I remember a feature in a Guitar Player Magazine from the late 80s. The early fender Pickups were not designed for bad, midrangy amplifiers but for clean playing. Fender just wanted a wider tonal response, and the wavlength off a bass string is longer than that of a treble string. So in order to come closer to similar nodes you get the treble end of the pickup closer to the bridge and the bass end further away.
In the 80s everybody was playing with a lot of gain and slanting the pu the other way gave you more clarity on the bass strings and a milder tone on the treble strings.
Hendrix was of course a pioneer of high gain and once again ahead of his time.

Lanz