Why, Fender? Why? 

In my humble opinion, the reason they do it is the "V" word-vintage. Some people think anything labeled "vintage", whether it actually is or not, is automatically better.

old post but just recommended to me now - from an engineering standpoint, poles should not be perfectly radius-ed - the mass of the string moving through the magnetic flux affects the amplitude of the output, so you need to adjust the stagger to account for string mass - it's not just height-based.

I wish you had played before/after. To hear the difference....good info though. I learned something new.

The reason Fender does this I think, is in response to demand from players, who in large part are a bunch of crotchety old curmudgeons who are resistant to any sort of change. This is why you still see Telecasters with barrel saddles and why Les Pauls don't have volutes on their necks.

One other trick with one-piece bobbins, for those who might not know. You can, if inclined, convert cheap ceramic pickups to alnico by removing the magnet, taking out the steel slugs, and pressing alnico rods of your chosen grade back in.

Pro-Tip: use a plain .015 gauge G string like Hendrix. Lighter strings on E,A and D also help ease this problem. For the record, Jimi's string gauges were: .010, .013, .015, .026w, .032, .038. They were made from pure nickel, also. Pyramid still makes a set like that. Hope someone founds this useful.

QUICK TIP: Looks like Darrel had no issues, but heating up the pole piece a bit with a soldering iron before attempting to adjust the height, especially for wax-potted pole pieces, makes for easy work. The pole piece will move like butter once the wax begins to heat up. Might help some on non-wax pieces as well.

You help all of us out so much Darrel. Love your channel. Please never quit with your videos.

When you realize what a pickup really is, you understand the huge profit margin Fender and others make!

Today's guitar buyers are much more informed thanks to the internet and guys like Darrell. GREAT info!!!

THANK YOU - I have struggled with this unbalanced crap for 40 years, now I am fixed ! I've always been afraid to mess with the pickups until now. :)

I have never even thought about this before thank you for bringing this to light.

You should interview fender folks at every NAMM, and ask about this and other weird things fender does

Darrell, thank you so much for this info. I didn't know that I could change the pole piece height of my single coil pickups. You've just rocked my world, brotha.

Very cool adjustment Darrell. Had no idea you could even do this. Learning something new every day on this channel.

I've wanted to adjust the pole pieces for so long. Finally...I'll be able to correct them. Great vid man! Thanks.

Hope you guys are having a great Week! Would you ever consider a mod like this, or would you prefer just to buy new pickups? Let me know! *For modern plastic bobbin pickups only :)

Scary and intimidating on first try. I have done this on several pickups over the years and have never broke one. It makes a difference and can smooth out a brash sounding pickup. Thank you for sharing this.

I just wanted to thank you for this Darrell. I tried it out on a cheap squire jazz bass that had obvious low volume issues on the middle 2 strings due to radius and this mod immediately solved the issue, dramatically improving my tone. You've saved me money on new pickups. I've seen other tutorials on youtube that involve heating the wax with a soldering iron and your mod is a lot less dangerous with no real potential for error. Plus it's totally reversible. Like you said, there is probably a good reason for the signature sound you get from the vintage stagger on older strats, and the sparkle and shimmer that strats are typically known for may in part be due to the inconsistency of string volume. I won't be doing this mod on my US strat, but this has definitely opened my eyes to maximizing the tone on my instruments that have poles I had previously assumed were unmovable. Thanks again!

I am old, and have been playing strats since before you were born. BUT, you taught me something new today. Thanks!!

There are some free cellphone apps for finding out how loud a sound is. With Darrell's tips on moving individual pole pieces, it's possible to set their height to where the output is what the player desires. I usually find my 1st string to be weak, and the phone app proves that it is not just me imagining it.

HI Darrell, I really appreciate this video, it has saved me from replacing my Custom Shop 69 pickups which I love the tone of but had a weak sound coming from the b string. Now the pickups sound great with great balance. Thank you.

