[peteivan]

I recently acquired a Philco 38-690 console for $25.00 at a yard sale. The catch is that the amplifier chassis and 14" speaker are missing, and according to the previous owner, they disappeared many years ago. I plan to keep the set, I didn't buy it to re sell. The cabinet is in reasonable condition, with no veneer delaminating. There are a few scratches, and the finish is flaking off around the bottom of the cabinet. the worst problem is that something sitting on top of the cabinet became embedded in the finish. I realize that it will be nearly impossible to locate the original missing parts ( especially at anything approaching a reasonable price ), as these sets were not produced in great quantity. I plan to use a jukebox amplifier ( P-P 6L6's about 20W out ) that I already own for now-I have figured out how to adapt it to work and power the receiver chassis as well as work the voltage controlled bass boost. I will not modify the original receiver chassis in any way. I will fabricate the receptacles that mate with the plugs from the receiver. I have already fabricated the 10 pin receptacle. I used a 1.5" dia. nylon rod for the shell. A template was made, and the pin positions were transferred to the shell and drilled to accommodate the female pins. If I find an original amplifier chassis and speaker, all I have to do is remove the replacement amp and plug in the original. Another option would be to obtain a new chassis and build an amplifier that closely duplicates the original. Power transformers could come from other scrap Philco radios. This would be quite an ambitious undertaking, and the result would still not be exactly original. I don't know if it would be worth it.