I brought home an RCA Victor SHF-3 this weekend and took the pictures below as soon as it made it in the door.

(her master's voice)


It's functioning, but all is not well. Here are some of the issues I've found…

There is a low frequency hum that sounds when the phono is engaged. The hum increases when the loudness dial is turned up.

When playing a couple of records, I found that this amp sounds pretty dirty. There is a light distortion. But, it has a good frequency response. With some work I hope that it cleans up and sounds better.

In addition to cleaning and lubing the motor and all of the moving parts, I’ll be changing the cartridge according to Larry's thread.



I haven't hooked up an antenna yet, but it is picking up some AM - FM not so much. The tuning eye tube is very faded and is barely noticeable on AM. It is a little brighter on FM, but I think it just needs to be replaced.

Some of the black lettering above the control knobs has been rubbed off, and when the stereo button is pressed no sound comes out at all. When the Mark button is pressed, it doesn’t stay in unless I pull out the stereo button. Then I get sound.



The back panel is not there. But, I intend to make one. I would appreciate it if someone on the forum would post a picture of their SHF-3’s back panel for me to use as a reference.



I haven’t tested any of the tubes yet.




It isn’t perfect, but it’s a nice little hi fi. It doesn't look blond to me. It's more of an amber color. The color inside the phono drawer is darker than the exterior and the inside of the radio door is much darker.

Very nice unit, your first course of action would be to replace all the old capacitors in the amp and tuner section.
This needs to be done to make the unit reliable and to safeguard against damaging other more expensive components.
Its great that it works but you should never really just plug an old unit into the wall and switch on, sometimes they can go bang.
This aside i think you have found a lovely unit and with some work could be made to sound very nice and work very well.
good luck.

Yes indeed, do yourself a favor and don't even plug it in until it's been "restored" properly.
The thought of that nice big juicy power transformer getting fried to death is an expensive lesson in not having patience.

Thank you for your replies. I have ordered the sam's photofact for the electronics restoration.

The story behind this unit is that it sat in a small town RCA dealership until the owner of the dealership died around 6 years ago. He kept it running all of these years, and it's been electronically serviced before. But, clearly it is in need of more work again. So, per the advice here, I will not be plugging it in and turning it on until I've been able to do the work.

It looks like a blonde console that has had stain applied to it to make it look like a more traditional-colored wood. You can really see it on the radio door, near the "New Orthophonic" emblem.

It's a great console. I've owned 4 of them and still have two of them in blonde and they have a great big mono sound when working properly. Should be a nice and rewarding project.

Yes, once serviced, the SHF-3 sounds great.... a very nice acquisition!

Steve

That's one RCA console that I've never owned or serviced. Looks like that one has the amp and tuner built on one chassis.

If the record and tape inputs are mono, the what is the stereo switch for? FM stereo?

The Mark/Stereo buttons are not for stereo FM, it was not even available when your unit was built. In the "Mark" position, the unit plays in mono. The "Stereo" button is utilized when you hook the console up to a unit such as the STR-2 Stereo Tape deck:



When the SHF-3 is properly connected to the tape console, you hit the "Stereo" button on the SHF-3, and then the console uses the stereo preamp in the STR-2 to control both it's own power amp and the power amp section in the SHF-3. When you use it in this mode, the volume and tone controls do not function on the SHF-3. Sounds kind of circuitous, but it works well and is a great way to listen to stereo.

Nice...that is actually a Maple SHF-3 very cool. Some bone headed varnished over the inside of that door etc and did a sloppy job of it at that. I have a factory RCA SHF-3 tech sheet and it states that the classic was available in only Mahogany and Maple and the Modern was the only version available in blonde. You can tell it is Maple as well from the grain, the oak and maple are completely different looking grains on these units.

If you need parts like that backing panel give me an IM because I am parting one out.

T

Good eye as usual, BB. I was looking at the pics on a smartphone earlier but I see now that it is maple.....very unusual. If you look at the closeup of the door, it really looks very light under the stain, like blonde. Very odd that they would have slopped that stain or paint on there like that.

