Pro Staffs were originally manufactured at Wilson's River Grove plant near Chicago. In an effort to cut down on production costs and,reportedly, improve quality control, Wilson moved production to a new facility on St. Vincent Island in the West Indies. Rackets made at this facility have been assigned mystical qualities by many players mainly because rackets produced there were the only rackets that Pete Sampras would use throughout his entire professional career. In the early 90s, Wilson again moved production; this time to Taiwan and China, again undoubtedly to cut costs. The later Asian versions are of high quality. However, purists are not convinced that they measure up to the standard set by the "legendary" Saint Vincent rackets.
Below is a table showing, to the best of my knowledge, the different versions of the Pro Staff Midsize rackets and their distinguishing characteristics (also see legend below the table):
| chronol. order | NAME | BC | CODE | CODE LOCATION | MIDSIZE | BUMPER | TENSION | PRIMER | FINISH | ORIGIN |
|
1 |
PS |
WHITE |
xxI |
BOTTOM |
X2 |
NO |
65-70 |
RED |
MATTE |
CHICAGO |
|
2 |
PS |
WHITE |
xxQ |
BOTTOM |
X2 |
NO |
65-70 |
RED |
MATTE |
SV |
|
1a | xxB | BELGIUM | ||||||||
|
3 |
PS |
WHITE |
xxQ |
BOTTOM |
X2 |
NO |
55-65 |
RED |
MATTE |
SV |
|
4 |
PS |
WHITE |
xxQ |
BOTTOM |
X2 |
YES |
55-65 |
RED |
MATTE |
SV |
|
5 |
PS |
WHITE |
xxQ |
BOTTOM |
X2 |
YES |
50-60 |
RED |
MATTE |
SV |
|
6 |
PS |
WHITE |
xxQ |
BOTTOM |
X1 |
YES |
50-60 |
RED |
MATTE |
SV |
|
7 |
PS |
WHITE |
|
TOP |
X1 |
YES |
50-60 |
GRAY |
GLOSSY |
TAIWAN |
|
8 |
PS |
WHITE |
|
TOP |
85 |
YES |
50-60 |
GRAY |
GLOSSY |
CHINA |
|
9 |
6.0 |
WHITE |
|
TOP |
85 |
YES |
50-60 |
GRAY |
MATTE |
CHINA |
|
10 |
6.0 |
BLACK |
|
TOP |
85 |
YES |
50-60 |
GRAY |
MATTE |
CHINA |
chronol. order: order in which model was manufactured with respect to time
name: PRO STAFF or PRO STAFF 6.0
code location: at bottom or on top of "W" on buttcap
MIDSIZE: written on outer edges of throat: x2 = writte on both sides; x1 = appears only on one side; 85 = MIDSIZE 85
origin: SV = Saint Vincent Island, West Indies