Cold Sweat bridge review (and Comparison to Rebel Yell bridge)

[darkbluemurder]

I used to play the Rebel Yell bridge in my Les Paul Custom (first with the matching RY neck, later with the HD neck) and was quite happy with it. However, when I replaced the Cold Sweat bridge in the Soloist type guitar with a VHII bridge I just had to try the CS bridge in the LPC.

How does it sound compared to the RY bridge?

Output: about the same, CS a tiny bit more.
Bass: CS has more bottom end but it stays tight no matter how much gain you throw at it. Insofar BKP's description is accurate.
Midrange: To my ears the CS has a flatter midrange which makes it sound a bit darker compared to the RY. This may be what the website description calls "scooped". The RY has noticeably more center and high mids.
Highs: CS appears to have more top end bite than the RY - not as much as the VHII bridge though.

Funnily though the RY bridge appears to be brighter overall than the CS bridge due to the different midrange emphasis, even though the top end is smoother than the CS's. The LPC is now a bit darker on the bridge pickup, with more bass punch and more high end bite. The Sykes 87 monster riff tone is now mine with this guitar - even though I cannot play like the man. The RY did a bit better at the Ozzy tones and I feel it is generally more versatile than the CS but for the Sykes tone the CS is a sure step in this direction. Great pickup as well.

Cheers Stephan

[pcarrion]

I used to play the Rebel Yell bridge in my Les Paul Custom (first with the matching RY neck, later with the HD neck)

I have a Les Paul Custom with Holydivers. I found that the neck holydiver is too vintage sounding compared to the bridge. It is great if you luck for versatility, but I miss some tightness for fast picking runs (ala John Sykes"Still of the night"). I've been tweaking the pickup height but closer to the strings overpowers the bridge. Is it just my guitar/rig or do you find the same?

[darkbluemurder]

You are referring to the neck Holydiver - but if I remember correctly "Still of the Night" is all played on the bridge pickup, both riff and solo.

The HD neck is a vintagey sounding pickup - not as much as the VHII neck but still not "modern". I have mine fairly close to the strings on the treble side and a bit lower on the bass side. The bridge pickups are close to the strings mostly.

Cheers Stephan

[darkandrew]

You are referring to the neck Holydiver - but if I remember correctly "Still of the Night" is all played on the bridge pickup, both riff and solo.

The HD neck is a vintagey sounding pickup - not as much as the VHII neck but still not "modern". I have mine fairly close to the strings on the treble side and a bit lower on the bass side. The bridge pickups are close to the strings mostly.

Cheers Stephan

I just wondered what characteristics you would say contribute to a "vintage" sounding neck and which would you say characterise a "modern" sounding neck?

[darkbluemurder]

I should have been more specific on that :)

"Vintage" sounding - what is really meant by that is "Vintage late 50s sounding". This to me includes all PAF type pickups and pickups similar to those. These pickups (at least the ones I played) are usually very warm in the highs and midrange and a bit woolly in the bass. Output is low for a humbucker.

In comparison, what is mostly referred to as "modern" may relate to 80s or 90s tones - which by now should be as vintage from a 2010 standpoint as the 1950s tones were in 1980!. In the late 70s and in the 80s we wanted more output from the bridge pickups mostly. Today when I think of "modern" in terms of neck pickups I usually think of clearer highs and mids and tighter bass compared to the PAF types.

Cheers Stephan

[pcarrion]

- but if I remember correctly "Still of the Night" is all played on the bridge pickup, both riff and solo.

I was looking yesterday in youtube for a John Sykes' "still of the night" live performance and you are right. The fast ascending picking run is played with the bridge pickup. Anyway, my point is that this kind of ascending picking runs sound great with the neck pickup but you need some (maybe) tightness (?). I have a painkiller set in a explorer and the neck pickup is great for that king of runs. My experience is that HD neck is much much closer to a Mule neck (vintage) than to a Painkiller neck (modern).

Apologies because the thread is about Cold Sweat Bridge and we drifted to neck pickups.

