My Path to Tesoro

When I started this hobby I was happy when I got my $250 Whites Coinmaster. As I grew in the hobby I decided I would need to spend more money if I really wanted to find the good stuff. So I shelled out $550 and bought a Whites Coinmaster 6000 XL Pro. Surely this would be all I would need. Well, not really because soon there were newer, more advanced detectors which incorporated LCD displays, V.D.I. numbers, multiple tones, multiple frequencies and even the depth of the target! Like many others I continued my quest for the best detector, and there were, well, a few more. The MXT, Fisher F75, the DFX, and what some would say, the best metal detector of all times, the Minelab Etrac. Despite owning the best, something was still missing. I wasn't really finding any more then I did with my less expensive detectors. How could this be?! I own the best?! I paid top dollar?! Paging through one of the treasure mags, I would see the Tesoro ads, simple ads, which were clearly not as impressive as the Whites, Fisher or Minelab ads, still, there was something intriguing about this simple looking, inexpensive metal detector. I checked the forums and they sure had a following. But Tesoros are, well, basically toys compared to the high end machines, right? Well about a year ago I gave in and decided to buy a Vaquero and soon began to find more coins and jewelry then I had with any other detector I've owned. Why? I quickly found that Tesoros bring out the best in your skills. I developed a sound technique and disciplined hunting practices. It comes down to this; the most expensive metal detector wont necessarily find more, but, the right metal detector in skilled hands will. As for my DFX, F75 and Etrac, sold them all. Oh yea, my Compadre should be here on Wednesday.

Welcome aboard from another Tesoro user. Nice to have ya aboard.

Thanks!

My Tesoro's paid for my Etrac. My Etrac gets used maybe 1 out of 10 hunts. It's all about location. Ground is too hard to dig where I live and coins don't sink much in most places. I love the iron discrimination of the uMax Tesoro's. I love TTF in heavy iron with the Etrac. Up north and east I think my Tesoro's would get pretty dusty and the Etrac would get flogged. What part of the country do you reside in?

Hi Diggler
I'm in New Jersey - digging is pretty easy in most locations I hunt. My Etrac is a great MD, just more detector then I found I need, both in function and weight!
Thanks
Mike

Am also on my way to my first Tesoro. Started back in 84 with a 6000 di pro and was very successful. Now own an etrac, which I love, and an ATPro, which I hate. Plan to buy a tiger shark for shallow water and back up for my etrac. Really enjoyed your videos on the various Tesoro,s. they really helped me. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Cahil_2 link=topic=7275.msg131617#msg131617 date=1357788608

Am also on my way to my first Tesoro. Started back in 84 with a 6000 di pro and was very successful. Now own an etrac, which I love, and an ATPro, which I hate. Plan to buy a tiger shark for shallow water and back up for my etrac. Really enjoyed your videos on the various Tesoro,s. they really helped me. Thanks.

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Hey, congrats on the new Tesoro that you are planning. :detecting:

Let me know if you are interested in a very lightly used Tiger Shark - I'm about to sell mine. It's a few years old, but it's been in the water less than a couple of hours total.

How much, and send me a pic, I am interested.

Sent you a PM

I miss my Vaquero! crying01 I'm going to purchase another one this year. thumbsup01

TC-NM

I switched to Vaquero from the M6 because of weight. I have trouble with my wrist and shoulder. Some of the youtube videos is what made look at Tesoro. I am impressed with this machine, so far. I do have alot to learn,but that is part of the fun getting a new detector. CG

