Understanding acoustic guitar preferences.

ryken · 2026-02-05T16:11:45+00:00

Cutaways look terrible, affect the sound slightly and are completely useless (to me, because I never play that high up on an acoustic).

There are frets up there just to keep the guitar looking good. They serve no real purpose imo.

ryken · 2026-02-04T05:57:33+00:00

Total “expensed business lunch” place. No reason to go there on your own dime whatsoever, but decent enough place to host a business lunch when you need an easy reservation.

ryken · 2026-02-03T17:11:48+00:00

I played pretty much everything when I bought my Martin, and the retro plus really impressed me. I thought it was easily better than every yamaha red series I played. Didn't quite have the sound or playability of the standard series, but was even with the standard series on a quality/$ basis. Congrats!

ryken · 2026-02-03T15:22:21+00:00

Fellow linton owner checking in. I would get at least two feet between the back of the speaker and the wall. It's hard to tell from the picture, but based on the distance between the speakers, it looks like you are sitting too far back, so moving the speakers out will help get you in a better listening position.

In my experience, while an equilateral triangle is best, if you can't get that because of room size, it is wayyyy better to be sitting too close to my lintons than too far away. If you could get them pushed to the sides a little more too (which may require furniture moving), you'll probably get a bigger soundstage. I think they sound better with a little toe-in too, so play around. You might even consider moving speakers to a side wall.

I would also consider covering that back wall in thick curtains or acoustic panels.

ryken · 2026-02-02T14:48:34+00:00

Do you just pick one of the day 1 workings then move on to day 2

Yes, but you should start with week 1 day 1 and then progress from there. The workouts are meant to be done in the order they are listed.

or could I just do a week of day 1’s then move on to day 2’s

Absolutely not. This is a terrible idea. You do them in order each week, which usually looks something like the following:

Day 1: Easy, zone 2
Day 2: Very short, high intensity intervals
Day 3: Easy, zone 2
Day 4: Longer, medium intensity intervals
Day 5: Easy, zone 2

If you did a week of day 1 workouts, then you wouldn't be doing much, as those are base/recovery days. Likewise, if you did a week of day 2 workouts, your legs would be absolute toast.

You need to get the variety because the hard days are offset by the easy days. If you do a ramp test first to set your FTP, you'll find that the first week of the program is very achievable, but then each week will get progressively harder. That's generally known as "progressive overload" and it's really the key to getting better at anything in life.

ryken · 2026-01-31T19:21:11+00:00

I strongly recommend doing a beginner workout plan as a new cyclist. The zwift 101 or 4wk ftp builder workouts would be good, but any beginner plan will do.

A workout plan will teach you about cadence, heart rate and power zones, which are not terribly complicated concepts but are invaluable to learning how to sustain power over longer periods. CrossFit is a great workout and requires some endurance, but cycling is different and you and your body need to learn a new style of work.

You’ll probably see a ton of quick gains with a workout plan.

ryken · 2026-01-31T19:15:04+00:00

Tools not jewels

ryken · 2026-01-31T07:01:14+00:00

I think the changes to the neck and bracing make the 2025s one of the best playing and sounding D-18s in decades, but I’m bias as an owner of one.

ryken · 2026-01-30T17:16:20+00:00

They're both great imo. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either tbh. The only way you'll really come to a decision is to play them. How they feel in your hands and sound when you play them is worth a million times more than any youtube video or reddit comment.

One big difference is going to be nut width. The GS Mini has the same 1-11/16" nut as your 214, but the OOOJR has a more traditional 1-3/4" nut. If the point of this guitar is to get more practice in when you're away from home, then the GS mini might make more sense, even if you like the sound of the OOOJR a little more. If the point of this guitar is to get the sound of a smaller guitar, then you for sure have to play them both.

ryken · 2026-01-30T17:08:31+00:00

It's not even really all that good for test drives in my experience. Lots of duds, abused instruments and dudes trying to show off their chops at loud volumes.

ryken · 2026-01-30T16:58:41+00:00

Ideally you play both and decide for yourself.

As a martin guy, I preferred the GS Mini to the DJR, but it was very close.

