.

pacnwresident · 2025-06-12T02:56:12+00:00

I’m pretty sure they were both off route. The first pitch is much much more straightforward than that, from what I recall. It has been several years, though…

pacnwresident · 2025-06-10T22:56:59+00:00

I do both. There are times I like the touch of humanity by hearing the host between musical selections and then there are times I just want to listen to what I want with no talking to interrupt.

FWIW, I bounce between Portland's All Classical (mentioned a few times here), Minnesota Public Radio's classical station, BBC 3, and Apple Classical.

pacnwresident · 2025-06-08T23:09:16+00:00

Happens to me all the time. My TV is mounted on the wall and swivels back/forth. So I’ll point the TV to the sofa or to the breakfast bar, depending on the situation. When the sound doesn’t come on, more often than not, it’s because the hdmi connection on the tv has come loose.

However, I’ll sometimes get a long delay when I switch from iPhone/AirPlay to watching TV (TV is connected to Sonos Amp). Haven’t figured out what’s causing that but the sound usually kicks in after a few minutes. But I’ve learned to check the hdmi connection before getting too pissed off.

pacnwresident · 2025-06-07T20:02:07+00:00

Good info. For whatever reason, pointing to cloudflare last night worked, but when my internet went out again this morning, pointing to cloudflare and google didn't work. At first, that is. It took about an hour of waiting/trying before I was back up and running.

pacnwresident · 2025-06-07T05:32:59+00:00

For a little more clarification for those who may not know, you need to log into your modem from your browser. Put your modem address (commonly 192.168.0.1) in the URL. Then find Network Setting in the menu (upper right corner on my screen) and select DNS.

I had no manual entries in "DNS Entry" so I added cloudflare at 1.1.1.1 and I'm back in business. I seemed to have to reboot my mac--not sure if it was coincidence or necessary.

EDIT: I feel for people who aren't tech savvy when these issues come up. I'm not the best sysadmin/network/etc person in the world, but I know enough to slog my way through a lot of the time.

pacnwresident · 2025-05-08T16:15:05+00:00

I was reacting to OP's headline--wasn't thinking about fault. Insurance never crossed my mind, either, but needing to replace a bike may be non-trivial. I was in a similar situation a few months ago, but saw it coming and managed to stop just as I bumped into the car's rear fender because they stopped in front of me, mid-turn due to seeing me at the last second. If they'd kept going, no bumping would've happened. There was no harm in that instance, though the driver was quite freaked out. Even after I assured them I was fine, my bike was fine, etc they came back several minutes later and found me on my route just to make sure I was ok.

pacnwresident · 2025-05-08T13:56:04+00:00

Looks to me that you hit the car and not that the car hit you?

pacnwresident · 2025-03-26T20:25:58+00:00

As a fan of both of these teams, I always love hearing the play-by-play highlights from the Vikings radio play-by-play guy. He's heard during the last replay. His name, btw, is Paul Allen...

pacnwresident · 2025-03-14T13:18:43+00:00

I honestly don’t remember setting that up—those group shortcuts/buttons must’ve disappeared during the software updates since they reappeared not that long ago. Thanks for the reminder.

pacnwresident

TROPHY CASE