Suggestion: ITT/Cortelco/Stromberg-Carlson versus Western Electric

[Holtzer-Cabot]

Hello all! Not that it is really that relevant, but do you know any other 14 year old phone collectors? I am probably the only one who doesn't
have a smartphone, and collects phones, and repairs old tube radios and electronics!

Anyways, I was wondering if someone in the near future could do an in depth comparison between the real Western Electric phones (model 500 or 2500) and those manufactured by other companies under license from Western Electric, or even after the Bell breakup. (I know Cortelco made the model 500 until 2006) I would like to see the external build quality of the housing, the handset, and the quality and longevity of the internals, such as the ringer assembly, the network, switch-hook, dial, and the metal baseplate. I don't know much about the production years of the ITT 500s, but I know in their later years they used a printed circuit board, instead of a Western Electric style potted metal network. Would an ITT or Stromberg-Carlson 500 hold up as well as a Western Electric from the 50's-60's? (That brings to mind, it would also be nice to see the differences between the golden age of the Western Electric 500s, in the 50's and 60's, versus the later modular 500s in the 70's-early 80's made by W.E.) I have heard that the later W.E. 500s are cheaper than the earlier ones, and I personally like the earlier hardwired ones. I would just like to see someone put together a good comparison, so next time I go to the antique mall, I can decide if I should buy a 500, based on what I hear, because they had a mix of early W.E., later W.E. and ITT. And I know someone already did a comparison awhile back on a W.E. 500 vs. a Cortelco 2500. I also wonder if there were any differences in Northern Electric vs Western Electric 500 sets, or N.E./W.E. phones all together.

[rdelius]

My opinion WE then ITT/Kellogg and then SC.  Toward the end WE cut corners more than the others -Ex glued in with stick tape networks,hookswitches with ballpoint pen spring hookswitches etc

[Holtzer-Cabot]

My opinion WE then ITT/Kellogg and then SC.  Toward the end WE cut corners more than the others -Ex glued in with stick tape networks,hookswitches with ballpoint pen spring hookswitches etc

Thanks for sharing your opinion! I never knew W.E. got that cheap in the end! What do you think of me being 14 and collecting phones and repairing vintage electronics? Do you remember the old self-service tube testers back in the day you would of used to test your radio or TV tubes? They were popular in drug stores.

[rdelius]

I have banana boxes full of tubes i dont need after i pull what fits items I have.Use a military TV7Dtube tester.Have many old radios including a Scott all wave 15 and many foreign sets such as Tesla etc

[Holtzer-Cabot]

I have banana boxes full of tubes i dont need after i pull what fits items I have.Use a military TV7Dtube tester.Have many old radios including a Scott all wave 15 and many foreign sets such as Tesla etc

Wow! That is cool! I have 3 boxes full of tubes, and I have two tube testers. (Superior Instruments Co. model TV-11, Precision Apparatus Co. (PACO) model T-60.) Both are emissions testers. The TV-7 testers are good testers! My main radio is a 1940 Sears Silvertone model 6327.