An apparatus according to one embodiment includes an array of transducers, where the array of transducers includes at least one contiguous group of transducers in a number specified in a format and at least two servo readers, where the servo readers are symmetrically positioned about the contiguous group of transducers and the servo readers are asymmetrically positioned relative to a centerline of the array of transducers. Moreover, a number of transducers in the contiguous group of transducers is less than a number of transducers in the array of transducers.