Maybe Tesoro should stop selling Detectors

[Mike Hillis]

Robert,
I had one put on a Golden. A new hole was drilled in the bottom of the box, left of the pole indention. The Threshold control was moved there and the ground balance pot was placed where the Threshold pot was. It fits and can be done with minimum cost or impact. Tesoro already has a history of putting the Threshold control at the back of the box. It is the least adjusted control on the unit.

You can keep calling a user adjustable ground balance "Bells and Whistles" till you are blue in the face, but it won't change the fact that it is a necessary, expected, feature, of a metal detector priced above a certain price point and this particular conversation will never go away.

HH
Mike

(edited to change 'above 200 bucks' to read 'above a certain price point')

 

[allcav]

Again, we stopped putting threshold in the back of boxes more than a decade ago. I never said manual ground balance was bells and whistle, I said there was no room on the golden for it to keep the features it has. If you have knobs under your housing to make this work, maybe it would look right to our engineers. The Micro housing are small. When you put 6 features on the faceplate, the inside is packed with wires and doesn't leave much room for anything. Yes, if you put a knob underneath it would fit, but we would never do that. Show us a picture of your moded Golden Mike! Lets see what it looks like!

 

[Mike Hillis]

Thanks Robert.
I'll go dig pictures out of my archives. Do you want them on this post or do you want me to start a new thread?

HH
Mike

 

[atomicscott]

Maybe I wrote that wrong. We make units with a factory preset ground rejection for ease of use. This way somebody in mild ground can turn on and go. We do not modify units for anybody. Yes, it does suck that they may not work in heavy mineralization. We have units that have the manual ground balance for those areas that are highly mineralized.
The more features you add on to our units, the higher the cost and weight. I will post this again:

"It has become apparent to me over the past few years that there is a place for, even a need for, a metal detector manufacturer who is dedicated to the independent dealer market. The products should utilize the best of today's technology to provide maximum sensitivity. They should be rugged, but light enough that anyone can use them. They should do their job without "bells and whistles" that only increase the cost. And finally, the company should remain loyal to their dealers and be responsive to their needs and desires. It is with these principles in mind, that TESORO was founded in May of this year.
Tesoro is the Spanish word for treasure. The Spanish certainly seemed to understand and appreciate tesoro. Never in the history of the New World has there been a treasure hunt like the Spaniards held. It's hard to think of a better name for a company associated with treasure hunting, or a better symbol of our goals than the conquistador. As the Spaniards were yesterday's undisputed masters of treasure hunting, we at TESORO will always endeavor to meet our goal of making TESORO Metal Detectors today's undisputed masters of treasure hunting." Jack Gifford, 1980.

Please pay most of your attention to price and bells and whistles.

Exactly Robert, that's why I bought 2 Tesoro models!

 

[daddyflea]

Thanks Robert.
I'll go dig pictures out of my archives. Do you want them on this post or do you want me to start a new thread?

HH
Mike

Put them in a post we are all interested.

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

In all but the cheapest machines, why would anyone make a metal detector without an adjustable ground balance? Never been able to figure that out.

 

[allcav]

In all but the cheapest machines, why would anyone make a metal detector without an adjustable ground balance? Never been able to figure that out.

90 % of the lands east of the Rockies are mild soil. We preset our ground rejection with a piece of ferrite. This represents highly mineralized ground. Hell, my Lobo Super Traq has 0 problems in disc mode here in Arizona (Highly mineralized soil), when I check for hot rocks. I switch it in disc to check and the lobo has a factory preset ground rejection in the disc mode.
Most parks and soccer Fields dirt was brought in so these condition are usually mild as well.
We make units with different option to fit the needs of most customers out there. We are not perfect, and neither are the competition. We cannot make 100% of the treasure hunters happy but we do a good job for over 90% of our customers.
Believe it or not, their is a huge demand for ease of use machines. We sell more of them than anything else!

 

[Sven]

......you got rid of those big pots. You use the bread and butter Alpha pots for most controls except the GB pot. A 3 3/4 turn pot is all you need, no need to try and fit a
large 10 turn in place. The only reason we continue to use the 10 turn for mods, we can't buy the 3 3/4, it's a special order.

So you get rid of the large Alphas and replace them with the 12mm Alpha pots like I did on my Silver Sabre umax.
You could also make room by locating the disc./ all metal etc. switch under the handle like the Tejon. Since you already have a large hole drilled under the housing on the s-handle,
just takes a minute to drill another smaller hole for the toggle.

