I've been gassing for a LP recently, with all the R8 hype and excitement, but was a little nervous about Gibson given past experiences with the brand. So when I was travelling recently and spotted a lovely mid-2000s Orca by Nik Huber at a pretty reasonable price, I thought I'd give it a go.
Now I've not really had an opinion on Hubers, having never tried one before, other than observing that they are very expensive guitars indeed. But reviews are absolutely rave, and TFB in particular seems to hold them in very high regard. So I was excited to try one, and happy enough that I could probably get my money back if I didn't bond with it.
I picked it up a few weeks back and... my god. I've been though 130 or so guitars in my years of playing and have tried many more, and this one's really something special. It'd difficult to describe but it really feels 'alive' when you play it - I haven't even plugged it in much as the unplugged sound is something to behold!! It's wonderfully resonant, and notes really 'jump' out at you. Seriously, this guitar is such a good player!!
FYI, the model I've got is a 'standard' (i.e. not a '59) and has a korina body and neck, which is a gorgeous wood and also makes it a little lighter than your average mahogany singlecut. I believe it's a 25" (aka PRS) scale-length, which feels perfect to me when strung with 9.5s.
So in conclusion... the hype is real. In my (limited) experience, everything you hear about these guitars is true! Now I'm keen to try a Krautster II with that lovely maple neck...
Comments
https://www.instagram.com/insta.guitarstuff/
I didn’t play any.
As above, didn't tick the box but the R8 that replaced it did.
Still a very nice guitar though, and I kind of regret selling it although in retrospect the Krautster II, with the second pickup, might have been a better choice.
I frequently admire the Huber guitars on the World Guitars website and they do look awesome, but they fall into that category of "too pretty for comfort" - in that respect they're about the same as Patrick James Eggle but definitely not as unconscionably blingy as Knaggs or some PRS models. Not even thinking about the price...
Semi hollow...yeah I know it's the wrong way round - burn me as a witch etc.