Some specific ColdSweat questions...

[Pierre]

I may have one coming my way soon, we'll see... Anyway I for some reason always placed it within the mid output BKs but it turns out it's a ceramic pickup with a lot of output. Lately I've only used lower output pickups (Riff Raff, Duncan Jazz, Duncan APH) so I'm worried that with the Cold Sweat I'd have to swap amp and pedal settings when I play the Strat in which it could be going. I already put my pickups very low. I'm also usually not a fan of ceramic pickups (aside from the Duncan Custom) but that's usually more pickup specific than magnet specific.

The Strat in questions is very big sounding. Not overly bright, not overly bassy, very full sound. I once had a PATB3 in and it was WAY too mid rangy. I hope the CS won't give me that nasty mid spike either..?

If the Strat's not the right guitar for it, I have a Charvel in which it'd fit just fine I think, slightly warmer/mellower sounding, very loud accoustically and already with higher output pickups.

Thanks!

[LP_LOVER]

I wouldn't 'kill' a Strat with high output pickups. Throw the Cold Sweat in your Charvel and get some lower output pickups for your Strat.

[Philly Q]

The CS won't give you a nasty mid spike, but I think it might be a bit bright in a Strat.

Don't worry about the output though, it may have quite high DC resistance but it's not fire-breathingly hot.

[Pierre]

Alright thanks. The problem here is that the Strat needs its neck taken off to replace the pickups, which is very annoying. Not so with the Charvel. It'll probably go in the Charvel then. When it gets back from the tech she should finally be issue free and I'll get to play her more often. Thanks!

[FELINEGUITARS]

You will find that the Cold Sweat is in a similar ballpark to the Duncan Custom - at 14k it's not overly hot although it has a good push to it.

[ericsabbath]

it's a bit hotter and fuller sounding than the sh-5
like half way to the sh-6 voicing and output
the sweat has a stronger and more aggressive midrange and a bit warmer highs than the sh-5
and its magnet bar is huge like the sh-6 mag, while the sh-5 has a thin standard sized ceramic bar (like an usual alnico bar size)
I feel like bigger ceramic bars give more "sizzle", which usually turns into more mud, but that's definitely not the case on any BKP

[LP_LOVER]

You can turn any guitar into mud, even with BKPs. Think about A5 Warpigs in a chambered Les Paul Standard...OMG.

[PhilKing]

Actually Warpigs are really popular in France as jazz pickups, so I would imagine that they go into some chambered guitars.  If you have the volume down or wire them in parallel, they can give a very nice fat clean tone.

[Pierre]

I'm really not worried about mud, so I should be ok. Mostly as long as there is no huge midspike and no uber output from hell, most pickups would suit me. I play so many different genres (from gypsy jazz (or trying) to heavy, heavy brewtalz) that it doesn't matter as much.

What other pickups, amongst the lower/medium output ones, would you recommand for a big sounding Strat, if I wanted a fairly neutral EQ and a very rich, nice lead sound, for a bridge humbucker? It's an Alder body strat with Rosewood board.

[Denim n Leather]

Rebel Yell

[dheim]

Actually Warpigs are really popular in France as jazz pickups.

french jazzmen are totally crazy...  :P

[Pierre]

I'm French but I'm no jazzer...  :(

[Brow]

I'd try the CS in your strat before you relegate it to the Charvel.

I had a CS in the bridge of an Alder or basswood bodied Charvel and never really cared for it tbh. It's now the lone pickup in an Ash bodied strat and I like it alot better. Even though it's ash bodied, it's not overly bright, and as mentioned above, has a really nice push and 'sizzle' to it.

Don't write it off in your Strat without atleast trying it 1st mate! :)