[Arran]

I just received my newly restored Philco 38-690 and was disappointed that my three other consoles all sound better and have no hum. They are a Zenith 12A58, an RCA 811, and a rare 1932 Story and Clark.

The Philco was completely re-capped, has all new old stock tubes, and bad resistors were replaced. I could NOT get my guy to replace the components in the two tubs. One tweeter was bad and he hooked up a modern tweeter in it's place. He also put in an FM tuner in the rear that can be switched on and off. That tuner is the ONLY sound producer as all other bands are silent. Worst is the heavy hum that lessens as you turn down the bass and also lessens when you turn up the volume. Does anyone have any idea what needs to be done? I now have over $3,400 into it and am far from happy. I bought it since everyone said it was Philco's best and the best sounding radio they ever owned. HELP!

Well for starters I would find another radio guy, this guy sounds like too much of a butcher to be working on such a complex set, why it does not play could be caused by a component failure or simply bad workmanship. I don't know what he charged you for this "service" but I would very much contemplate taking him to small claims court after installing an FM tuner in the back of such a radio, if it was something like a Philco 40-180 that would be one thing but a Philco 38-690 is quite another matter. I don't know what tubs you are refering to but if there are capacitors inside those are likely about to fail if they haven't done so already. With regard to the bad tweeter I really hope that you still have it and that it wasn't tossed out, those are not exactly easy to come by if you need one and they can be repaired or rebuilt.
Regards
Arran