Surprising order placed

[Doadman]

Recently I settled on a CS (neck) and HD (bridge) for my Ibanez RGT42 but as it turns out the story wasn't finished. After my last post here I continued exchanging e-mails with Tim (he has the patience of a saint) and it seems he was a little concerned about the HD in a mahogany bodied guitar. If you recall I wanted a well articulated distortion but with a warm and organic feel. The sound clips on the forum were just confusing me as there are so many variables present so I decided to just give Tim as full a description of the sound I wanted and buy whatever he suggested. To my surprise he suggested an open poled calibrated Cold Sweat set and they were duly ordered this afternoon. They're not as powerful as I had anticipated getting but Tim assures me that they can handle loads of gain and it has to be said that I've always found John Sykes' tone on the song 'Cold Sweat' to be awesome. Theoretically they sound perfect: ceramic magnet for crispness and plain enamal wire for warmth.  Loads of people seem to go with a CS neck but on the forum I see little evidence that the CS bridge is a big seller. I'm hoping I've got myself a hidden gem. With any luck I'll get them fitted in just over a week's time and I'll let you know what they're like then.

[Crazy_Joe]

Awesome!! I was tempted to buy a set of Cold Sweats off ebay but i missed the end of the auction!
It sounded like you were describing the Nailbomb at the top when you said articulation and organic feel. But i'm sure Tim knows a lot more than me haha!

[Doadman]

With my level of knowledge I'd hate to second guess Tim but from what I can gather the logic in his choice was governed largely by the wood in my guitar - mahogany. The WP was out because it was too overpowering for my setup. Too much of a good thing I suppose. The HD was good as the Alnico V provided warmth but he thought at may be too bassy in a mahogany guitar and prevent some articulation. I am guessing the Nailbomb was also discounted because the Alnico V wouldn't have given the crispness I'm after in mahogany. It seemed that ceramic was the way to go but I simply find the MM too cold and artificial so that was out. Apparently the PK is quite a bassy pup anyway so he felt that should be discounted due to the mahogany. By a matter of deduction that left the CS. He tells me that it can handle masses of gain and offers the combination of crispness and warmth that I'm after. I'd expected to get a pup with a much higher DC resistance but on reflection I think I was being a typical guy and concentrating too much on the numbers and wanting the biggest. I think the WP is a great pup but I'd bet that quite a few people have got the wrong pup in their guitar because they've bought it for the numbers.

I simply wound myself in knots trying to pick the right one based on the sound clips and descriptions so the only thing left to do was place 100% trust in Tim. If it can be delivered quickly enough then I'm hoping to get it fitted on the 16th and I really can't wait.

[Doog]

strange, tim didn't mention anything like that when I was asking about the holydiver for my mahogany tele... maybe the maple top compensates enough for it not to be an issue

[gwEm]

steve's old cold sweat clips in the players forum always sounded really tasty to me! i'm sure you'll have fun with your new pickups.