Staggered neck and flat middle - will it matter??

[jimmyelectric]

Hi guys! I'm currently seeking a new pup set to replace the stocks in my strat. I'm going for a Little 59 bridge, an SSL-2 in the middle, and an Ant Surf in the neck. I really want the Surf, but unfortunately it comes only in staggered as opposed to the flat I prefer. Will there be a big diff going from the staggered neck and into the flat middle, and when I have it in position 4? Thanks

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Staggered neck and flat middle - will it matter??

Define "big"

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Staggered neck and flat middle - will it matter??

How steep (or shallow) is the fingerboard radius? This may have some bearing on how close you can adjust each pickup to the strings.

I would be inclined to place the SSL-2 at the neck position and the Ant II in the middle. Any polarity/phase issues with respect to the bridge/middle combination can be corrected by rearranging the four output conductors of the Li'l 'bucker.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Staggered neck and flat middle - will it matter??

It may not be an option where the OP is located, but can't the Surfer be ordered as a shop floor custom with flat poles?

+1 regarding fingerboard radius. The SSL-2 may have balance issues on a 7.25" radius, whereas it would be fine on a 12" radius. I would expect the Surfer to exhibit the opposite behavior, and both pickups to behave reasonably well on a compromise radius like 9.5-10".

 

[jimmyelectric]

Re: Staggered neck and flat middle - will it matter??

i'm really into how flat pole pups compare to staggered ones, at least based on the youtube videos i've seen (most notably the bare knuckle shootout). I like how all the strings sound so full. I also heard that the stagger in most vintage style strat pups were made with wound G's in mind, and I'm using a regular daddario 11-49 set haha. my strat, an MIJ ST58, has vintage radius (7.25)

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Staggered neck and flat middle - will it matter??

As counterintuitive as it sounds, flatpole is always the ideal for string balance. Staggered will sound a little different but it won't be disastrous. My own Strat has a staggered middle (a soft vintage stagger, I call it) and the other two with a very slightly raised D and G, all but flat. Though it probably would be a little better if the middle matched, it sounds fine so I haven't gotten around to making a flatpole middle for myself yet.