Creamery Custom Radius Stratocaster Pickups

Pickups to Match the radius of your neck/fingerboard

I'm often asked to make a custom set of Strat pickups with the old vintage stagger, by that I mean, the pole magnets follow the stagger pattern of the old, early Fender® pickups. This vintage stagger usually poses no problems with tighter radius necks (7.25", 9.5") but does create issues with the more modern radius necks.

 Creamery Stratocaster (Strat) Vintage Neck Radius & Pole Height

Why do some Stratocaster guitar pickups have staggered polepieces?

Simply put, staggered polepiece magnets help to balance the output/volume of each string. If you have a flat pole set of pickups with a 7.25" radius neck then you'd get more perceived volume from the high & low 'E' strings as they would be closer to the magnets whereas with a vintage stagger, the poles follow the radius of the neck to give good volume balance. Conversely, a vintage staggered set on a modern 10" or 12" neck will over emphasise the middle 'D' & 'G' strings as they will be closer to the strings.

Pickups staggered to suit your neck radius

I often chat with customers about the radius of their guitar neck when I wind them a set of Strat pickups. The pic at the top of this blog article shows a custom 10" staggered set of my Sweet '74 Stratocaster Pickups. The customer wanted a good, rounded tone with balanced output across the strings.

Coming Soon - The "Sonic-Six" adjustable pole Strat pickup

 Creamery "Sonic-Six" Custom Adjustable Pole Strat Pickup

Its with this in mind I've designed the new Sonic-Six, adjustable pole Strat pickup. The individual threaded magnets allow you to find the right balance for each string.

If you're after a good rounded balance to your strat pickups I can custom make a set to suit your guitar. Have a look at my range of Handwound Strat pickups, and let me know the radius of your fingerboard. If you don't know, just let me know the make & model of your guitar and I can research it.