Understanding flat and staggered pole pieces in pickups

Sometimes I get emails requesting I write about specific stuff and this is one of them. If you'd like to email me in your own question, write me.

Kyle writes:

Could you post your thoughts on your blog about the difference between staggered and flat pickups. Pros and cons of both.

What Kyle is referring to are the pole pieces of a guitar pickup. On traditional Stratocaster guitars (Fender or Squier), the pole pieces, as in the six metal round things on the pickup, are exposed. You'll also notice that on most Strat guitars that these pieces are not all mounted using the same height.

Pickups in which all the pole pieces are the same height are called "flat" or flat-pole. Ones with differing heights are called "staggered" or staggered-pole.

Now before continuing, staggered-pole is for all intents and purposes a "Fender thing", and I'll explain why in a moment.

Does pole piece height actually affect the sound?

Yes, it does.

Pole piece height is a "natural EQ" of sorts, and fortunately can be explained in very simple terms.

If all the poles are even height ("flat"), the first immediate difference is that you'll probably hear more bass frequency response, mainly because the string balance as far as volume is concerned is even across all the strings.

With staggered poles on the other hand, you'll notice that the poles mounted higher are almost always in the middle of the pickup, and in addition it's very typical that the pole under the G string will be mounted highest, making the G the loudest string compared to the rest.

Staggered poles are very much the "foundation" of classic Fender solid-body electric guitar tone

Fender originally did not use pickups with staggered poles. From 1952 to 1956 they were all flat-pole, which means that yes, if you absolutely want that very specific early-1950s string balance on a Telecaster, it's pretty much required to use flat-pole pickups.

However, the classic Fender sound you know comes from pickups that use staggered pole pieces.

Does this mean the Strat naturally has unbalanced string volume? Yes. But that's the way Strat guys (including myself) prefer them to sound. We like that louder-than-usual G string because it's a part of a Strat's "personality", so to speak.

The main tonal differences between flat-pole and staggered-pole

Flat

Advantages: Even string balance (as in volume), resulting in even output across all strings.

Disadvantages: Lower strings may ring out too loudly and there's very little you can do about it, and typically takes away all the "personality" of a Strat's classic sound (which some would call "bland").

Staggered

Advantages: Has the "bell-like chime" Strats and Teles are known for. Lower strings never overpower the overall sound.

Disadvantages: G string is loud by design, and staggered poles do typically sound a bit "muddy" compared to flat-pole because of the string imbalance. Again, this is by design but that's what classic Fender sound is supposed to be.

Do Gibson guys ever use staggered-pole?

Almost never. While Strat/Tele tone is largely attributed to staggered-pole pickups, the exact opposite is true for the classic Gibson sound.

Generally speaking, staggered poles on humbucker pickups usually sound awful.

The only time Gibson guys use staggered-pole is for making very small string balance adjustments. On Strat/Tele guitars, the pole height differences are very obvious and done that way on purpose. On Gibsons, if you ever see staggered-pole, the height differences will be much, much closer together. Staggered-pole on Gibsons are only for players with ears so "picky" that they can hear tiny string balance differences like that.

In other words, on Les Paul style guitars and for humbucker pickups in general, keep the poles flat and don't mess with them.

Should you adjust your pole pieces manually?

Only if it has screws to allow you to do so.

On Gibson PAF-style pickups, one coil of the pickup has poles that can be adjusted using a simple flathead screwdriver.

Poles with no screws should not be adjusted, so don't mess with those. Ones with screws on the other hand can be adjusted.

Additional note: Yes, it's true that if you take out all the screws from one-half of a PAF-style pickup, this essentially "converts" the humbucker into a single-coil. Traditionally, this is called a "dummy coil" setup.

What about Lace Sensor pickups for Strats?

The way Lace Sensor pickups work is that they don't use the traditional 6-pole setup, but rather 36 separate magnetic "sensing" fields. This supposedly gives you the classic unbalanced Fender sound while doing it without producing any 60-cycle hum, and do so with better string balance.

The Sensor basically takes the idea of traditional staggered poles and throws that all out the window in favor of using different magnetic technology. You can't consider the Sensor a "flat" or a "staggered" because it's neither due to it having a completely different way of how it works. Yes, Sensors sound great. The only problem is that it can be very confusing which one to go with. Generally speaking, the go-to pickup for Sensors is the Lace Sensor Gold, as seen above. When you want classic Strat tone utilizing better pickup technology, the Sensor Gold is a good choice.

