A magnetic recording head having a write pole formed in a point. The narrow width of the write pole can be manufactured using existing equipment, reduces the number of steps required to build the recording head, and results in a recording head that has other advantages. Forming the write pole in a point is done using two masking steps and mill processing. The writer and reader are positioned next to each other so that the second masking step which forms the point of the writer pole also defines the back edge of the stripe.