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I know this is a stupid question, but I've been noticing that the magnetic poles on a standard Strat single coil pup are not all at the same height. Most I've seen is the 3,4,5,6 being much higher than the first or second pole.

Why is this? My new strat only has the poles on 4, 5, and 6 raised, not #3. Should I fix/change this? What does all this pole height mean other than making a string hotter? How does one change the heights?

Thanks in advance, my friends.

You'd have to take the pup apart to change the pole height in fender pickups and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're very brave. If you've got some old pups kicking around, take one of them apart first and mess around with it.

The reason they're staggered is to even out the output across the strings (supposedly). Because most ppl have the three top strings unwound and the three bottom ones wound, the output from your high strings is usually louder. In the past, packs of strings came with a wound 'G' string like acoustic guitars, which meant that the polepiece under that string was made lower to compensate. Add to that, vintage Fenders have a radius of 7.5", which meant that the two 'E' strings would be louder than all the rest (due to their closeness to the pickups), while the 'D' and 'G' strings would be quieter because of their distance. Since then, the trends have changed and most ppl use an unwound string for the 'G' and fingerboard radii has flattened out considerably. Your pickups are probably modeled after the old-school style.

At this point in gear evolution, staggered pickups aren't really necessary and can often create a less even string response in the end. You can solve uneven string output by tastefully using a compressor, though it may interact in a weird way with some of the pedals in your rig, or you can adjust the polepieces.

Here's what Fender has to say about it's staggered pickups: http://www.fender.com/news/index.php?display_article=482

And here's a link on adjusting the height of your pole pieces: http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/techtips/d--09/03/2007

Thanks for dropping that knowledge, elbandito. Now I might have some work to.

I have no fear about ripping out the strat's guts to change stagger height on the G string.

Now that I read your links, having only the EAD strings higher is correct. The raised G pole was for the old days when the G string was wound instead of plain. So if I raised the G pole, that plain string would be too loud, even compensating for the fretboard radius.

Thanks, elbandito. I really appreciate your time and effort. Here's my new axe: