Players kept asking for a Dolphin/Krauster Hybrid, and now it’s here – and there are plenty of custom options available
(Image credit: Nik Huber Guitars)
Nik Huber, one of the modern day doyens of high-end electric guitars, has unveiled the Krauster III, with the third-generation model assuming the shape and form of Huber’s Dolphin.
This, says Huber, was a natural evolution for the model. Players had already been putting in requests for a Dolphin/Krautster hybrid, with the German builder obliging and adapting the Krautster recipe – ie, mahogany body, curly maple neck, humbucker/P-90 pickup configuration – for the Dolphin’s neo T-style body shape.
The result is an electric guitar that looks like it could have come out of the late ‘50s or early ‘60s golden age and yet is built to order and in small batches in the 21st century.
The pickup combination is one of the reasons the Krauster platform has proved so popular. With a Harry Häussel humbucker at the bridge position and a P-90 at the neck, it is a rock ’n’ roll machine that offers plenty of versatility for blues guitar, jazz guitar, and more.
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(Image credit: Nik Huber Guitars)
(Image credit: Nik Huber Guitars)
(Image credit: Nik Huber Guitars)
The Krautster was previously a classy single-cut, but the success of the Dolphin body shape – which can be seen on Huber’s Twangmeister, Surfmeister, Twangmeister, Piet and Redwood models, and of course the Dolphin itself – made it a no-brainer to adapt it for the Krautster.
“Anyone following us over the last year or so can see that we’ve started to push more and more towards our Dolphin shape,” says Nik Huber.
“The Piet has continued to grow in popularity since its launch, and at the last NAMM Show we revealed the Dolphin ’59 and Dolphin Special, making more model variations available in this shape as standard. The response from dealers and players has been just incredible, so we’ve been excited to keep moving in this direction.
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(Image credit: Nik Huber Guitars)
(Image credit: Nik Huber Guitars)
(Image credit: Nik Huber Guitars)
“It only made sense that, given its popularity, we would look to the Krautster next. It’s actually something we’ve considered offering for years, and some recent changes, along with this move to focus more and more on our signature Dolphin shape, makes the timing now perfect to release the Krautster III.”
There are a few twists on the Dolphin shape. Some models have carved tops, others flat. The Krautster III comes in the latter category, and like the Krautster II it has single-ply cream binding around the body.
(Image credit: Nik Huber Guitars)
The necks are glued-in and topped with a 10” to 14” compound radius East Indian rosewood fingerboard that’s inlaid with bone dots. The scale length is 25”. There is a Nik Huber adjustable stop-tail bridge and open-gear tuners with Tulip-style buttons.
With boutique builds such as this, however, the specs are a moveable feast. The stock finish options comprise Onyx Black, Cali Gold, Worn Copper and Vintage White, but Nik Huber being Nick Huber there are a number of custom options available, and players can switch things up with MOP block inlays, figured tops (just look at that Tiger Eye model below), or different electric guitar pickups.
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to publications including Guitar World, MusicRadar and Total Guitar. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
