A magnetic recording head for use in perpendicular magnetic recording having a design that allows the write coil to be manufactured by a damascene process for increased coil pitch and reduced coil resistance. The magnetic write head includes a photoresist dam structure that allows a hard baked photoresist to be formed that does not extend to the air bearing surface (ABS). Since the photoresist dam prevents the hard baked photoresist from reaching the ABS, the damascene process, in which the hard baked photoresist remains in the finished write head, can be used to produce the write head. The use of such a damascene process advantageously allows the space between the coil turns to be reduced, which maximizes the number of turns that can be used and also maximizes the number width to which the coil turns can be constructed, thereby minimizing the electrical resistance of the write coil.