I've been wondering how to adjust them.. finally someone can explain how it freaking works. Thanks!

I love your videos they really demystify the guitar, plain and simple, perfect. Thanks again

I was literally looking for a tutorial for this less than 10 minutes ago! WTF?!

Darrell you have the best information no question.

Great info, i have a 2008 American standard with fat 50's and always wondered why the pole pieces were different heights.. it all makes sense now.. I'll be adjusting mine.. cheers

Super easy, and great advice. Nice job, Darrell! I always enjoy the production quality of your videos.

Great video for starters.. I believe amps of those days also had to be taken into consideration on why pole pieces arranged like that : Some frequencies (notes) attack, emit, resolve, or heard more than the others. Therefore, if no compressor or drive is used, you hear those notes bite in your ears more than the others. So, you want to even them out. Today's modern tech let us hear every freqs even, so we will not need that kind of pole piece recorrections. But, if you used vintage gear, you may need the pole pieces staggered. Though it still may other notes to be heard less... If you have that kinda guitar, play it with your equipment, then decide.

when it comes to fender, especially by the Great Leo's time, the answer ti WHY is always the same: money, money money. For the record, it is widely accepted that electric guitars became popular thanks to Leo and his taylorism (no joke about the brand intended) approach, and cost-conscious design. So the idea was : increase the quality/cost ratio by lowering the denominator. Nothing wrong there as the Strat was, and still is a legendary guitar, still by today's standard. Same as a Hobie 16 or a '76 Stingray.

This is super helpful. I come to this channel a lot because I think Darrell's a great guy that does great research and presents things really well. More often than not he demos products I wouldn't have any interest in, but this is super helpful to me.

I did this mod to my fender amercan standard pickups 3 years ago and it turned out ok. Fixed the stratitis. Nice video bro

I just saw the AT-AT in the background. Awesome 👍

I've heard the vintage stagger described as "wrong, but it's what we like". There's a certain tonal character, especially when playing chords.

Great fix! Also to raise one of the shorter pole pieces the other direction from flush on the back I used a BB (from a BB gun) which magnetically sticks to the bottom of the pole piece and allows you to press with the pliers using the spacer on top to move the pole piece higher if you want.

Great video. Been playing guitar for many years and did not know about the pickup polepieces and how they relate to the neck radius. Thank you so much. Awesome info!

Great tip! Thank you for the demo

I was wondering . . . so did a Sound Meter check and the A and B strings on my Texas Special Roadhouse are about 10db quieter. Hmmm . . . might just do the pole push and see if I can balance them out. My Piezo setup allows you to not only adjust the pickup height but balance each string volume. Guess should do the same on the Texas Specials.

Thanks for making this. I used to work with a luthier who convinced me to buy staggered pickups because "that's how they used to make them". They're Seymour Duncan alnico 2's. I've never liked the stagger, and always wished I'd got the flat ones. I've just now adjusted them to a more balanced arch, so thank you. Now I can finally be happy with those pickups. They have a good sound, that was the only thing bothering me

good video explains a lot about the issues with pickups on strat style guitars

I had the staggered poles on my strat which I really hated. Now they are all set to radius and it sounds so much better. Thanks for the great video Darrell, a much needed fix.

Hi Darrell, I did pretty much as you suggested the adjustment on my CS '54 pickup, and it turns out that the tone changed after the adjustment. The pickups now sound more '69ish rather than '54 what it used to be. I guess the stagger might be one of the reason why specific pickup set has the unique sound and texture. The relative position of string and the hight of pole piece some how affects the each frequency band of signal be picked up. However, I don't regret this mod cuz the imbalanced volume across string bothers me a lot!

Great video. I learned something new! If the pole piece is flush with the plastic cover under the b string I can guess it probably has vintage pickups! That's awesome!

