Heistercamp's new 'Catalyst' straps

Devil#20

Right I'm now in a position to shed some light on these straps. Seems you can only buy the straps from certain dealerships and Windmill Guitars above is one of them. You can't buy them from Heistercamp direct. Just taken delivery of a Catalyst from Mansons Guitar Shop. Next day delivery and even a hand written note from them thanking me for my custom and praising the people at Heistercamp for being lovely people. I ended up getting the strap in red (available in tan and black too although not sure they had black in stock). The quality is bang on and this strap is going to take a while to break in to get it to a road worn state and looks like it'd last you a lifetime. 50cm wide with a precise buckle adjustment and the buckle will end up somewhere up your back so no issues with your lovely guitar finish there. The inside of the strap is unfinished but it won't stop your guitar slipping if it has a tendency to neck dive like an SG say. You may want to stick a bit of velcro or friction material or something on the back to keep your guitar at that jaunty angle. The strap has two thicknesses at each end but they'll fit over a standard strap lug no bother but you won't get a grolsh washer on there but I don't think you'd need to. There's a little pull out loop on the other strap to feed your guitar cable through. I think when this is worn in it'll be my fave strap and I'll probably get another couple. Not sure if these are a loss leader because at £39 they are a lot cheaper than their straps in general so at this price you should snap one up. 5* recommendation from me. I have no affiliation to Heistercamp or Mansons but like 'em both.  

WindmillGuitars

@Devil#20 .... Family Heistercamp are indeed great folks! I have black and tan versions in stock for any TFB member wishing to purchase. 

Devil#20

WindmillGuitars said:

@Devil#20 .... Family Heistercamp are indeed great folks! I have black and tan versions in stock for any TFB member wishing to purchase. 

Is this going to be the price for these straps going forward? Seem cheap for what they are. 

WindmillGuitars

Yes - retail is £39. They're brilliant value for a handmade UK strap.

SimonBarden

I bought one without realising it had the double layer strap ends on.  As I always use Schaller straplocks, the double /reverse hole strap fixing wasn't much use to me, and the two layers of leather were too thick to fit a straplock on.  Then I decided to have another go, used two pairs of mole grips to squash the leather down  and managed to get the nuts on.  Once on, I could get enough turns to stop them coming loose (assisted by some Loctite).  So it is possible, though it's quite hard work.

But I'm not convinced about having metal rivets and buckles on the strap that can dent the guitar finish.  A lot of their other straps are even worse for this.  I like the looks, but not the practicality.  I'll be sticking to my standard Levys all-suede with plastic sliding buckle straps in the future

Devil#20

SimonBarden said:

I bought one without realising it had the double layer strap ends on.  As I always use Schaller straplocks, the double /reverse hole strap fixing wasn't much use to me, and the two layers of leather were too thick to fit a straplock on.  Then I decided to have another go, used two pairs of mole grips to squash the leather down  and managed to get the nuts on.  Once on, I could get enough turns to stop them coming loose (assisted by some Loctite).  So it is possible, though it's quite hard work.

But I'm not convinced about having metal rivets and buckles on the strap that can dent the guitar finish.  A lot of their other straps are even worse for this.  I like the looks, but not the practicality.  I'll be sticking to my standard Levys all-suede with plastic sliding buckle straps in the future

The double end is designed to do away with the strap-lock though. Whether it's safer or not I wouldn't like to say but the nuts on the strap-locks can come loose too. What you've done sounds very unsafe to me. If you want to use the strap-locks you'd probably be better cutting off the inner end and strap-lock through the single thickness outer end or strap-lock through the inner end and leave the outer end loose. Hope that makes sense. The double end will only work on a standard strap lug. If you've several guitars the cost of strap-locks gets expensive. I do use strap-locks on some of mine but stopped buying them. The grolsch washer keeps them safe. Dunlop have those plastic disks that you can turn to open and close the disk onto the strap lug. They work well too. 

WindmillGuitars

OK - Just spoken to Heistercamp who have offered to possibly do a run of a new colour of Catalyst Straps for us (instead of Black or Tan) - I'm taking votes! Blue? Burgundy? Navy? What would interest you?

merlin

I ordered two from Simon @WindmillGuitars and they arrived this morning. I have to say that they are much thinner leather than other Heistercamp straps and much thinner than I am used to. The tan one is flexible and soft but the black one seems a little "crispy" and "brittle" and the edge seem sharp. It's possibly something to do with the curing process, but I don't know... not an expert. They are OK straps, but they are a cheaper product, with far less leather than I would like. 

Here are three Heistercamp starps of mine. The top one is the Catalyst. The other two are WAY more comfortable and make heavier instruments seem to weigh less. I'm sorry to be blunt, but the Catalysts feel like cardboard in comparison.   

Devil#20

I got mine from Simon this morning too. I don't like the thick straps. I agree they do seem a bit brittle and crispy but if you put some Carr & Day & Martin neatsfoot compound on them they suck it up and become nice and supple. It's only about £6 a tin on Amazon and it'll treat dozens of straps. Done mine this morning and it's now just as I like it. It absorbs properly and doesn't leave any residue and it won't rot your strap. The Queen has been using it on her tack for ever.   

Devil#20

I should add that before you put the neatsfoot compound on them, and while the strap is still a bit dry, get some sandpaper and sand the edges of the strap smooth and round the edges a bit. You end up with a really nice comfortable road worn feel to the strap. Don't know why Heistercamp don't do this. The neatsfoot will darken your strap though. I got a red one first and it was a bit bright but it now has a deep cherry red colour like a pair of Dr Marten's bovver boots. 

merlin

Devil#20 said:

I got mine from Simon this morning too. I don't like the thick straps. I agree they do seem a bit brittle and crispy but if you put some Carr & Day & Martin neatsfoot compound on them they suck it up and become nice and supple. It's only about £6 a tin on Amazon and it'll treat dozens of straps. Done mine this morning and it's now just as I like it. It absorbs properly and doesn't leave any residue and it won't rot your strap. The Queen has been using it on her tack for ever.   

The Queen doesn't use it, I promise you. It's done by a stable "boy". 
I have some of that Neatsfoot stuff and I also have some Renapur but I can't see either of them stopping the edge digging into my shoulder.... but it's worth a try! 

Devil#20

merlin said:

The Queen doesn't use it, I promise you. It's done by a stable "boy". 
I have some of that Neatsfoot stuff and I also have some Renapur but I can't see either of them stopping the edge digging into my shoulder.... but it's worth a try! 

Yes Renapur is another good one. I use that on my bike leathers. You definitely have to sand the edges of the strap before you treat it though whilst it's still a bit crispy. Once you put neatsfoot on it it will be too soft and pliable to be be able to do it easily. Done mine and it's great. I think if you've got a big heavy guitar then it might not be the best strap. Bit like the one they provide with a new Les Paul. They are roughly the same thickness dimensions and if anything a bit narrower. Never used mine.   

WindmillGuitars

PSA>> I have both Black and Tan in these back in stock, fresh batch just arrived in this morning.