I think that's totally a good idea. I read all the posts I could find on noise, the things I tried in my first post was the result I came to before posting. An amended "what to check if..." page would be a big hit I think.
To answer questions:
I'm using a PCB from Chef, a Peluso capsule with his mount (edge terminated and a little dusty now that you mention it), and a Telefunken EF86 tube. I'll definitely try the cap substitute idea when I get some time, and check around the mic for voltages.
To update:
A techie friend of mine took a look at my PCB and told me that he thought my solder joints looked cold. I turned up my iron a bit from where it was and hit them all again. Noise at startup is greatly reduced. As the tube heats up however, it reaches a point where it gets noisy again. This time it sounds alot like fire (with spurts of cutting out) with occasional hissing. I'm going to buy a couple more tubes to try today, and let this one run for a while to see if it helps.
I still don't have polar pattern adjust... I've wired the two center-tapped capsule leads to the center solder point, the lead that was attached to the front ring of the capsule to front solder point, and the back to the back. If there's not more to it than that, then I don't think it's the problem. I'm showing my ignorance here: I wasn't aware these poly caps had a polarity. My electrolytic cap is definitely correct.