Hi Darrell, I really enjoy all your videos and you have wonderful insight. I realize this video was produced 4 years ago, but I just wanted to give you a little pause with videos like these. I am in no way blaming you for MY mess-up... just wanted to give a little caution to anyone adjusting their pole pieces. You did mention "not doing this on your boutique pickups" - and also said it was okay to do it on "Fat 50's" pickups because the pole pieces are in sleeves and do not touch the wire (at least I think that's what I heard). Wanted to let you and the viewers know, DO NOT adjust pole pieces on Fender Pure Vintage '65 pickups or Texas Special pickups. I have (1) '65 that made it out alive, but the 2nd '65 and the Texas Special I have in the bridge of my Strat both had the wire break internally from moving the pole piece. Again, in no way is this YOUR fault. I'm the one who made the decision to fine tune things. I'm the one who broke the wire. You simply might consider your audience and think that those of us who are chasing tone (the ones crazy enough to tweak a pickup pole piece) probably aren't fine-tuning cheap stuff. Also, is there really a way to discern if your pole pieces are in plastic sleeves or if the wire is wrapped around them (honest question)? I do love your videos and will continue to watch applicable videos as my bell notification goes off. Just asking you maybe give a stronger disclaimer on some of the more technical stuff. Have a great day and keep up the fantastic work. I love your playing and enjoy your reviews, opinions and other Tom Foolery very much.

2 years later and it looks like that's exactly what people want.

The biggest issue is not the difference in radius, but the fact that vintage staggered pole pieces is designed for a wound "G" and most people today use a plain one. Plain strings have a much greater output than wound ones, making the "G" string much, much louder. The fix suggested is not a bad one, but usually you want to press down the "G" magnet as far as you can and leave the "D" magnet alone, since that's the thinnest wound string and therefore the one with the least output. Either way, the fix is not perfect since the "G" magnet is still much longer than the "B" one, making it more powerful and louder.

Thanks Darrell. My number one Strat is an American 57 reissue from 86 If I remember right. I also have a MIM that I dropped in a loaded pick guard from a 97 American strat. The pole pieces are flat from the 97.They don’t even protrude above the pickup cover. I have a tendency to push down the low E when Im playing lead with the meaty part of my palm. On my 57 reissue, this causes a lot of noise when the string touches the pole piece of the middle pickup plus I think the one ply pick guard plays into that. Think I’m going to adjust the pole pieces on the middle pup on the 57 reissue. I play that guitar, I’m not saving it for anybody. I already refretted it with Jumbo frets to make it easier to play. Great information for a Strat Player. Thank you

Ive been wondering this same thing, theres vids on how to push the polepieceup but it seems risky and not possible on ceramics, flat polepieces is just objectively better for al modern guitars

Mark Foley (from MF guitar products) recently wrote this on his facebook page; ”Leo Fender designed the vintage Strat stagger which went with the 7 1/4” radius fretboard not because of the radius BUT TO BALANCE OUT THE STRING FREQUENCYS, and also remember then the G string was wound in that era. If you build a pickup stagger to match a fretboard radius it will be totally unbalanced...... So today with a plain G string greater than 15 gauge it rings loud that is why you often see a shorter G pole or a pushed down pole. Leo’s vintage stagger is still great today with it’s good and bad points. For flatter radius greater than 10” you just need the D/G poles pushed down a little. A stagger that follows the fretboard radius does not work and causes issues...if it worked I would have done it years ago along with many other builders.” It kind of make a lot of sense that many pickup builders would have done it decades ago if the pickup would sound better when matching the fretboard radius. When listening to your modification on the pickup stagger it sounds very unbalanced. Though, if you had a pickup with one string that had higher output than the others, this video is a good ”how to adjut your polepiece” to make it more balanced. But I would not match the fretboard radius. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Still the highest quality guitar channel on RU-vid. Darell really deserves more attention. Keep on going! My Fender Classic Player (Mexico) has a 12“ Radius and even came with staggered CS 69. I won‘t touch them but I‘ll get a SSL-1 set and do this. Thanks for the video!

