Staggered magnets on a 16" fretboard radius?

[Sage]

I'm putting together a Strat from Warmoth parts. They specialize in a compound radius fretboard that goes from 10" to 16", and that sounds pretty interesting.

However, I'm also looking at pickups with staggered magnet heights, particularly the Classic Stacks. But in doing research on all this I found this piece of information on Kinman's site, where he claims that staggered magnets are a bad idea on any fretboard radius past 14".

What do you guys think? Do I need flat poles? Is the compound fretboard radius from Warmoth worth it?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Staggered magnets on a 16" fretboard radius?

I have always heard that about 10" is the "cut off" radius for using staggered magnets...that said I use staggered strat pickups in all my strats and will continue to do so. IMO "flats" are not quite a chimey as staggered so I stick with the staggered. Again, these are just my opinions, and others will chim in soon and you can get some other thoughts.

good luck

 

[báratta]

Re: Staggered magnets on a 16" fretboard radius?

I'm putting together a Strat from Warmoth parts. They specialize in a compound radius fretboard that goes from 10" to 16", and that sounds pretty interesting.

However, I'm also looking at pickups with staggered magnet heights, particularly the Classic Stacks. But in doing research on all this I found this piece of information on Kinman's site, where he claims that staggered magnets are a bad idea on any fretboard radius past 14".

What do you guys think? Do I need flat poles? Is the compound fretboard radius from Warmoth worth it?

I’m of the view that it’s best to go with flats after about 12. I had some Antiquity Surfers in a Pacifica with a 13.75 radius. I found that I was unable to adjust the pickup height to my liking because of the traditional stagger. The G was also prone to the dreaded warble caused by stratitis. I would certainly go for a set of SSL-2s if I were in your position, as they provide the traditional tone and sparkle without the imbalance. Incidentally, I equip 7.25 and 9.5 radius strats with traditional staggered pickups.

Samuel

 

[Sage]

Re: Staggered magnets on a 16" fretboard radius?

Thanks for the replies, guys. I guess it's best not to go with the 10-16 compound radius. Something tells me that may be too flat for me anyway.

I'm currently considering either a straight 12" radius, or a compound 10-12" radius from USA Custom Guitars. That should allow me to deal with the magnet stagger gracefully. But which one should I get? Is there a real advantage to the compound radius? I play mostly fingerstyle... not a lot of power chords so maybe a straight flat radius is better?

Also, I have a Squier strat, one of the first guitars I ever owned. I bought it around '93 or '94. Though the body is plywood, I've always loved the thin, satinized neck. Very comfortable, with a fairly wide nut, and worth replicating with this new project. When I try to measure the fretboard radius, it sure feels like a 12" radius, but I've never heard of such a thing on a Squier. Has anyone else?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Staggered magnets on a 16" fretboard radius?

i usually like some where around a 10" radius. i dont mind a little bit of a compound radius maybe 8"-10" which would be ok with staggered poles. does usa customs do whatever compound you want?

 

[theodie]

Re: Staggered magnets on a 16" fretboard radius?

If you go with a compound radius, the problem will be even worse than having a 13.75 inch radius like báratta spoke of. When a 10-16 is properly setup, the string radius at the bridge will in the neighborhood of 20 and the radius will change from about 19-16.5 or so over the bridge pickup to the neck pickup.

 

[Sage]

Re: Staggered magnets on a 16" fretboard radius?

i usually like some where around a 10" radius. i dont mind a little bit of a compound radius maybe 8"-10" which would be ok with staggered poles. does usa customs do whatever compound you want?

Actually, they do a 7.25" - 9.5" compound radius by default, and you may dig that. But their website says that they can accomodate any compound radius for a small upcharge.

If you go with a compound radius, the problem will be even worse than having a 13.75 inch radius like báratta spoke of. When a 10-16 is properly setup, the string radius at the bridge will in the neighborhood of 20 and the radius will change from about 19-16.5 or so over the bridge pickup to the neck pickup.

That was going to be my next question, thanks, theodie! I figured as much... It's sounding like a straight radius is the way to go. Now I have to decide between 10" and 12". And figure out if I want a vintage or 2-point tremolo (string spacing, and all that).