A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head is fabricated with a tapered main pole having a variable thickness. The tapered portion of the pole is at the ABS tip and it can be formed by bevels at the leading or trailing edges or both. The taper terminates to form a region with a maximum thickness, t1, which extends for a certain distance proximally. Beyond this region of maximum thickness t1, the pole is then reduced to a constant minimum thickness t2. A yoke is attached to this region of constant minimum thickness. This pole design requires less flux because of the thinner region of the pole where it attaches to the yoke, but the thicker region just before the tapered ABS provides additional flux to drive the pole just before the ABS, so that high definition and field gain is achieved, yet fringing is significantly reduced.