Garrett's 1500/2500 no respect ?

[sg1221]

The last thing I want to do is start a brand war here , but I am thinking about buying a 1500 or 2500 in the
next few months. I have an Ace 250 and love it , but now I'm ready to move up and keep the Ace as a backup.
I have spent a lot of time on several forums including this one and it seems the vast majority of comparisons are
between whites minelabs and tesoro . It's almost like Garretts don't exist. I truly don't believe those other machines
are that much better than Garretts and with so much hype from manufacturers its hard to know which way to go.
Could I get some input from 1500/2500 users about depth , target separation , etc. I coin jewelry/relic hunt in VA
and most ground conditions seem pretty neutral. I'm not near a beach and would seldom hunt there.
Any input would be appreciated.

Steve

 

[GaryL]

Steve would like to help ya out, however my unit is a GTI2000. How much diff in the 2000 VS the 2500 I cant read any. The GTI2000 was to much weight for me so rigged up a hip mount and now we get along A-OK.
The depth is great and the best thing is the imagining/sizing feature. I use it for parks, schools and on the beach, not much for relics.

Its been super on the batteries and if you can handle the weight go for the GTI2500, the sizing feature will make it worth the diff between the two models you speak of.

GaryL .... HH

Doubble post

 

[GaryL]

Steve I have a GTI-2000 and cant read any diff between it and the 2500. I have not used the 1500 so cant speak of it. The 2500 is heavy, hunts great, great on batteries and I love the sizing feature. If you can afford the diff in cost go for the 2500.

HH
GaryL ....

 

[khouse]

What exactly do you want or need in a detector? Here are some things to think of. Do you have the need for an adjustable GB, TID, true notch, coil options, light weight, tone ID, threshold adjustment, true all metal, type of batteries hunting habits to name a few. Then we can all give you some options. I seem to read where the big 3 are being compared.

 

[John-Edmonton]

All the top brand machines will get lots of targets. You have to learn whatever machine you own well to the point where you tell it what the target is underneath that coil, not the other way around. The Garrett 1500 was designed to find coins.....lots of them! That's why you get imaging (sizing), probable IDing, depth readout, belltone to alert you of a possible coin, individual notching, and many other options. You can save time by not digging junk and concentrate on getting good targets. I have been using Garretts for many years. Why? Because I have learned all my machines well and will be getting to the 100,000 coin mark soon. And I feel that they are the "BEST" coin machines available today, with the latest technology. The fact that some people don't give a lot of credit to others about Garrett machines is typical about all brands. I most certainly don't recommend other makes and models to other people. I have used some of the other machines out there and my finds just don't par with what I find with Garrett machines in my type of soil. I use the sizing options and others to my advantage, and know their limitations. The GTI 1500 is no slouch on depth either. I have pulled silver coins out at 9 inches in my soil. Most coins are usually in the top 4-5 inches.

Now the GTI 2500 is similar to the GTI 1500, except that it has a true all metal mode, which can give even more depth. It still gives a probable target ID. This true all metal mode can be manually ground balanced to give even more depth. Is the 2500 the deepest machine on the market? Probably not. Depth should not be the only option to consider when purchasing a machine. Some machines will get you tin cans at 18 inches. So what.

If the ACE machine served you well in your type of soil, then a higher Garrett model would probably serve you well also.

Good luck with your choice of machine. There are a lot of choices out there and a lot of suggestions from a lot of people. It isn't easy to sift through all that information.

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[Uncle Willy]

I have owned, used, or field tested most all of those other machines and you won't find a better machine out there than a Garrett.. I used Tesoros for years, Compass for years, tried a few of the others, even a C-Scope which I field tested. Garrets have a bit of a learning curve and are not quite like other detectors and this presents a problem to a lot of people. I discovered that when I ran the Garrett Classroom, precursor to this forum, which I also run. On the classroom I saved a lot of Garretts from being sold, traded, or wrapped around a tree, by showing the folks how to use them. Most of the people bad mouthing a Garrett have never used one. They just parrot what someone else said, who usually didn't use one either. Garret owners are a quiet bunch. They don't run around thumping their chests and tooting their horn about Garretts and they don't bad mouth other people's machines - they just quietly go out and find goodies.

