[Ray P]

                        Hi
A friend of mine is selling a Philco 38-680. I can't find any info on it.
Did he get the model number wrong?
What is a fair price for radio? Was restored 17 yrs ago. Plays, needs some tweaking to get everything working; see bottom post.

Ray

[Ron Ramirez]

You won't find any info on it...because there is no such thing as a 38-680. Is it a 38-690?

[Ray P]

Thanks,
What price range are these going for?

Ray

[sam]

WoW that's a sharp radio like the roll top and dial if it`s same as this

[sam]

sorry won`t take first time ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/All-Original-193...5658043e35

[Ray P]

Same as this one I believe but much nicer.

[y2kbruce]

The one on ebay has been relisted a few times and is over-priced IMO.

Their sales prices have been all over the place depending on the condition and who the seller was. I think Willie sold one or two for about $2k in the past year. I would say the going rate is $1k to $2k range. The delivery options also affect the sales prices.

[Ray P]

Thanks,
It is local from a radio friend of mine. A professional refinish and chassis restore.

[Arran]

Whenever I hear that Philco Model X (or any other make and model) has received a "professional" refinish and chassis restoration I'm always skeptical. There was/is a Philco 38-3XX on Seattle Craigslist for an outrageous amount claiming the same and not only is the finishing job incorrect it actually looks terrible. Also for some unknown reason they did not have the wherewithal to replace a broken power switch on the tone control and decided to plug the set into powerbar mounted in the back of the cabinet and turn the set on and off in that manner. If I am buying a set as restored I would want to know who performed the work, and to see under chassis shots, I spent a month on and off about a year ago trying to sort out a so called "restoration" performed by a "Professional" and it was an absolute hack job.
Regards
Arran

[Ray P]

Hi
Thanks for being skeptical.
This man that refinished the cabinet is my friend who is a master wood worker. He is also a engineer
and does fabulous chassis work. I have bought many radios from him.

Thanks Arran

[Ron Ramirez]

I corrected the model number in the heading of this topic.

Ray, can you post some pictures of your friend's 38-690?

[Ray P]

I did not take any. I can next time I go over. I don't know when that will be.

Ray

[TA Forbes]

Unfortunately the prices for the 37/38-690 is inflating in a manner that the Waltons sets did in the '90s and early 2000s.

Personally, I believe that 1700 dollars is to high.

[Arran]

At least in the case of the 690 series sets, because they are a console, and a big one, and not as recognizable with a somewhat nondescript dial , that limits the market more. Unlike the Brand Z Walton sets there is something going for a 690 other then the cabinet style, or that one it's siblings was an anachronistic TV prop. Even in the case of the Brand Z I think that the prices may have got too out of hand even for loyal followers of the "Order of the Big Black Dial", at one point they were getting up to $3K for them. Like with the catalin sets too many of the unscrupulous money guys got into it and started souring the market with Frankenradios and bastardized "restoration" jobs.
Regards
Arran

[Ray P]

Hi
The radio looked so good I thought the chassis was up and running. It may be running but from the reply I got
from my friend below it needs some work. He did do a fantastic job on the cabinet.

Ray

The 38-690 works and all the paper and electrolytic capacitors have been replaced ( probably 15 years ago). The

chassis have not been modified. The tuning mechanism needs to be lubed (the fine tuning drive slips), the volume

control needs cleaning, the dial lights are out (probably a broken wire) and there may be other items that

need attention. The radio has what Philco called "Magnetic Tuning" which I find can be a problem getting it to

work properly, resistors need to be balanced and the alignment for that circuitry needs to be right on.