The Guitar Player's Resource
Guitar style linked to players such as Bernie Marsden.
In addition to writing or co-writing some of the biggest hits ever ("Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake, for example), Bernie Marsden shares a mutual friend with Nik Huber - Paul Reed Smith. The trio found themselves hanging out in Europe during a clinic tour chatting about guitars (naturally) and shortly after, Bernie phoned Nik to ask if he would be interested in building him a guitar. After getting Paul's blessing for a Huber / Marsden signature model (PRS has also made a signature model for Bernie), Nik and Bernie began chatting about designs.
Known for playing solid-body guitars, namely Les Pauls, Nik naturally sent Bernie an Orca model to check out, but Bernie was after something a little different with his Huber - more of a hollowbody. It just so happened that around this time Nik had been experimenting with new ways to chamber guitar bodies, specifically a style called 'honeycomb' routing.
"I’d seen it on surfboards, and it’s also cropped up in the world of guitars before. I was curious about where you could go with it next in terms of routing a body; the possibility of having length-grain and cross-grain connections between the body and the top can create something distinct from either a semi-hollow construction or a standard solid-body."
What Nik and Bernie ultimately landed on is a pair of Orcas that meld the best of hollowbody guitars - an airy tone with a slightly different note attack - with a solid-body guitar's heft and punch. In addition to the internal honeycomb chambering, Nik and Bernie incorporated a new design for the heel joint, three knobs instead of four, and, naturally, the addition of Bernie’s signature Cream T pickups.
The resulting guitars - limited to 12 pair, a Burst and a Goldtop - are truly special instruments that re-imagine what a set-neck style guitar can be.
Master-grade Eastern flame maple top
Flame mahogany body w/ honeycomb routing
Madagascan rosewood neck
Madagascan rosewood fingerboard
Orca neck profile with custom heel joint
Eastern flame maple binding
Black pearl crown fingerboard inlays with sterling silver surrounds
Ebony headstock cap
Black pearl Bernie Marsden logo with sterling silver surround and signature headstock inlays
Faded sunburst semi-gloss finish
Cream T Bernie Buckers
Brushed cream pickup rings
Nik Huber 510 open gear tuners
Tune-o-matic bridge with aluminium tailpiece
Madagascan rosewood backplates with white snake inlay and carved snake, signed by Bernie Marsden