Right now Garrett is doubling the size of their plant in Texas. No other manufacturer is doing that at present. Wonder why? Look at Fisher, inventor of the metal detector, in business 75 years, and a great machine - but they wind up getting sucked up by Bounty Hunter and turned into a Bounty Hunter look alike. I own and have field tested both the 1500 and 2500 and better machines haven't come down the pike. You'l just have to make up your own mind and skip all the baloney passed around on the other forums Many of the folks spewing forth all this alleged wisdom have only been detecting a short time and don't really know squat. I've been doing it for 44 years and do know a little squat. In parting, I only have one thing to say, you'll never own a better machine than a Garrett. And depth is a fleeting term used in ad hype and BS sessions.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah and since I do a fair amount of bark chipping I have pulled coins at ten inches plus in the chips with the 1500/2500 and three Barbers in a pile underneath a tree root at 14 inches with the 2500 - but that is rare. 95% of dropped coins are well within the reach of most detectors out there. All the hype about depth is just that - hype. Depth is like fish stories. The more the story is told the bigger the fish gets and the deeper the coin gets. I would never buy a detector based on depth hype alone. A myriad of things and mostly coil size determine depth - not the detector. I remember when Gardiner Electronuics was still building detectors they put out a 36-inch coil and a 12 foot shaft for reaching inside caves. Now what kind of depth stories could you cook up with that machine with a 36-inch coil? They're always harping about MInelabs superior depth but hesitate to mention that it comes equipped with a 10.5 inch coil.

BIll

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah the 2000 is a great detector and the 2500 is just a tweaked 2000.

Bill

 

[sg1221]

Many thanks for all the good info . I am extremely happy with my Ace 250 in my area which is in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. A customer of mine has a fairly large farm near a river and only a couple
miles from a civil war battlefield and his house is 250 years old. Many years ago one other person
detected there for a few hours and thats the only time it has been detected. My Ace has been great
and I've dug a couple silver and a ton of clad , but the depth seems to max out at 4 or 5 inches in my
soil. So I figured if I'm going to be hunting this farm for coins and relics I should probably upgrade.
I'd prefer to stick with Garrett's but didn't want to put out many hundreds of bucks for a machine to
discover there was a much better option. You guys have convinced me to stick with Garrett's. I like the coils on the 1500 and the 2500 so I'll probably get one of those. The Ace is super light and
a dream to swing but I'm a pretty big boy so weight is not terribly important. sooo....I guess its time to start the little boy whine to my wife about Santa bringing me a new Garrett's

Thanks again !
Steve

 

[khouse]

Have you maxed out the sensitivity on the 250 for more depth for relic hunting? You can hunt deeper if you run the detector at the unstable level. Instead of reducing the sensitivity until it runs quiet. Try bumping the sens up to where it falses a little. Then you can tune your ear to pick out the good repeatable beeps and get down a little deeper. Keep the coil level through out your sweep. Also at the end of your sweeps just don't jerk the coil as you swing it back because it will beep if you don't. Slow your swing down to reduce the falsing.

 

[sg1221]

Thanks Khouse !
I have always just backed off on the sensitivity when ever I think it's falsing , so I'll try what you said.
I have all 3 coils and the large one is supposed to be a little deeper although I've only been mostly
coin hunting and haven't used it much. It might be just the ticket for when I go to the old farm. We have
been in near drought conditions here for months and I don't want to go digging in someones yard in
this hard dry soil , so most of my hunting has been in my own yard . If it ever rains I'll hit the old farm.
Steve

 

[khouse]

Steve, I have found that the iron laden yards of farm houses requires the sniper coil. No, you can't cover the ground as fast but you quality of targets will be better with the sniper. In your mind look at every hunting area as a grid. Take small grids at a time. Like a 10x10 foot area. Hunt that grid good then move to the next one. The closer you hunt to the farm houses the more nails and bits of iron you'll fight. Then as you extend out the trash signals reduce then put on the larger coils. Yes, after a nice rain is the best time to hunt.

 

[khouse]

Bill,
I would be in trouble with the old "size matters" saying. My little stock coil can get the job done!!!!

 

[Uncle Willy]

Whatever works bud.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

Whine long and big.

BIll

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah if you can put up with the chatter you can dig some deeper stuff.

Bill