Q: In many used or vintage guitar ads, I see the term “pre-factory” PRS guitars. Exactly what does that mean?
A: The concept of the “pre-factory” PRS guitar is most times simply a way to give the impression that before their move to the Stevensville, Maryland facility in 1995, PRS employees somehow built instruments differently, or better than after the move. The subtext being that these instruments are more desirable.
For the most part, the same people were building guitars the same way when they were at the Virginia Avenue complex, from about 1985-1995. Many high-end instruments have come out of the Stevensville facility, which has considerably more space and more sophisticated tooling available. These include the Rosewood Ltd., both the Artist III and IV editions, the Archtop and Hollowbody, and most recently, the critically acclaimed Singlecut models (and this does not even take into consideration the many astounding Private Stock instruments that have been built there).
One big misconception, that the “small heel” PRS models were changed to “large heel” instruments after the move, is simply false. The switch to longer heels was made to give the joint between the body and neck more substance. The Artist I of 1991 was the first PRS instrument to have the larger heel.
To sum up, the only true “pre-factory” PRS examples are those built by hand before the first Custom model was introduced in 1985.