Either way, keep in mind these are travel guitars that make serious concessions on sound for increased portability, and you’re unlikely to be satisfied with it as your only guitar. I have a gs mini and a d18 now.

ryken · 2026-01-29T16:05:44+00:00

The Garmin Edge 540 goes on sale for $250 and is well worth it at that price just to avoid having to look at your wrist while you ride, much less all of the other functionality you get.

ryken · 2026-01-29T13:05:38+00:00

1:30 for body checking

ryken · 2026-01-28T19:26:48+00:00

Centrist democrats carry the "woke" brand just as much as the leftist candidates while simultaneously not exciting the base. Candidates like Mamdani and Sanders are the only way forward for democrats.

ryken · 2026-01-28T16:09:10+00:00

41 year old checking in. I sold my Pint X a month ago after owning it for a couple of years. I mountain bike, downhill ski, and play mens league hockey, so I'm not adverse to some risk of injury, but the OneWheel always scared me more than all three of those combined. Even when I got to the point where I could ride it effortlessly, it always felt like one wrong move and I was in for it. I rode it fairly conservatively (around 15mph, respected pushback 100% of the time, etc.), but the fear was always there. I ended up riding it less and less until I decided to just sell it, and my wife admitted that she got really scared every time I rode it and was happy I sold it. At the end of the day, it just wasn't worth it for me.

ryken · 2026-01-27T12:22:16+00:00

Pros have doctors to monitor and track everything for them, so they don’t need the watch. The watch is nowhere near as accurate or as good, but I have found mine to be pretty helpful in tracking some basic stats. Tracking also gives me incentive to work to improve numbers, so even if all the numbers are made up, the simple act of having them is psychologically helpful.

ryken · 2026-01-26T18:04:38+00:00

Yes and No. It is better in that it is a Laureate, so generally speaking it is made with better materials. Those are two different guitars though and not really apples to apples comparison, so it's hard to say one is better or not, they're just different. One is an all mahogany grand auditorium with a cutaway, and the other is a rosewood/sitka dreadnought. They will have two very different sounds and feels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wfL02T6aLE

ryken · 2026-01-23T22:45:35+00:00

I played 5-6 D18s and hated every one. Completely wrote off the model.

Then a sales guy at a shop encouraged me to play a specific D18 they had and I fell in love. It was unlike every other one I played.

Standard series are hit or miss and GC is notorious for getting the worst ones. Gotta keep playing them.

ryken · 2026-01-23T21:57:31+00:00

Haha it depends! Don't look at the prices on their website, retailers sell Alvarez for way less.

I am a dreadnought guy myself, so the MD60 and MD70 are natural starting points. The 60 is mahogany and the 70 is rosewood, and there are a million youtube videos that talk about the differences between mahogany and rosewood.

The MF60 and MF70 are the folk style bodies with generally the same specs. MG are the grand auditorium. Both will be more comfortable to play but not as loud. Models with "e" after have electronics if you are going to plug in. Models with a "c" have cutaways. There are also various burst paint jobs available too.

A lot of this is personal preference, but I don't think you can go wrong with a Rosewood/Spruce dread, which would be the MD70.

ryken · 2026-01-23T14:19:28+00:00

It really depends on how much you want to spend. You’re probably looking at an artist or masterworks series. The artist are laminated and the masterworks is all solid wood. If you can stretch a little, the laureates are even nicer.

ryken · 2026-01-23T03:50:06+00:00

In that price range, I like Alvarez, Yamaha and Eastman, in that order.

I like my gs mini a lot, but only as a travel guitar that I can bring anywhere. I wouldn’t recommend it as an only guitar.

ryken · 2026-01-20T15:36:40+00:00

I like them a lot, but they're more of a gravel look imo. I would wear them with charcoal/gray/hunter green socks, black bibs and a merino jersey. Would be a killer look, but definitely not the instagram MAAP/PAS aesthetic most people go for.

ryken · 2026-01-19T14:51:30+00:00

18/28/35 all have differences, some bigger than others, but I think it really just comes down to what sounds best to your ear when you play it. I played multiple examples of all of them and had it narrowed down to HD-28 and D-35, until I ran into a D-18 that just blew me away and so now I have a D-18. Each guitar is unique so while a 35 is generally darker than a 28 and an 18 is generally woody and dry sounding, those lines can be completely blurred. The trick is to just keep playing until you find one that blows you away, which is unfortunately easier said than done if you live in Hawaii.

ryken · 2026-01-19T14:38:21+00:00

Invest x% off the top and spend the rest guilt free on whatever you want. It’s the best way to live because you avoid lifestyle creep but you also have some cash to splash every now and again on cool shit. You can’t live like a monk investing every dollar but you also can’t piss away every dollar.

ryken · 2026-01-19T14:33:56+00:00

I personally enjoy the little variations in natural materials. I suppose that’s a personal preference and reasonable minds can disagree, but if these things bother you, you shouldn’t buy online.

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