What about "blade" pickups?

Blade-style pickups like the DiMarzio DP181 use a dual-blade setup that has a sound which is best described as unique. It doesn't sound like a humbucker, but acts like one, and literally has double the output compared to traditional 6-pole pickup. The blades do have a curve to them which means yes, you do get somehwat of that classic Strat/Tele sound because of the balance curve.

If you want Strat pickups with way more output and a decidedly "growly" sound to them, Fast Track pickups by DiMarzio work great.

On the Telecaster side of things, you'd want the DP381 in the bridge and the DP417 in the neck. That combo will turn any Telecaster into a vintage screamer the moment you install them.

If you want classic Fender sound, you want staggered poles

For the metalheads out there, you prefer flat-pole pickups. You like string balance that's even, predictable and, well, flat-sounding. That's your thing, and I don't have a problem with that.

For others who want the "bell-like chime" classic Fender sound, staggered-pole pickups are pretty much required. Fortunately, even the cheapest Squier has the staggered poles, so it's not like you have to spend a lot of money to get it (and heck, you may already have it now).

If you're considering doing a pickup swap-out on your Stratocaster or Telecaster be it Squier or Fender brand, yes, poles matter. If you want to keep that classic Fender sound, stay with staggered like the Fender Tex-Mex set. If you want something more suited to metal music, use blades or flat-pole. If you want something modernized with no hum, use the Lace Sensors.

Also remember that the stock cheap pickups in Squier Strats do in fact have a "personality" all their own. I do sincerely believe there is such a thing as "Squier tone", as the stock pickups are typically very "growly" sounding in their own unique way.

Cheap electric guitar appearance tricks that always work

There are three things you can do with guitars that always work when it comes to getting attention, be it on stage or on internet video. All three are really cheap and really easy to do.

1. "Competition" Striping

Competition striping is something that's been seen on Fender Competition Stratocasters, Fender Competition Jaguars, and Fender Competition Mustangs (the Kurt Cobain Mustang has a competition stripe on it) off and on since the 1960s. Every few years Fender will release a guitar with this special striping.

Striping of this type suits the rounder shape of Fender solid-body guitars very well because it's a stark contrast to the body curves.

The cool part about this stripe style is that you can do it with no paint at all. You can dress up a cheap Squier easily just by using vinyl pinstriping which comes in just about every color of the rainbow. Competition striping is one of the absolute easiest appearance modifications to a Strat, Mustang or Jag style guitar and always gets noticed.

2. Silver or Gold pinstriping on solid-body black guitars

What "looks metal" on a black guitar? Silver or gold pinstriping.

For many years, guitar makers have been pinstriping black guitars with silver or gold stripes because it makes the body shape much more noticeable. Like with the competition striping on the Fender guitars, the same can be done to sharper-edges body shapes using plain old vinyl stripes. You can also get more creative by adding in more stripes as seen in the photo above by laying down stripe across the area where the pickups are. But remember, don't get too crazy here because if you add too much stripe, the guitar then looks more like a toy than an actual instrument.

3. Bandana hanging off the headstock

This is an appearance trick that has both form and function.

The original reason why guys started hanging bandanas off their headstocks was to stop string ringing after the nut.

Whenever anyone sees you playing a guitar with the bandana hanging off the pegboard, the eye is immediately drawn to it because it just looks different and it waves in its own way whenever you move around when playing.

I see a ton of players on YouTube using wristbands or slapping tape after the nut to stop string ring. They should just be using a bandana instead because it does the same job and looks a whole lot cooler.

the twilight zone

Recently I've been watching the original run of The Twilight Zone from 1959 through 1964.

As a kid, I very vaguely remember seeing one episode of the original 1959-era TTZ, and that was the episode The Fever, which is about gambling. The image of a slot machine following a guy around and terrorizing him stuck in my head for whatever reason.