Also interesting that they never made this style in blonde. A year later for the SHC series, they switched it up and DID offer this cabinet in blonde, while dropping the modern-styled one:



Makes me wonder if the modern blonde version that everyone likes was a poor seller back in '57.

Very interesting. Since there are no stereo rca plug options anywhere on the rear of the chassis, I've have been scratching my head about that. Thank you for clearing that up for me. BTW, That STR-2 looks killer

The story the sellers told me about this set checks out.





Allan H. Armstrong
Sunday, September 29th, 2002


ALLAN H. ‘AL’ ARMSTRONG, 76, A longtime Sedro-Woolley resident and businessman, passed away on Sunday morning, September 29, 2002 at Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon, WA following a brief battle with cancer.
Al was born on June 10, 1926 in Fortuna, CA, the son of Herbert & Nettie Feliz Armstrong. He was raised and attended school in California until the family moved to Concrete, WA in 1942. In 1942, at age 16 he enlisted into the U.S. Navy, serving his country for the duration of WW II.
Al first married Mary Helen Bailey and from that union his children, Russ & Christina were born. He later married Mary Jo Pressley on February 14, 1962 and they made their home in Sedro-Woolley. Al first worked for Johnson’s Appliance & Furniture for several years until he purchased Malone Music, changing the name to Armstrong Appliance & TV, which he operated for over 30 years, up until a week prior to his death.
He was a longtime member of the American Legion and served as Post Commander for the George Baldridge Post 43 in Sedro-Woolley. He was also a 31 year member of Rotary International in Sedro-Woolley.
He is survived by his wife Jo at the family home in Sedro-Woolley. His daughter, Christina Armstrong of Snohomish. His sons Russ Armstrong and his wife Kim of Burlington. Rick Latham of Lynnwood, WA and Russ Latham and his wife Tawne of Bremerton, WA. His sister and brother-in-law, Renee & Bob Tucker of Sonora, CA. 6 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, a son Frank Latham in 1979, his brother, Dick Armstrong in 1999. Memorials to Hammer Heritage Square, c/o Kim Walley, Pacific Northwest Bank 900 Metcalf St, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284 are suggested.
Come celebrate a life well-lived filled with God’s sweet Grace. Come remember his hearty laugh, the smile that was ever on his face. Bring your memories of how he lived, and of how he blessed your life. Come share your hearts and thoughts of him with his children and his wife’ Come prepared to laugh and remember well, for you know he was that sort, Come rejoice that Jesus brought him safely home and he’s reached his final Port.
A Celebration of Al’s Life will be held Thursday October 3, 2002 at 1:00 PM at His Place Church, 1480 South Burlington Blvd., Burlington, WA. Pastor Nick Harris officiating. Cremation and arrangements under direction of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley. Share your thoughts and memories of Al and sign the online guest register at http://www.lemleychapel.com


This is the address of the appliance shop he ran and where this hi fi console sat up until his death. It is now occupied by a Domino's Pizza

118 Ferry St
Sedro Woolley, WA 98284

I forgot to add before that the sellers even gave me the Nipper dog that sat on Al's desk in his shop to go with the RCA console. Now Nipper's home is on top of the shf-3.

This Nipper must have been on a diet!!! Looks great, though.

Mine are stocky looking:

It is nice one table for standing one special any system, it is as per mature size also, it is made in hard wood, so it is very strong, I don't know what is price for that, but I can guess that it will not be costly.

Love the Nippers! Here is our real life version. He obviously prefers listening to the double woof woof cabinet to the one woof extension.

Oh, its fine, listening music is my one best hobby, so if possible than you sing and you play music, we can listen online also, there is no doubt in your music so if I am wrong anywhere in discussion than I am sorry, but my means is that if you want to be safe your music equipment than you can be it by storing in better furniture.

Huh?

Sounds like someone got dropped on their head at birth!

I love your picture!!!