Staggered Pole vs Flat Pole: Once more into the breach, dear friends

Ever notice the more you research something the more confusing it gets? :shock::confused::oops: So here I am.

I'm going to build my first relic this summer and I'm shopping for pickups. I want something 'special' ... but that could be OVs for all I care. I have a dozen Teles, and have varied pickups in them. My favorites are the Fender '62 Customs (even have one in the bridge of my AV52RI). I'm using a couple of Texas Specials. I have a modified (only operating as a single coil due to something having broken) SD STK-T3b. You may notice a trend in these: Staggered poles. I also have OVs in a GESmith-clone, Lindy Fralins in my Mellecaster, and SCN Noiseless in my AmStd: the Flat poles. Flat (but raised) Rio Grande Tall Boys in another. So you can see, I'm all over the map; this is what happens when a kid with disposable income gets into the candy store.

I've read a lot of material on this -- Lollar's view, Telenator's view, Bill Lawrence's view, etc. I see no real 'expert' trend here and some disagreement on even basics. I thought one of the firmer principles indicated fretboard radius was key (7.25"==>staggered poles), but Fezz Parka shot that down in one post.

So my question to anyone who cares to opin-in ... what's your take? My mind is reeling (as it usually does when a few ideas too many -- like more than one -- get in there). My growing feeling is that there is no right or wrong on this -- just what we do. And things like the pick-up itself (and all it's variations), how it is set (height), the amp, the player -- and most importantly, the player's ear -- are what matters. But what do I know? I'm a moron most of the time (just as SWMBO).

Fire away fellers ... I'm here to get more thought.

I think without any question..its the obvious..the raised pole accents that string more than the others...a little more character/expression to the sound :wink:

Throw in a 500k volume pot and the contrast is even greater :wink:

One thing to consider is the magnetic properties of the wraps on the bottom strings. Stainless, Alloy 52, etc. are going to be louder than pure nickle wrap. Those will generally be more even in output. It shouldn't hurt to have a slightly raised A and D. I raise them a bit on my 12-14" radius guitars with adjustable poles and it sounds perfect with Alloy 52, and the new smoother feeling Alloy 5109. I'd probably raise them higher with a smaller radius. My flat pole SC's sound just fine, too. In either case, there's really no reason to have a raised G pole with a plain G. That's my experience.

The G is sooo dominant!!

For years Fralin has offered pups with a slighty raised D (the weak one for me!) and of course a flat G.

BUT little known is he offers pups with a taller raised D!
(Larry Cragg, Neil Young's tech orders these in batches)

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All my favorite sounding pickups are flatpole. Might not mean anything.

I use a wound G string and for that reason only I prefer staggered pickups.