There was a 1980s revival of TTZ, which in my opinion has the creepiest theme ever for a television show. It literally scared me as a kid. Whenever I saw it, I would change the channel. There was also Rod Serling's Lost Classics in 1994 and a second revival of TTZ in the 2002-2003 era, canceled after one season. I've not seen anything from the 1980s, 1990s or 2000s era of TTZ.

But anyway, this is about the late 1950s/early 1960s TTZ.

Summed up: It's awesome. And this is a lot coming from me considering I normally can't stand 1950s television.

The stories are fantastic, and I really dig the fact Rod Serling and crew took a lot of risks with TTZ. A lot of it is dark both in look and theme. People do get shot, and often - and you even see blood (which for the 1950s was a big deal).

The cinematography is beyond fantastic. Shots are clear, concise, precise and amazing. TTZ is as good as it gets for black-and-white television. Just about every single episode is a work of art. While the acting is at time a bit on the campy side, the stories told more than make up for that by leaps and bounds.

I'm a little more than half-way through season 1 and there hasn't been a single bad episode so far. That in itself is amazing; the stories are that good.

Here's the kicker however when watching TTZ: When watching this, I guarantee you're going to say to yourself, "Wait a second.. I've heard this story before.." at least a few times. Why? Because so many movies and other television shows have ripped off TTZ it's ridiculous. Sci-fi movies/tv, drama movies/tv, action movies/tv, you name it - a whole bunch have lifted material directly from this show. Sometimes in little pieces, other times in very obvious lifts, but you'll know it when you see it. I suppose you could call what other program and movie makers lifted from TTZ "recycling", but seriously.. a lift is a lift. :)

In many respects, TTZ is "space crazy"; it was filmed at a time when the space program in the US was huge news and everyone was talking about it. A ton of space program influence is in the show, no question. But it's cool.

Another thing is that TTZ was filmed at a time when America was at its most prosperous. The whole country had oodles of money, our dollar was worth quite a bit, everything was cheap and many were living the good life - literally. You could leave the door to your house and car unlocked. You could talk a walk at night and not worry about it. The nuclear family was in full effect in the late 50s. And yeah, people miss that. A lot. We haven't seen nuclear families in America for many years.

Anyway, a huge thumbs up to TTZ. Amazing show.

Everything you ever wanted to know about guitar picks

When I first tried Dunlop Tortex picks in .88mm size, I was hooked. I've tried many picks over the years, and I always go back to the Tortex - but I have very specific reasons why I do.

Originally, I started using Tortex picks because the special textured DuPont plastic it's made out of (which is called delrin) does not slip in my fingers. Later on I continued to use them because of what's called "pick memory". This is a weird term, but accurate. Basically, what it means is that Tortex picks always wear the same way; it won't be the situation where you use one pick and the tip wears off quick and with the next the tip wears off slow. The Tortex has the most consistency of wear of any guitar pick I've ever used. And they feel right to my fingers.

No, I'm not telling you to use Tortex picks. I use them personally, but you can use whatever you want.

Understanding plastics

This is something most guitar players don't pay attention to, but should.

First I will say that the plastic and thickness of plastic does affect the tone of the string. I'll talk about that more in a moment, but first, these are the types of plastics picks are made out of:

Celluloid

The "original plastic" for picks, so to speak. You know these as the "cheap picks", but some players really like them. The tips wear out really fast, and harder players can actually snap these things easily.

I describe celluloid picks as very "flappy" because you can literally hear a flapping noise when strumming with a celluloid pick.

Nylon

Lots of players like nylon picks specifically for the reason that they can be made very, very thin. As in less-than-wafer thin. They also have friction coating that makes them easy to grab and hold on to. They also bust fairly easily, so if you buy these, buy a bag.

Acetal (Delrin)

This is what the Tortex picks are made out of. Most who read this simply know these as "textured picks". Very durable and very difficult to snap/break. The tradeoff is that they typically produce less string ring/vibration.

Ultem

This is a very stiff pick, no matter the thickness. Very good for acoustic instruments like mandolins and ukeleles. Also very good for those looking for that old-school "tortoise shell" pick feel. When you want your acoustic strings to ring out loud, clear and true, ultem material picks are what you use.

Delrex

This is probably the "most grippy" pick you can use. It's what Dunlop Gator Grip picks are made out of. Most of you know these as "the 'chalky' looking pick". That chalk-like whiteness is the delrex material. The tradeoff to delrex is that you basically have to buy these in thick sizes. Metal players love these things because they never fall out of the fingers and can take a lot of punishment.

