Cold Sweats - Which guitar to put them in?

[DefaultM]

Just got some Bare Knuckle Cold Sweats in Zebra for the bargain price of £99 and I'm wondering which guitar they will be best suited to.

I have:

PRS CE22 trem with maple top (mahogany body/maple top/maple bolt on neck with rosewood fretboard)

PRS CE22 same as above but without maple top

This is going to be my drop D riffing guitar. I'm swapping out the Dragon IIs because although they're nice for lead, they're too muddy for distorted rhythm. I use extended chords with high gain and there's no clarity. Cleans are pretty cr@ppy too if I'm honest.

I'm thinking they'll go better in the one without the maple top, but I've really no clue. They could be unsuitable in both for all I know, but at the price I got them for if that's the case I can make a profit.

[Slartibartfarst42]

They'll work in both guitars very well but if it was me, I'd put them in the guitar without the maple top. The Cold Sweat is tight and bright so doesn't particularly need maple to help it cut through.

[Dave Sloven]

+1

The Cold Sweats will safely go in the guitar without the maple top.

[ericsabbath]

well, the bridge dragon II is at least as bright as the cold sweat, so you shouldn't worry about that
you could either put it in your favorite one, or in your least favorite just for the improvement
I definitely tend to prefer maple topped guitars and the cold sweat should go well with the maple neck too
the maple top usually delivers some extra openness in the upper mids, and that suits the cold sweat pretty well

[littleredguitars2]

cold sweats were always one of the pickups i didnt look into much. what sort of sounds are they best for?

[Dave Sloven]

cold sweats were always one of the pickups i didnt look into much. what sort of sounds are they best for?

They are a very versatile pickup, well suited to mahogany guitars like Les Pauls and SGs. The neck is similar to the Rebel Yell, perhaps a little darker and not quite as warm, with rounded smooth tones.  The bridge is tight and doesn't have the 'hairiness' of some BKPs (like the Nailbomb and Painkiller).  Cleans on both pickups are very good - I'd rate them as 'amazing' on the neck pickup.

The closest other pickups to the Cold Sweat would be

Rebel Yell (neck)
C-Bomb and Miracle Man (bridge)

The bridge has its own character though.  I find it works very well in my SG, which is a difficult guitar to please (by comparison with a Les Paul).  The main competing pickup (in terms of application) within the BKP range is the Holy Diver.

[littleredguitars2]

yeah the neck pickup is used in a lot of combinations right? i hear about that one way more than the bridge.

[Dave Sloven]

The neck pickup is very highly rated.

I suspect though that in many cases the person would be as happy or happier with the RY neck, but it just doesn't have the rep that the Cold Sweat has.   Another neck that seems to be popular in high-gain applications is the MQ.

Of course there are a number of neck pickups in the Vintage Hot and Vintage ranges that are more popular than their corresponding bridges for lower-gain applications.

[DefaultM]

I prefer the none maple one to play, but also prefer how it sounds at the minute. I can always buy replacement pickups for both guitars though, so I just want to focus on which the Cold Sweats will work best with.

[ericsabbath]

cold sweats were always one of the pickups i didnt look into much. what sort of sounds are they best for?

the bridge pickup packs a lot of punch in the bass, not much thickness in the mids and lot of cutting top without getting spikey
quite a focused and bright tone, but organic
it does have the ceramic character, unlike some say, but in a good way
a cutting non-harsh edge on the top, but without the hairy thing agent orange mentioned
think Pantera leads and classic 80's rhythms, like Accept or UFO
voicing is somewhere between the duncan custom and bill lawrence l500l, but no near as compressed and spikey as those

neck is medium bright and flat voiced 
it has a bit of paf reminiscence, but sounds definitely more modern
seems to be a favorite among metal and prog players
Paul Gilbert always comes to mind
I believe it has similar specs to the dimarzio paf pro

both are among the most articulate BKP models

[Philly Q]

They'll work in both guitars very well but if it was me, I'd put them in the guitar without the maple top. The Cold Sweat is tight and bright so doesn't particularly need maple to help it cut through.

I agree with that.  Cold Sweats sound great in all-mahogany guitars, so I think they'd sound great in your non-maple-topped CE22.

[littleredguitars2]

cold sweats were always one of the pickups i didnt look into much. what sort of sounds are they best for?

the bridge pickup packs a lot of punch in the bass, not much thickness in the mids and lot of cutting top without getting spikey
quite a focused and bright tone, but organic
it does have the ceramic character, unlike some say, but in a good way
a cutting non-harsh edge on the top, but without the hairy thing agent orange mentioned
think Pantera leads and classic 80's rhythms, like Accept or UFO
voicing is somewhere between the duncan custom and bill lawrence l500l, but no near as compressed and spikey as those

neck is medium bright and flat voiced 
it has a bit of paf reminiscence, but sounds definitely more modern
seems to be a favorite among metal and prog players
Paul Gilbert always comes to mind
I believe it has similar specs to the dimarzio paf pro

both are among the most articulate BKP models

i'm a HUGE paul gilbert fan playing wise. but his tone was always hit or miss

[Dave Sloven]

The Cold Sweats also respond very nicely to the volume and tone controls.

I use 500K CTS pots and 0.022uf PIO caps with '50s style wiring.

[fps_dean]

They'll work in both guitars very well but if it was me, I'd put them in the guitar without the maple top. The Cold Sweat is tight and bright so doesn't particularly need maple to help it cut through.

I was thinking the same thing.  And take advantage of the maple top model by getting some pickups that compliment it :)

[ericsabbath]

i'm a HUGE paul gilbert fan playing wise. but his tone was always hit or miss

well, Paul uses like 40 different guitars with the whole dimarzio pickup line and at least half a dozen different amps

what I meant is that the neck cold sweat for some reason has that virtuoso vibe (although I can't shred)
something about their articulation and midrange density
satriani would be in the ballpark as well
but sounds quite different than, let's say, Guthrie Govan, which has a more vh2ish or nailbombish neck tones (depending on the guitar)