“Top money buys forensically aged details and incredible craft, but you won’t necessarily hear £5k’s worth of difference in the sonic performance”: How close are Gibson's ’59 Burst replicas and their boutique rivals?

Singlecut shootout: Collector’s Choice ‘Danger ‘Burst’ vs Nik Huber Orca '59.

Recently, former Guitarist editor Neville Marten and I ventured down to World Guitars in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire. A haven of high-end lutherie, the store is one of the most welcoming places to try top-drawer PRS, Gibson, Fender and Tom Anderson electrics, to name but a few premium brands it stocks.

Intriguingly, the store also has quite a few Nik Huber electrics in at any one time, including – at the time of writing – three quite different examples of Nik’s stunning Orca ’59 model, which takes its inspiration, quelle surprise, from Gibson’s celebrated 1959-spec Les Paul Standard.