A recording head comprises a write element, including a coil and a dynamic fly-height heater, and two electrical lapping guides. The head also comprises a number of bonding pads including a DFH bonding pad and a shared bonding pad both electrically connected to the dynamic fly-height heater. Each lapping guide defines a circuit between the shared bonding pad and a dedicated bonding pad and each includes a resistive element. The resistive elements of the two lapping guides can be vertically aligned to be used to control a lapping tilt angle when a bar of unfinished heads is lapped. After lapping, a channel is defined into the transducer of the recording head. Forming the channel can remove at least a portion of each lapping guide in order to break the electrical circuit of that guide.