Actually, there were FOUR and ONE.
There were FOUR models in what was the Silver SABRE series, and they each offered some progression in what they offered from the prior Silver SABRE model.
Then they made some slight changes to the Cutlass II µMAX ([size=small]micro[/size]MAX) to transition a name change for ONE model, and dubbed it the Silver µMAX. That kept the word 'Silver' in their model line-up, but it eliminated the 'Sabre' reference that had been used prior.
wingryder said:
I am pretty new to Tesoro with only a Eldorado so far.. but like to read and learn.
Well, with only 20 posts at this point, and being new to Tesoro, I should ask if you have the 'original' Eldorado or the latter Eldorado in the [size=small]micro[/size]-housed package?
Tesoro's use of model names [size=small](and this is true with some models lines from other manufacturers)[/size] can get confusing, especially when a Forum poster doesn't really clarify which specific model that have. For example, there were two models that used 'Amigo' in the name, but they were very different in physical and circuitry design. How about the two different models labeled 'Eldorado?' I believe there were four models that used 'Cutlass' in the name. 'Golden' was used with the Golden Sabre, Golden Sabre Plus, then Golden Sabre II, and then they eliminated the 'Sabre' reference in the name and brought out the Golden µMAX, and a revised version of that model.
There were four models that used the 'Bandido' reference, the 'original' Bandido then the Bandido II, followed by the µMAX Bandido and finally the Bandido II µMAX. Also since you're newer to Tesoro you might not have picked up the proper name for the use of the
'µ' symbol. It is not a letter 'u' but is an electronic term for 'micro' which Jack Gifford, the Tesoro Founder and design engineer thought was a catchy way to say [size=small]micro[/size]MAX, using the µMAX label for many models. Some people say you-MAX and that is incorrect, it is pronounced [size=small]micro[/size]MAX in reference to the MAXimum performance available in the [size=small]micro[/size]-sized control housing they used.
Anyway, they had four Silver
Sabre series models in the past.
wingryder said:
I have been thinking about adding a Silver for some time. My reading has me confused.
The model naming has confused a lot of people, so you're not alone.
wingryder said:
Are there really three different machines all with the name on them?
No, there are
Five models that have 'Silver' in the name, and the first
Four also incorporated the 'Sabre' word in their name.
wingryder said:
The first one was back in mid eighties and Called Tesoro Silver Sabre.. with the box underneath.
(pre umax style mounting)
That is correct. After the Inca was introduced in mid-1983, Jack used the Inca's Discriminate circuitry and made a smaller-size, lighter-weight model that eliminated the Threshold adjustment and a conventional Threshold-based All Metal mode. He called it the Silver Sabre and it was a motion-based [size=small](VLF-Disc.)[/size] mode detector, with a toggle to select the variable Discriminate adjustment, or to select an "All Metal" position which was essentially close to a Zero Disc. setting to respond to almost all metals, ferrous and non-ferrous. This was the
1st in the Silver Sabre series.
wingryder said:
#2. is the Tesoro Silver Sabre in the umax mount with the red pin point button and three controls. (not sure its age but I think early 90's).
Incorrect.
The #2 Silver Sabre model was the
Silver Sabre Plus. It was a shorter-lived model as it did have some glitches, but it was a progression in the model line. It used the same metal housing under the rod and ahead of the grip, but this 2nd Silver Sabre had a true All Metal mode for better Pinpointing. Both the 'original' Silver Sabre and the Silver Sabre Plus operated on 6-AA batteries.
The 3rd Silver Sabre series model was a definite improvement and one of my favorites in the series, and it was called the
Silver Sabre II. This model was based on the 'original' Bandido, which was a manually Ground Balanced model, but kept with the "turn-on-and-go" theme of the preset GB Silver Sabre series. It used the same ABS plastic housing as the Bandido that was also under-slung just ahead of the hand-grip, but it was a slightly larger-size housing and included an easily selectable mode-change toggle to go from silent-search Discriminate mode to a Threshold-based All Metal mode. There was a trimmer knob on the forward-facing side of the control housing opposite the coil connector that allowed the operator to adjust a proper slight audio Threshold hum in the All Metal mode.
Also like the Bandido, the Silver Sabre II was powered by 2 - 9V batteries [size=small](although in a bind you can operate on a single 9V battery hooked to either connector)[/size], and it was also quite an improvement in overall performance because it now used the newer ED-120 Disc. circuitry first introduced with the 'original' Bandido. This enhanced the lower-end range of the variable Discrimination so that it was more responsive to smaller and lower-conductive targets such as small foil, gold chains, thin gold rings, gold studs, and so forth.
The
4th and final model in the Silver
Sabre series was the
Silver Sabre µMAX. This model was the preset GB counterpart to the Bandido II µMAX and had some new enhancements over the former series models. Now housed in the top-mounted, [size=small]micro[/size]-sized housing it is powered by a single 9V battery, uses the ED-120 Disc, features the newer 'Low-Noise/High-Gain' circuitry, and they moved the variable Threshold control to the control panel for more precise adjustment of the Threshold-based All Metal Pinpoint mode. Also, they added a red Push-Button to the control panel to quickly access the Pinpoint function of the Silver Sabre µMAX.
This was the last of the Silver 'SABRE' series models, and it, along with the Silver Sabre II, were my personal favorites in this series.
wingryder said:
And the current model is the Tesoro Silver umax with only Two controls and no sign of the Sabre label.
Correct. This is simply a model that continues the original Silver Sabre concept of being a motion-only type detector.
As I stated earlier, the current Silver µMAX is essentially just a Cutlass II µMAX which is the model that really took on the 'original' Silver Sabre features. The 'original' Silver Sabre was a motion-only model and lacked the Threshold-based All Metal mode for Pinpointing, but it did have interchangeable search coils. The 2nd model, the Silver Sabre Plus, did feature an All Metal Threshold-based mode for improved target pinpointing.
A that time the Cutlass series filled the nice of a turn-on-and-go model that was motion-based, only, like the 'original' Silver Sabre. The Cutlass series kind of mirrored the model progression of the Bandido series, with manual GB, and Silver Sabre series, with preset GB, but the Cutlass models didn't have the Threshold-based All Metal pinpoint function. It only had the motion-based, zero-rejection Discriminate mode labeled 'All Metal'.
When they brought out the manual GB Eldorado in the [size=small]micro[/size]-sized housing, which replaced the Bandito series, and the 'original' Conquistador which replaced the Silver Sabre series of 'preset' GB models, that left an absence of the popular Silver Sabre series, so to keep the 'Silver' name in the model line-up, they basically dropped the Cutlass series and made subtle changes and renamed a "new" model the Silver µMAX. That's the same model currently offered.
Sorry this is long but I hope it answered some of the questions you, or others, might have had about the models which used 'Silver' in their name as well as 'Sabre.'
Monte