Great! (not day 😁😁😁) Just swapped 2 string pole with 6 string and slightly adjusted others. Works like a charm.

Love learning new things like this!

Show us all your guitars

If you look at the traditional fender amplifier tone stack it has heavily scooped mids and suits the pole piece stagger quite well.

Done this many times, it's quick and easy to do unless you're a ten-thumbed klutz. Only a small amount of force is necessary, so unless you gi mad you'll be fine. Nice video, Darrell.

It would have been good to hear a before and after clip of the pickups with the stagger and without it. I always wondered what the point of the stagger was but since I don't own a strat or tele single coil pickup it doesn't really affect me. I just like watching your videos 👍 My teles have either TV Jones Classics or wide range humbuckers and my Les Pauls have either humbuckers or P90 sized humbuckers, and my only single coils are the deArmonds in my Gretsch and they have these nifty little screws which look separate to the slugs but must be connected because they raise and lower each pole piece as you turn the screw, and I've already tinkered with the height of them.....you can't beat a tinker, it's surprising how much of a difference you can make to your tone by adjusting your pickup height. There is an optimum position to have your pickups and you can really personalise your sound by doing such an easy mod....it's easy enough to do with humbuckers or single coils.

Hey Darrell! Just windering where you got those radius metal bars to check the balance of the poles? I need one for my vintage styled Fender. I LOVE your videos btw, you are always so in depth and clear and I just love what you do man!

Great video! But i'm not that adventorous ,so i won't even try doing this 😂

Thank you so much for this video.... very interesting information. As I have a variation of Strats I'll be giving this tip a try. ;)

WOW! This is the type of video that I really love. Excellent information, and a demonstration of a simple fix. This is the video that made me a subscriber. Thank you very much!

Hey, Darrell! Thanks for such a useful video!!! Your production quality and advice are top notch. Quick question - is the wax that is dislodged the same wax that's referred to in "waxed/potted" pickups? I don't know a lot about the subject, but I've read that wax is important to avoid microphonic issues with pickups...is there any sense to this? Might this mod generate issues with that? Thanks again for the killer content!

Why, Fender? Why?....Marketing. Put "vintage tone" in the description and cha-ching $$$$.

Wow. You did an exceptional job explaining and demonstrating this. Thank you. I dont feel as though your channel is focused on a lot of guitar repair. But it would be super helpful for me to see you explain how to properly float the Mexican strat tremolo or block it off. I've looked around in other channels and still feel a little confused about it. Thank you for the great video.

Awesome video, I had no idea you could alter pole pieces like this!

Great video and i'm not gonna restagger.

This vid was interesting and informative.

Worked just fine, all strings now balanced....great tip thx

This is great news for us left handed guitarists who want to upgrade their Strats pups. 2 years ago I got a set specially wound with the stagger reversed. Now I could get a used righty set adjust the poles, I'm in. Thanks

Your greetings of every video Made my whole day charming As I'm from India and by the time I watch your videos it's morning here!!!

Another question 4U, Darrell: Why do the pickups' poles from all Fendewr Strats (even the Elite Series) are so irregularly aligned to the strings, when that's so easy to prevent from the designing desk, once you know the distances between strings in the nut and the bridge? That's something I can't explain from a prestige manufacturer (and from their expensive guitars). Thanx a lot for your great videos.

Good one. Always appreciate learning new guitar stuff

Thx for an awesome vid as usual! :)

so, you didn't answer the question... Why does Fender do it?

Funny, "Don't screw w/ them." Hey brother great technical info and as always just a great vid. If you haven't already done this type of vid, I would greatly appreciate it if you could inform us about the following: fret board (the neck) radius and how to measure, what is a V and C shape neck and does it all make sense, I am wanting to buy a Tele V neck shape online and was just curious. Any input would be great. Thank you teacher Braun. Rock on!!!

