NIK HUBER KRAUTSTER III

£3,940

What You Need To Know 1 Is this actually a new guitar?

Well, officially, it’s a new model. For the past 15 years the Krautster I and II have primarily used Nik Huber’s single-cut Les Paul Junior/Specialinspired Orca shape. But in an effort to differentiate it from someone else’s outline, primarily in the US market, the Krautster III now features Nik’s earlier Dolphin outline.

2 So, same guitar, different outline?

That’s the deal. The Krautster has been the most-ordered Huber guitar over the years; ironic, really, as when Nik introduced the guitar back in 2009, as an antidote to his carved-top ‘posh’ guitars, he didn’t think anyone would order one!

3 Hasn’t Huber done this before?

Technically, yes. You could order a Krautster with the Dolphin body as an upcharge custom order, but the standard model was always Orca‑shaped.

Getting our hands on a Nik Huber guitar is a rare occurrence as everything he and his small team makes is instantly snapped up by hungry dealers. But you only have to spend a few minutes with your hands wrapped around this Krautster III to realise you’re in a different league: guitar-making royalty.

The Krautster first appeared back in 2009, in single- ‘I’ and dual-pickup ‘II’ iterations, using Nik’s Orca outline shape: a classic slab-bodied single-cut, typically in ‘worn’ satin colours and stripped-down style. It was quite a directional change as Nik had slowly established a solid reputation during the previous decade and a half for his sumptuous carved-top guitars with highly figured woods and a ‘dipped in glass’ finish. But the timing proved perfect and the more-affordable Krautster went on to become his most-ordered guitar.

Now, this III version swaps back to Nik’s original Dolphin outline, a sort of stylised take on the Telecaster with a more rounded base and upper shoulder. While we discuss the reasons for the switch in body style elsewhere in this feature, let’s remind ourselves of the craft.

1. The sounds that are available from the humbucker/P-90 complement mean any gig is ably covered 1

2 2. The Krautster’s pickups, like most of the others featured on Huber guitars, are made by German maker Harry Häussel. All the plastic parts – like this cover, the scratchplate and the control knobs – are lightly aged to match the ‘worn’ (but not reliced) vibe

3 3. These Nik Huberdesigned open-back tuners are made by Gotoh and reflect the elegant simplicity of the Krautster. The model and serial number are hand-written