Other materials

Metal picks: Picks specifically made out of metal. Some call these "mirror picks" because they have a mirror finish to them. Cool to have, but noisy as hell because when the metal plucks the strings, it can create unwanted harmonics because the pick literally acts as a fret since it's metal.

Glass picks: These things are heavy in the hand, however, you may find that you can get your fastest picking speed ever (if speed is what you're after) with that extra weight. Like with the metal picks, they can create unwanted harmonics.

Wood picks: I only recommend using these to those who want a pick that has the "deadest" sound possible. No "flap" and no "clack" whatsoever from these things. I would only use a wood pick on an acoustic instrument where it was absolutely required to hear no pick noise whatsoever.

Things picks do that affect your sound

Flap

If you've ever used cheap picks, you know the flap sound. It's especially heard when strumming chords, even lightly.

Celluloid picks as mentioned above are the "flappiest" of the bunch. This is because they flex easily, so what's happening is that the pick is literally flapping from one string to the next when strumming.

Some players really like flappy picks. Sometimes when you're trying to get that "perfect vintage rock full power chord", you need a flappy pick to get it. Just about all the famous rock guitarists of years ago exclusively used flappy celluloid picks because there basically was little to nothing else around at the time.

Smoothness

No, not smoothness of tone. Smoothness of the plastic.

Smoother picks are in my experience better for soloing for one simple reason: They don't scrape the strings as much on the tip.

For example, let's say you're trying to perform a slower solo, but when plucking those high notes you can hear a lot of pick scraping noise. Sometimes this can be fixed easily just by using a smooth, non-textured pick - OR - using a pick that's not textured on the picking side (the top is textured for your grip, but the playing side is non-textured for plucking).

Flex

The flex of a pick isn't all about flap, because it can affect your entire playing style. For strummers, a pick with more flex is much more comfortable. For metalheads, thick picks are pretty much mandatory for crunching/chugging power chords. For those "in the middle" of all that (such as myself), a pick with some flex works best.

A list of picks all players should have (or at least try out)

Fender Classic Celluloid

This comes in a bunch of different colors, although you'll probably find them in white, black, "tortoise" or "confetti" as shown above. These things have been around forever, they're cheap, every guitar store has them and they'll be around for a long time.

Every guitar player should buy a 144-count box of these. They're nice to have around just for something different, or to give to friends (who always seem to forget their picks, so you don't mind giving these away), or if you genuinely like the old-style celluloid pick, you might as well get the Fender-branded kind because they look cool.

These things are easy to drill holes through and easy to make decoration with. They're so cheap that you could buy a few boxes of these and make a "pick curtain" (similar to a bead curtain) out of them. Or if you have plastic blinds for your windows, take off the knob end of the pull string and replace it with Fender picks. There are many, many ways of using these things as decoration.

Dunlop Jazz III

If you're going to buy a nylon pick, you might as well get this one. Jazz III's are preferred by many players (even ones that play heavy metal). When browsing through the listings, bear in mind there's the regular version of these and the "Max Grip" that have tread-like material at the top of the pick for better grip.

Dunlop Gator Grip

This delrex material pick one I specifically recommend to metal players because you can even get these things in super-thick 2.0mm sizes while still being the "grippiest" pick you've ever used. The Gator Grip will never drop out of the fingers, I can pretty much guarantee you that.

Dunlop Tortex

Of course, I have to mention the pick I use, the Tortex. While true there are other pick-makers who use acetal/delrin material, this one in my experience has the most consistent wear and "memory" as I said above.

When you find "that pick" you like, buy a bunch of them

Something I see happen to a lot of guitar players is that they're always running out of the picks they love simply because they didn't buy enough of them.

When you find the pick that suits you best, buy in bulk. You'll probably have to go on eBay to do that, but it's totally worth it because otherwise you'll be spending more for less in the long run.

How to make a "Bare Rig" that works for live guitar playing

A "bare rig" means a setup that uses the absolute least amount of gear to play live. It's good to come up with something like this so you're not "that guy in the band who's tweaks his settings for a half-hour just to play".

