Bareknuckle Cold Sweat !!!

[troublehead]

I scored a non-weight relieved Les Paul Classic off the Bay awhile back and have been struggling with it ever since. The tone is dark/muddy and has little sustain. Totally different than my other LP's. It also sounds really congested/messy with my OD pedals. Its been a real pain in the ass. I swapped pots to 500k CTS. I also tried a ton of pickups (WCR Godwood, MCP Detroiter, Rio BBQ, Suhr Aldrich, BKP Mule, and the usual Duncan/Dimarzio fare) and then I started swapping speakers trying to get it to sound right........all because the guitar is perfect otherwise. The best thing I could find is using my otherwise thin sounding Boss SD-1 to cut out the lows and tighten things up. But still wasn't satisfied

So I popped in a Cold Sweat bridge and presto Excellent clarity and my high end articulation is back. This is my 3rd go around with BKP and the Cold Sweat really is a winner in this guitar. I have also used the Holy Diver and Mule and thought they were OK, but really nothing I couldn't get from a JB or a Duncan 59' so I was reluctant to try the Cold Sweat. But it really is the ticket for this seemingly dead/muddy LP.

BTW, the Cold Sweat is a tight/articulate MOFO............better work on my chops

 

[JakeAC5253]

Congrats man, love that feeling

Sounds almost like the Cold Sweat performs a similar trick as a Duncan Custom. Was that one of the pickups that you tried in this guitar as well? (you just mentioned Duncan in a general sense)

 

[troublehead]

Congrats man, love that feeling

Sounds almost like the Cold Sweat performs a similar trick as a Duncan Custom. Was that one of the pickups that you tried in this guitar as well? (you just mentioned Duncan in a general sense)

Didn't try the Custom in this guitar, but I have used it in my Traditional Pro. The Cold Sweat and Custom are in the same "ballpark" I suppose. In my Trad Pro, I found the Custom to be kind of spikey and sterile sounding. The Cold Sweat is more natural/organic and not as bright........again, this might be due to the different guitars. I ended up putting a Duncan 59' set in the Trad Pro.