Flat Pole Piece problem

I am really getting into these Lollar Blackface pups.
Can't say enough good things about them, except....

I got the flat pole pieces. My Strat neck has a 12" radius, so to me staggered magnets were out of the question. But, now the poles don't rise up out of the pickup cover. So I need to bring the whole pickup closer to the string.
That leaves very little picking room. I don't have much depth under the string anymore.

It's not a deal breaker by any means, but I was wondering about you other lads with flat poles. Do they rise out of the plastic covers at all?

I used to have flat poles in my 1980's MIJ standard but swapped them out for staggered ones- I find the staggered poles get in the way more than the flat ones did due to the middles poles protruding upwards. If you set your pickup height according to Fender recommendations with flat poles you shouldn't have a problem, but If you are used to playing a Tele or two humbucker guitar you might need to adapt your technique to play between the pickups
Recommended pickup heights are near the bottom of the page on this link:
http://www.fender.com/support/articl...p-guidehttp://

edit: plus, I would have thought that Lollar would have done something to try and achieve the proper balance despite the level tops.

My Lollar BF's have the pole piece slightly above the bobbin, about the thickness of the cover so that when the covers are on the poles are flush with them. Those are still A5 pickups and shouldn't need to be raised all that high really.

I recently reinstalled my Rio Grande Vintage Tallboys into my 80;s MIJ Strat and I haven't picked up any of my other guitars since. The pole pieces are flat but only rise above the covers a little. My picking is not affected either way.