An ideal bare rig setup is something you can plug in and be ready to play in less than 5 minutes.

If I wanted to - and this is no joke - I could bring nothing but:

• One Squier guitar
• One guitar strap
• One guitar cable
• One power cord (for the amp)
• My Fender Frontman 212R

...and be able to perform club gigs with just that gear and nothing else.

The 212R comes with a pedal to switch from A (clean) to B (overdrive) channel easily, and in addition has a "More Drive" setting (also switchable via the floor pedal) for even more gain. And while on the clean tones, the built-in reverb does the job adequately.

Now I'm not saying I prefer to gig that way, but if I had to, I could get by with it. The above setup is as bare as you can get.

My personal opinion is that the most effective bare rig setup uses no more than four pedals at the most. Some guys have a floorboard with a ton of pedals on them, but for me that quickly turns into wasted money from all the 9V batteries you have to buy for all that stuff. It's either that or you have to bring along a bulky power strip to handle all those power adapters and extra wires.

Using one pedal to get the most

When you want a do-it-all, you get a DigiTech RP255. Everything is built-in to that pedal. Compression/sustainer, reverb, overdrive, distortion, chorus, wah, noise gate, flanger, phaser, pitch, vibrato/rotary, EQ, delay, and can act as a volume pedal to boot.

The RP255 basically does everything, with the only drawback being it doesn't run on battery and requires a power adapter to work.

Using separated effects

Personally, I don't think there's any way to accomplish this without using at least six pedals, which are (and yes I'm listing mostly BOSS pedals purposely because you can usually get them cheap and they're good and rugged for stage use where you'll get your money's worth):

• Compression/sustainer (BOSS CS-3)
• Delay (BOSS DD-7)
• Chorus (BOSS CH-1)
• Overdrive/distortion (BOSS DS-2)
• Wah (Dunlop Cry Baby)
• Noise gate (BOSS NS-2)

...and if you include an A/B channel switcher for the amp, that's seven pedals.

You could eliminate the delay, chorus and wah, but you'll miss them dearly.

Although I've said this before, I'll say it again: You cannot beat the price of a DigiTech RP255 considering all you get in a single unit. If you were to separate everything in the RP255 into separate pedal effects, you'll easily spend $500 or more and be required to have a massive pedal board to control it all.

While it is cool to have separate effects pedals, it really hits your wallet hard and that's why the RP255 is much more of a cost-effective solution. Believe me when I say you will not regret buying one. Yeah, I know, I sound like a sales guy for DigiTech, but seriously, if you go the all-separate-pedal route, you will spend way more than you should.

Using built-in amp effects and external pedals

Some amps (like Fender G-DEC series) have a bunch of effects built right in.

Are these any good? Well, that depends on how you use one.

Typically, if you stick to using just the amp's effects, you'll get mostly the sounds you want and it will perform just fine.

Mixing outboard effects in with amps that have their own effects however sometimes just doesn't mix.

The general rule is this when it comes to mixing pedals with an amp's effects: Only use digital.

The built-in effects to the amp are digital. If you mix in analog pedals with that, what usually happens is "mud" or digital "screeching". Trust me when I say that it sounds like crap.

Purposely use digital pedals on the other hand, and the signal will retain a much "cleaner" sound and won't mud out or screech on you.

Is it usually true that all-analog or all-digital is better?

Typically, yes. But you can mix analog and digital if you go about it the correct way.

For example, if you have an analog distortion and analog wah pedal followed by a digital delay pedal as the last effect in your setup, that will work fine because digital delay pedals usually don't muck up a signal hardly at all.

If on the other hand you have a digital chorus followed by an analog spring reverb, that will sound like crap because the high-treble/flat (by design) signal of the digital chorus doesn't "agree" with spring reverb at all. It sounds awful, and no matter how much tweaking you do it just won't work. You would literally have to put an EQ pedal in between the digital chorus and the spring reverb just to get the correct control over the sound, and that's a total waste when you could just switch over to an analog chorus that the spring reverb would agree with much better.

Experimentation is required when it comes to mixing digital and analog. But said honestly you can save yourself a lot of headaches, time and money if you just decide on which side of the fence you want to stay on and stick with it. Either go all-digital or all-analog, commit to it and you'll get the sound you want a whole lot easier.