A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head has a pole tip shielded laterally by a separated pair of bottom side shields and shielded from above by an upper shield. The bottom side shields surround a lower portion of the pole tip while the upper portion of the pole tip is surrounded by non-magnetic layers. The bottom shields and the non-magnetic layer form a wedge-shaped trench in which the pole tip has been formed by a self-aligned plating process. A write gap layer and an upper shield is formed above the side shields and pole. The resulting structure substantially eliminates track overwrite while maintaining good track definition.