Princess Extra Holes

[Fabius]

I picked up this 702B princess dated 7/69 and while it is in excellent condition there are two extra holes/openings in the shell on the back lower right. The holes seem to be professionally done. Could this be something done when made or for some reason later one?

[paul-f]

What's the date inside the housing?

It was probably made to be compatible with the cord exit position of the 701-type and 711-type Princess sets, so it would fit any model variation.

[WesternElectricBen]

Could it be a hole for a separate lamp lead?

Ben

[unbeldi]

The cord exit on the 701 type Princess was moved about 6 months into 1960, or mid-year.
The 702 type didn't need the mouse at all because the housing was lifted up a bit.
Later manufactured housings had a provision in the plastic for refurbishing to accommodate both of the 701 type bases.

[Dan/Panther]

Could it be a hole for a separate lamp lead?

Ben

My most probably guess.
D/P

[Fabius]

What's the date inside the housing?

It was probably made to be compatible with the cord exit position of the 701-type and 711-type Princess sets, so it would fit any model variation.

The shell is dated C 65. So there are two separate additional holes because the 701 and the 711 had slightly different cord entry locations or since the holes are different in size had different thickness line cords?

[paul-f]

That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

I found a similar housing dated 1961 and tried it on several sets.

   
• On an early 701B the cord exits thru the left notch.
• On a 711 the cord exits thru the right notch.
• On a late 701B the cord exits thru the right notch.

Looking closely at the 701 and 711, it is clear that the 711 needed some space to the left of the dial for the exclusion key pileup.  The early 701B had the cord routed thru that space, so it had to be moved.

The 711 also used a much fatter D14 mounting cord, rather than the 701's D6, so the exit hole in the base was larger.  Note that even the late 701 cord exit hole and housing notch seem to be large enough to accommodate the larger D14 cord.  That way tooling was consistent for all Princess variations.

This change doesn't seem to have been considered important enough to make it into the BSPs studied so far.  Perhaps someone will find something in writing to confirm this speculation.

[Fabius]

That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Sounds good to me and it makes sense.

[paul-f]

I thought the weight in the above photo looked a bit different than I remembered from other 701Bs.

Apparently it was designed for the early 701B cord exit position and had to be modified for the change in cord location.
  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=12103.0