[darkandrew]

I should have been more specific on that :)

"Vintage" sounding - what is really meant by that is "Vintage late 50s sounding". This to me includes all PAF type pickups and pickups similar to those. These pickups (at least the ones I played) are usually very warm in the highs and midrange and a bit woolly in the bass. Output is low for a humbucker.

In comparison, what is mostly referred to as "modern" may relate to 80s or 90s tones - which by now should be as vintage from a 2010 standpoint as the 1950s tones were in 1980!. In the late 70s and in the 80s we wanted more output from the bridge pickups mostly. Today when I think of "modern" in terms of neck pickups I usually think of clearer highs and mids and tighter bass compared to the PAF types.

Cheers Stephan

I've often seen the phrases "vintage" and "modern" but never really been 100% sure on just what characteristics qualify a pickup to be one or the other. The main factor seems to be output, other than that, there doesn't seem to be a great concensus, especially with neck pickups.

[darkbluemurder]

After playing the guitar with the CS bridge for a while I put the RY set back in yesterday. Better fit for that guitar, just a bit more open and articulate. And while I hoped that the Holydiver neck would offer more highs and clarity over the RY neck it actually made the guitar sound darker. Lesson learned: dark sounding guitars need pickups with a very healthy dose of mids to not sound overly dark.

Cheers Stephan

[Slartibartfarst42]

The Holydiver neck does sound surprisingly vintage (it surprised me at least) but I really love that pickup. Conversely, the Emerald sounded far more modern (albeit with a vintage feel) when I'd expected it to be more vintage than the Holydiver. I ended up chopping and changing the pickups around but ended up putting the Holydiver neck with a Crawler bridge and an Emerald neck with a Holydiver bridge.

[JimmyMoorby]

Oddly enough I just stuck a cold sweat in my les paul custom today.  It's fantastic can't wait to play it at full volume.
Extremely clean and clear very John Sykes but it's tight enough to get thrash tones retro and modern.

Plenty of tight bass and high end and the mids  are there but they're not strong by any means. It has a lot of the qualities of a painkiller but feels cleaner and more refined....different tools for the job. Just gotta see how it sounds at band/gig volumes now but on first impressions it's immense.

Bottom line for hard rock/metal can't go far wrong with this in a les paul.

[Slartibartfarst42]

I really liked the Cold Sweat I had and even though I'm a 100% alnico man these days, I'd still consider a Cold Sweat for my Les Paul and I can't immediately think of any other pickup from any manufacturer that has a ceramic magnet I'd consider. I think that says a lot about how good the Cold Sweat is.

[JimmyMoorby]

I really liked the Cold Sweat I had and even though I'm a 100% alnico man these days, I'd still consider a Cold Sweat for my Les Paul and I can't immediately think of any other pickup from any manufacturer that has a ceramic magnet I'd consider. I think that says a lot about how good the Cold Sweat is.

You gone off the miracle man now then?

[Slartibartfarst42]

No, it was a great pickup, it just isn't what I need any more and I see no immediate likelihood of me needing it again. It was fantastic in a maple neck-thru guitar but I don't have one now and I have no desire to have another one. For the Metal I do still play, I've just found an option that seems to work better for me. Maybe it's old age creeping up on me but these days I prefer the sweetness you get with alnico and I prefer things a bit more vintage hot or the lower end of contemporary.

[nkay]

Has anyone been able to directly compare the Cold Sweat with the Seymour Duncan Distortion? I have a Cold Sweat and really like it (can't believe how much gain you can pile on this guy and he just eats it up). I just find it could use just a wee more mids. I'm kind of looking for that half-way between the Holydiver and the Cold Sweat. I've never tried the Distortion, and while I don't plan on veering away from the clarity of BKP, I'm curious on how it sounds and compares.

[darkbluemurder]

No experience with the Duncan Distortion but the Miracle Man bridge would fit the bill - more low mids than the CS bridge. Other BKPs may be even better suited but I have not played them.

Cheers Stephan