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Post subject: Staggered Pole Pieces
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 12:48 pm
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I have a 2005 American Series Strat and I didn't really like the pickups in it. I've changed out all, but the middle. All three original pickups had the staggered pole pieces. I just got a 1995 American Standard Strat and that doesn't have the staggered pole pieces. I love the sound of each pickup. What difference if any does the staggering have? Am I crazy??

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Post subject: Re: Staggered Pole Pieces
Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 4:59 pm
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deepindigo114 wrote:
I have a 2005 American Series Strat and I didn't really like the pickups in it. I've changed out all, but the middle. All three original pickups had the staggered pole pieces. I just got a 1995 American Standard Strat and that doesn't have the staggered pole pieces. I love the sound of each pickup. What difference if any does the staggering have? Am I crazy??


You aren't crazy.

There are two predominant schools of thought on the subject. I'll try to keep this as uncomplicated and basic as possible, giving you more of an, "armchair" explanation than a brainy one. Naturally, I'll be omitting some of the finer points but you'll get the idea.

As related to pickups, a magnetic field is the area around the magnet(s), in this case, polepieces, where the magnetic pull is able to latch onto the the strings.

Based on the shape, size, strength, height, distance, etc, etc, of the magnets from each other, the magnetic field itself is shaped and this shaping is how the magnet "hears" a string in conjunction with the coil of the pickup. Thus, the vibrating string's sound travels down the magnet through the coil and ultimately to what you hear through the amp. The shape, size, etc, etc, etc. of the coil and string also shape what you ultimately hear through the amp. Like I said, there's more to this but these are the essential basics.

Now to answer your question:

Different gauge strings, their metallic properties and whether they are wrapped or plain are 'sucked' in by the exact same magnet at different strengths. It is simply the mass of the string and how well the string conducts magnetism. So, to have EACH string picking up exactly even among each other, the first school utilizes staggered polepieces to serve primarily only the string the polepiece sits under where 'electronically', all strings will be perceived audibly equal through the amp. Then there's the other school which believes that if the polepieces are all flat, the magnetic field will pickup all 6 strings as a group and just like a non-amplified guitar, you'll hear the six strings evenly any way without as much magnetic minipulation, thereby giving a truer sound.

As you are aware, MANY pickups are made with adjustable polepieces in an effort to satisfy either school.

Which is better? If you want my opinion, it would be the flat.

Hope this helps and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

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Post subject:
Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 7:30 pm
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It took me some think where I read a good article about this and it came to me it was on the Lollar site. This is what they said about this question in a easy to explain manner. I kept thinking of saying notes being picked up by more then one magnet and presence, I'll just let the article speak for itself.

From Lollar

If you compared a flat pole pickup to a staggered pole pickup wound the same way, you would get a little more presence ( like a Fender Amp presence knob), a little more bass and a little more overall output from the flat pole pickup. Another way to think about it is that a flat pole pickup will generate a little more output without putting more wire on the pickup coil. Adding more wire changes the frequency response, usually by losing some treble and gaining some bass. If you are already use to using staggered pole pickups, you may find that you will need to turn the bass down slightly on the amplifier because with a flat pole pickup you will no longer have to make up for weak low strings.

In most cases the flat pole pickup will give you a better string balance. The high E won't get buried in the mix like a staggered pole pickup can. You will also notice that the two low strings are louder than a staggered pole set, and the G string does not overpower the others.

Staggered poles create more of a smeared tone when you play more than one note at a time—you may or may not like it. On a staggered pole pickup the low strings rarely overpower any amp, but they can also sound somewhat subdued or weak. The volume on the G string tends to dominate all others. If you have previously played using only staggered poles and you don't notice any discrepancies with string-to-string volume balance, you have learned to compensate for them. If you decide to try a flat pole set, it may take some time to adapt but once you get familiar with the sound, you'll find they work better in most cases than a staggered pole design. For example, all teles up until around 1956 had flat poles—no one ever comments that their 1952 telecaster has bad string balance. Also, most Telecasters, Jazzmaster, Mustangs and Fender bass guitars have historically had flat pole pickups. On Gibson guitars no one ever staggers the adjustable poles as much as strat pickups.

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Post subject:
Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 9:15 am
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Interesting thing about this: we tend to assume that the complaint of weak output on the top e is one made by beginners - who are often found to tilt their pickups at an extreme angle to compensate. As mentioned above, as we gain experience we learn to vary our picking attack to match the characteristics of the pickups' pole pieces.

Nevertheless, to this day I've never quite understood why the top e pole piece on a staggered pup can't be at least a bit higher. Haven't ever heard anyone complaining of too much output from their top e...

Cheers - C


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 9:50 am
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Most interesting, thank you for the excellent information..

Personally, 'happily adjust pups with adjustable poles to ear-liking and enjoy equally those with flat and staggered poles.


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