A writer for magnetic recording heads. The writer includes a bottom magnetic pole and a write gap formed over the bottom pole and a coil trench formed in the bottom pole. A top magnetic pole is provided as two layers with the first layer including front and back tips with spaced apart walls positioned adjacent the trench bottom defining trench sides. A pole cover layer is included that is made up of a thin layer of insulating material deposited to cover the sides and bottom of the coil trench. A bottom coil is formed on the pole cover layer in the bottom of the coil trench and coil insulation is provided between the coil elements and adjacent the trench walls and covering the coil. A top coil with insulation is formed over the planarized bottom coil insulation and the top pole second layer is formed over the top coil.