PRS Guitars is a Maryland guitar maker founded by Paul Reed Smith, who began building instruments in 1976 and opened the company for business in 1985. Its Stevensville factory produces guitars and amplifiers, while the company also operates a dedicated facility in Surabaya, Indonesia for SE Series instruments. PRS describes a heritage of continual instrument development and offers both production models and individually customized Private Stock instruments.
C. F. Martin & Co., IncFounded in 1833, C. F. Martin & Co. is a family-owned and operated musical-instrument maker that has remained under family ownership for six generations. The company builds acoustic guitars and ukuleles, and has also manufactured its own strings since acquiring Darco Strings in 1970. Its instruments are handcrafted in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, while Martin strings are made at the company’s facility in Navojoa, Mexico.NAZARETH, PA
Hipshot Products, IncFounded by Dave Borisoff in 1982 after he invented a lever-operated string bender for his band, Hipshot Products makes innovative hardware for electric guitars and basses. Now based in Interlaken, New York, the company employs a 43-person team of machinists, inventors and musicians, with CNC machining and final production supported by American labor. Hipshot’s factory is powered in part by nine solar-panel banks that generate 200 kilowatts, while its original string-bending idea has grown into hardware used by musicians around the world.INTERLAKEN, NY
Purple AudioFounded by Andrew Roberts in 1997 after his work repairing high-end studio equipment in Manhattan, Purple Audio designs and manufactures recording equipment for professional, touring, and home studios. Now based in a restored historic fire company building beside Jim Thorpe’s Mauch Chunk Opera House, the Pennsylvania shop is known for the MC77 FET limiter and a broader line of analog studio gear. Live performances next door are also recorded through Purple Audio equipment for release as live albums.JIM THORPE, PA
Evil Eye FXFounded by childhood friends and bandmates Sean Feeney and Ben Popp in 2023, Evil Eye FX hand-builds guitar pedals one at a time in Philadelphia. The company grew from their shared habit of modding Boss pedals and channels their love of fantasy, role-playing games and vintage circuits into distinctive effects such as the Warg Fuzz. Every pedal carries a lifetime warranty, including for subsequent owners.