If people are willing to have the GB mod done and pay some one $50 or more plus return shipping, then adding those features to an existing model and charge $50. more on a Golden to make
it more versatile. There's no reason why they won't pay Tesoro the $50 or so ......and keep their warranty valid. So you give a choice of two models, standard Golden and a PRO version.
Many products are marketed this way!! I like Tesoros a lot, but you guys need someone in their with some vision and real marketing skills. There is no reason Tesoro can't make a Golden Pro Limited edition with those features and test market them. If they sell like hotcakes, your Golden with cash profits. It seems when I post some thing like this or just a bit critical of Tesoro my posts get pulled fast. I hope Robert sees it and thinks about it awhile before it does. I often read too many excuses.................
Happy Hunting

P.S. I have an older Amigo II waiting for me at the Post Office.

 

[Shenandoah Digger]

However the preset GB machines are set they don't work in my ground, which is highly mineralized. I don't know the difficulty in adding a ground balance to the Golden. Maybe it's not worth it to Tesoro to attempt it, but it would sell more detectors. Well, at least one more. And of course people make waaaay too much of setting the GB on Tesoro detectors. It's a five second procedure at the most. Sound goes up when the coil approaches the ground, turn it down. Sound goes down, turn it up. Just like a volume control on a radio.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Good post Sven, you have made some nice suggestions for Tesoro to consider.

 

[daddyflea]

And of course people make waaaay too much of setting the GB on Tesoro detectors. It's a five second procedure at the most. Sound goes up when the coil approaches the ground, turn it down. Sound goes down, turn it up. Just like a volume control on a radio.

Unfortunately I am told that Detectors like I have (Cortez & Golden Saber) have the Notch and TID numbers thrown off when the GB is moved. I don't know for sure but this sounds like it is most likely true since the GB on the Cortez only works in ALL METAL mode. I know I just sent my Cortez back for adjustment and a good while back I sent my Golden Saber in. The Golden Saber seems like it was the forerunner of the Golden UMAX with just more features. Upon getting my Saber back it was a completely different machine. Unfortunately the Saber will out hunt my Cortez right now in almost every aspect. Don't know what Tesoro did to it but it came back 10 times better than it left here.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Daddyflea,
Your Cortez target Id also works in the All Metal mode. When you ground balance to different dirt and hunt in all metal, is your TID off?

HH
Mike

 

[daddyflea]

Daddyflea,
Your Cortez target Id also works in the All Metal mode. When you ground balance to different dirt and hunt in all metal, is your TID off?

HH
Mike

Did not even look at my TID in ALL METAL. I was getting 24 on Nickels when I was told I should get about 31. All my 31 signals were Figure 8 tabs. I was getting 14-18 on Gold Rings. The Manual actually says Nickels should be 31. The thing that worried me most was my Nickels were really shallow no more than about 4" and if on top of the ground my Machine was falsing on Nickels. My Notch on Narrow was also knocking out most Zinc Pennies when it should have accepted them. It may just be a Zinc Penny but it is still money and I can not stand to let it lay there.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Daddyflea,
I have had 4 different Cortes detectors. Every single one of them id'ed with slightly different numbers for low conductors. My first one id'ed nickel at 39. I had another one that id'ed nickels at 33. The third one id'ed nickels around a 26. I don't remember the exact numbers for the the last one but it was in the 30's.

So I wouldn't worry too much about the difference between the manual and what you actually get. I'd just learn what your unit id's at and go from there.

HH
Mike

 

[akille68]

I love Tesoro detectors, not only for their performances, they can be modded with ease too.
Here is what I did with my cibola.
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?17,1158062,1161094#msg-1161094
I think Tesoro should change its marketing and produce a model on the "linux" style.
An openware model easy to tuned up at your desire. This could be an brilliant way to fight the war that sees Tesoro steps behind from other brands.
Push the market to new limits!

 

[daddyflea]

Daddyflea,
I have had 4 different Cortes detectors. Every single one of them id'ed with slightly different numbers for low conductors. My first one id'ed nickel at 39. I had another one that id'ed nickels at 33. The third one id'ed nickels around a 26. I don't remember the exact numbers for the the last one but it was in the 30's.

So I wouldn't worry too much about the difference between the manual and what you actually get. I'd just learn what your unit id's at and go from there.

HH
Mike

Mike how deep did you get on Nickels with your Cortez? I had to do a lot of adjusting to get 4"

 

[The Magician]

I think Tesoro should change its marketing and produce a model on the "linux" style.
An openware model easy to tuned up at your desire. This could be an brilliant way to fight the war that sees Tesoro steps behind from other brands.
Push the market to new limits!

That's a great idea! the only problem is, people are going to come out selling their own versions of Tesoros, even though under open source lisencing, they have to release their ideas.