Initially overlooking it is understandable as I did the same thing myself, especially as I used it in a maple neck-thru guitar with a Floyd bridge! It was certainly a bright pickup but that brightness wasn't overpowering at all and in a Les Paul it ends up a lot more balanced. I think what helps the Cold Sweat is that it has a decent amount of bass to balance the high side and though it appears to be scooped, it actually has a reasonable amount of upper mids, which on the EQ chart seem to be lumped in with the treble. As an example, look at the Emerald for a second. As far as the EQ chart is concerned, it appears to be less bright than the Cold Sweat yet when I tried an Emerald bridge it was in a mahogany guitar with a maple neck (darker than the guitar that used the Cold Sweat) and the pickup was so incredibly bright that I had to send it back. The Cold Sweat was actually a darker and more balanced sounding pickup despite showing more treble on the EQ chart but the Emerald just had no bass to offset the treble whereas the Cold Sweat does.
The Cold Sweat neck has always been popular here but the bridge version is relatively overlooked and that's a great shame because it's a very impressive pickup. I think its problem is also down to its strength, which I realise sounds a bit daft but bear with me here. The thing is, if you want a 'Metal' pickup, options like the Holydiver, Miracle Man, Aftermath etc. are possibly better choices. If you want something a little more 'Classic' sounding but with loads of balls, aggression and tightness, the A-Bomb is possibly a better option. Conversely, if you want something that is simply 'Classic Rock' and 'vintage' you have things like the Mule and Abraxas etc. You could argue that each of these pickups do their individual 'thing' better than the Cold Sweat but that's exactly why the Cold Sweat is so fantastic to me; it does all of those styles pretty much as good as the more specialist pickup. Shove one in the bridge of a Les Paul and you have a pickup that is capable of a vast range of styles and pulls them all off with great assurance. For anyone with a Les Paul who is looking for a highly versatile instrument and a classic Les Paul sound, I really can't recommend a Cold Sweat bridge highly enough. I wish to God that more people with a Les Paul (or even other guitars because it will work in other instruments too) would try the Cold Sweat because I'd be amazed if they were disappointed.
The Cold Sweat neck is surprisingly less versatile in my opinion. It uses a more modern wire and is more readily associated with shredding styles, which is fine if that's what you're after but personally, I'd go for a neck option like the Emerald. It is still plenty hot enough but has a sweeter and slightly more vintage tone. Another option for the neck might be the Holydiver, which is another often overlooked gem. I really can't see past the Emerald and Holydiver neck pickups because they're both far and away the best neck pickups I've tried from any manufacturer.
Anyway, I hope that helps a bit but if you'd like to know more, just ask
