Steven Holst Jim Hall / D’Aquisto mini review part II
Up Front – I am not an endorser for Holst nor have I received remuneration for this review.
I wanted to give an update after using it on my gig last night.
I can now say conclusively that it’s the best sounding guitar I’ve ever had.
Here are some of the guitars I’ve used on this long running gig.
- Gibson Barney Kessel,
- Heritage Eagle,
- Gibson 175 (2013 & 1989),
- Gibson L4CES,
- Ibanez Benson GB10,
- Ibanez Metheny PM120,
- Gibson 335,
- MJT Strat, (yeah, I know…),
- Steven Holst – Jim Hall / D’Aquisto
The Holst is just in another league. The sustain is wonderful, the lilt of the note’s attack is just beautiful, and I could get lost in it alone. And there is just some “je ne sais quoi” that makes it incredibly satisfying to play and lends itself to playing in a lot of different styles. Part of it may be the dynamic range. It’s got a wider dynamic range than any Gibson I’ve played in years. I have the action pretty low, so it buzzes a tiny bit if I dig in but even the quality of that buzzing is sweetness to my ear.
It’s able to reproduce a very wide range of tones based on hard I pick, whether I pick with my thumb or use a cellulose or plastic pick, etc.
It’s the first laminate guitar I’ve ever owned that sounds fantastic for octaves. And it’s interesting because on my heritage eagle, which is a solid spruce top, of course octaves sound good on it because it has that Wes-thing going on. However, the Holst sounds equally good with octaves but does not sound exactly like Wes’. I realized a few days ago that the note separation is fantastic and better than anything else I have, which – along with the dynamic range – allows octaves to just jump out as if they were fired out of a cannon. And likewise, the same with block chords.
I will post more thoughts later along with another demo. I spent about 15 takes yesterday trying to record something but my mind was not clear, so I didn’t get anything I liked. Hopefully today!
All the best,
Jack Zucker