[QUOTE=mjcz5853;81162]When I started this hobby I was happy when I got my $250 Whites Coinmaster. As I grew in the hobby I decided I would need to spend more money if I really wanted to find the good stuff. So I shelled out $550 and bought a Whites Coinmaster 6000 XL Pro. Surely this would be all I would need. Well, not really because soon there were newer, more advanced detectors which incorporated LCD displays, V.D.I. numbers, multiple tones, multiple frequencies and even the depth of the target! Like many others I continued my quest for the best detector, and there were, well, a few more. The MXT, Fisher F75, the DFX, and what some would say, the best metal detector of all times, the Minelab Etrac. Despite owning the best, something was still missing. I wasn't really finding any more then I did with my less expensive detectors. How could this be?! I own the best?! I paid top dollar?! Paging through one of the treasure mags, I would see the Tesoro ads, simple ads, which were clearly not as impressive as the Whites, Fisher or Minelab ads, still, there was something intriguing about this simple looking, inexpensive metal detector. I checked the forums and they sure had a following. But Tesoros are, well, basically toys compared to the high end machines, right? Well about a year ago I gave in and decided to buy a Vaquero and soon began to find more coins and jewelry then I had with any other detector I've owned. Why? I quickly found that Tesoros bring out the best in your skills. I developed a sound technique and disciplined hunting practices. It comes down to this; the most expensive metal detector wont necessarily find more, but, the right metal detector in skilled hands will. As for my DFX, F75 and Etrac, sold them all. Oh yea, my Compadre should be here on Wednesday.[/QUOTE




Your videos on the Vaquero are excellent . I just recently acquired one and they have been a big help .
Thank you for making them .

H H ,
George

I know this is an old topic but you don't have to spend $1000-$2500 to dig deep stuff. The Vaquero is a fine machine and retails for $450 but can be found for as little as $300 used.Tweaked and tuned and with a DD coil will run with machines costing twice and man does that pi$$ off those who spend alot of money on a machine. They also think if they don't spend big money, they can't make big finds. Thats a lie dealers use to sell high dollar machines. I've been told there is now a $50 service charge for any used machines to be checked out since the lifetime warranty is only for the original purchaser. Still though its a good brand tried and true. I know guys with 12-14 machines and spends thousands of dollars and they still can't make good finds enough to pay for their investment. The Vaquero is a good relic or coin machine.

The first detector that I owned had an analog meter but using it was the furthest thing from my mind cause I soon figured out the good targets made a different sound than the bad targets, after a while I was really happy with the fantastic finds I was making and during this time I had helped my girlfriend at the time pick out a detector at the metal detector shop. It was a more modern version of the model that I had except it was a motion detector and mine wasn't. A year later we split up and she asked if I wanted to buy the detector and I said I would. Well I never used it much at all, as a matter of fact I still haven't used it more than 10 times probably cause I bartered for my first digital detector which was the Whites Eagle, I used this detector for probably 2 years and really never did much better with it than I had with my original GEB discriminator which is the Whites 5000D. By the time I finally decided to buy a brand new detector the Whites MXT looked like the one to buy so I did in late 2004 and man what a detector I had, it was the best of 2 worlds, it had the digital readout plus the analog sound which was the kind of detector a trained ear soon pics up on. In 2010 I bought my V3i which is what I use today and I really like it a lot, I've only used my MXT several times since but I really got spoiled on the great discrimination and readouts with my V3i, especially the readouts that I get in pinpoint. I've always been a devout Whites user and have owned a couple other brands along the way but have really gotten use to the Whites.

About 99 % of the time you can find me at a hammered spot hunting cause now days I'm always after them deep coins and virgin spots are very hard to find anymore because metal detecting has been popular in this area for years, even spots one would think would normally be a good spot where excavating is going on because many of those were detected the last time there was excavating in the same area.

If I ever buy another machine with today's tech it will probably be something really light for hunting in the woods and if I was going to buy it today it would probably be the Whites MX5 but it's today and I don't have any plans on buying another detector.

There's no doubt in my mind that the Tesoro Compadre is a fine machine and once you've grown accustom to it is a deadly detector indeed.

Man I had that 5000D ....what a dog :lol: I came from the Coinmaster V Supreme and straight into that machine. My finds suffered incredibly :girlcry: The MXT must have been alien technology next to that thing :clapping: Detectors have come a long way since then.

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Originally Posted by coinnut

Man I had that 5000D ....what a dog :lol: I came from the Coinmaster V Supreme and straight into that machine. My finds suffered incredibly :girlcry: The MXT must have been alien technology next to that thing :clapping: Detectors have come a long way since then.

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you really had to scrub the ground with it but you could hear a coin at about 6 inches with it, I couldn't get any more depth with my Eagle either. Yes the MXT amazed me when I started using it.

I have bought, used, and sold just about every detector out there with the exception of the ctx3030, and water machines. the only machines Ive kept are the Tesoro Vaquero, Silver uMax, and the Whites VX3.