Really glad to see this!

Brilliant I have done mine - my Strat sounds far better now thanks for advise

Watch out, I think there's an AT-AT trying to sneak up behind you.

Jimi Hendrix did just fine with pick pickups that were backwards or upside down.

Hi Darrell, great tips!!! Have try!!! As usual, great video!!!! Cheers from Portugal!!

I’ve been wondering this for a decade (when I got my 1st electric), I bet the answer is they don’t want to go through the hassle of balancing, because the same PU might end up coping with a variety of radius (7’25 to 12), but are mainly intended to be in a certain one.

I learned to play guitar on a Strat, and in those days (the late '90s) they shipped with flat pole pieces. And I always got the feeling something was missing from that sound! I eventually upgraded to Fender's Vintage Noiseless set, which despite the "vintage" name actually use a modernized stagger: It's almost like a vintage pattern, but the G string's magnet poles on all three pickups are lowered down for a plain 3rd string. And now I totally love these!

I have 3 Strats and 2 of them Stagger and one is Straight The Sound The Same to me Just Saying Do love the Strats Sounds with Front 2 Pickups on ! Thanks for the Info 🎸🎸

LOve your at-at in the background. I used to have one but i gave to my nephew.

Hey DB good video! I’ve got two questions: Are all the slugs the same length on fender branded pickups? (If not, does it matter once they’re adjusted?) Can this safely be done on a new set of Fender Pure Vintage 57/62’s or Custom Shop Fat 50’s?

I deliberately ordered a staggered middle pickup for my strat to make it my go to pickup for character. I will usually lower my third pole a bit though as the G can get quite unruly.

Why not just raise the 2 low ones?

Nice! Thanks Darrell!

good stuff, as always. May have to do this mod soon.

Well said good video, WHY ? you ask ? It's the bottom line, $$$ they know their marketing

Guys who know about how to adjust humbucker slotted head polepieces will accept this. Most guys are so scared they will never even do it on humbuckers. And the A and bass E are the fifth and 6th strings .... not second and first. The guy is smart , but was not thinking.

This video is GREAT Darrell! These poles are driving me nuts on ALL the strats Ive bought lol.

Hi Darell, Great video. I am glad u are addrresing this issue. Another point that also affects imbalanced strings is pole spacing vs. string spacing. Most evident on neck pickup with 10.5mm string spacing. High E is way off the center of tke pickup pole which is even more pronounced when high E string is bended hole step. Thus I adjust pole peaces based on relative position of the string and corresponding pole. Once poles are made loise enouh so u can push them with finger, I adjust adjysting height on the guitar by playing each string and balkancing volume. I did this with FAT 50 on guitar with 10.5mm string spacing resulting in completeli different balkanced sound.

The higher stagger raises the g-string volume relative to the others. Which is actually awesome for standing out in the mix when soloing.

My advice is, don't muck around with stagger, just lower the pickup. The further the polepieces are from the strings, the less the differences in height will matter. I once bought a Strat that someone had put left-handed pickups on ... didn't need to change a thing, just lowered the pickups.

Well if the 3rd wound string used to be the reason, why is(or was) the 2nd pole lower instead of 3rd?

Top vid mate. Keep ‘em coming 👍🎸

The reson Fender is doing this is because nickle winding is not magnetic. Those strings need to be closer to the magnets. Just my own thoughts.

Great information, Darrell! Thank you!

Ok, so my new MIM Strat has the pickups with the middle 2 Alnico V pole pieces staggered. The guitar also has a 7.25 radius. Is this alright according to what you're saying here?

Excellent video. I love my Strats and hate not being able to adjust pickups heights, so on some I fitted Kinmans or Seymour Duncan 'Everything Axe' sets. I hadn't realised it was this easy, especially having been put off by a RU-vid video showing how to hold a soldering iron on the poles to soften the wax first!