A couple days ago I found a Pioneer PL-41A in a local thrift. It looked beautiful, had a good cartridge (Shure M-91), but didn't spin. $5 bucks later, I was out the door. $12 bucks later I had a new belt, and a working TT. However, at some point in the past, someone cut off the interconnect cord. So, I drilled two 3/4" holes in the back, and mounted a pair of chassis-mount RCA jacks onto plexiglass, and screwed the plexiglass into the wood base from the inside. Problem solved, and now I can use my nuclear-blast-proof shielded IC's!

Man, this is a nice TT. I don't have much experience with vinyl, but this will sure make me drag my records back out from under the bed, and hit the thrifts and garage sales for more! And, I LOVE the prop rod!!!!!

Here's a technical question, why do most TT's I see have an attached interconnect cord? Are there noise/shielding issues with RCA jacks? Just as a precaution, I fashioned an aluminum foil shield around the jacks before I put the bottom cover back on.

Here's a couple pics, NEVER MIND the half-dead plants in the background. I watered them, alright?!?! :D

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/elderfelder/tt1.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc103/elderfelder/tt2.jpg

Congratulations--it is beautiful! How about some pics of your handiwork at the rear?

Yes, turntables are very sensitive to noise, so the fewer the connections the better. Much lower chance of hum by running shielded cables directly from the tonearm wire connection than by introducing jacks. However if you keep the wires to the jacks shielded, it's usually not a problem.

I have always suspected that by supplying the TT with an integral cable, they could eliminate the potential problem of excessive hum when somebody connected their TT with a 12 foot cord, especially the "basic" ones so common when these tables were new.

If you notice, most TTs come with only about a 3-5 foot cord. The shorter cable would also contribute to less noise and signal loss.

Just my thoughts. :)

Man that's a beauty. Is that a VTA adjustment on the tonearm?

I have always suspected that by supplying the TT with an integral cable, they could eliminate the potential problem of excessive hum when somebody connected their TT with a 12 foot cord, especially the "basic" ones so common when these tables were new.

If you notice, most TTs come with only about a 3-5 foot cord. The shorter cable would also contribute to less noise and signal loss.

Just my thoughts. :)
Yes, the cords were short to keep capacitance low and therefore limit signal loss. But although some users may have used long extensions, they were never intended to be used by the manufacturers, nor could the integrated shorter cable compensate for all the added capacitance of a 12' cable.

For hum, though, length is not an issue. As long as the cable is well shielded, it will be fine.