Never Owned A Sovereign GT

[Smudge]

But I'm thinking about getting one. The salt beach is less than an hour from my house.

Problem is, if I buy one and get the small Sunray coil to go with it, I'll have sunk all my money into this one machine.

That means it will have to pull double duty as a beach and as my main land machine too.

I'm a little nervous about that as I tend to prefer lightweight detectors for land hunting.

Any thoughts from users? Critterhunter, I know you use this machine almost exclusively.

Funny thing too is I went to one of those Minelab events promoting the CTX and I heard the Minelab rep tell someone that Minelab considers their treasure detector lineup as being "too cluttered". That seems to indicate something in the line up is going to go bye-bye.

I'm wondering if that might mean the Sovereign or the Safari (which I personally think a lot of people treat as the red-headed stepchild in the Minelab family). Has anyone heard anything else along those lines?

 

[deepdiger60]

Smudge i use my Sov GT more on land then the beach for the last 3 year until this year i go to the beach more often now i hip mount it from the start very light weight that way i can swing in farm fields for hours , as far as Minelab slimming down there treasure machines i would think it would be one of the GTX series or maybe even the E-Trac because the CTX is a glorified E-Trac even if the Sov GT is going it is still the best machine out there all around but i do not think it,s done just to many in use now it,s there money maker. Jim

 

[Critterhunter]

Interesting that you overheard the guy say that. Somethings up then. I'll put my money on the Safari being the one they give the ax. Almost zero traffic in that forum compared to all the others. Too many used Explorers on the market for about half the price used, so many guys who want a computer screened Minelab opt for a used Explorer over a new Safari that is stripped of features. The only reason why I suspect they won't ditch the GT is because there are many people who prefer control knobs and switches and simply refuse to buy a detector with a computer screen. Just look at the M6/MXT. Whites put knobs on those things for good reason. They knew many people prefer dials and such for certain functions such as sensitivity control and such, even those they have a computer screen.

But, not going to lie to you. The GT is a heavy machine. Yes, it's well balanced but that only helps in some ways. Many prefer to hip or chest mount the box for that reason. Me? I only chest mount when water hunting, so I built a light weight shaft for mine (Whites tall man carbon rod for lower shaft, and lighter grade aluminum for upper shaft than stock), put a lighter Whites arm cup on it, ditched the coil cover and used spray on bed liner, used an aluminum bike end bar for a grip, and ran a 3 cell lipo in my GT. End result is I dropped almost a pound and a half and now she's just about as light as any other machine I've ever owned.

 

[Smudge]

Thanks for the input!

Critterhunter, you sound pretty handy. As for myself, if I tried to build my own shaft the darned thing would come out looking like a torture device from "The Terminator".

 

[Critterhunter]

Ha! It's not hard man. Really you only need to drill a few holes and it's a done deal. The Whites lower tall man carbon rod is easy as cake. Just stick it on. A few holes drilled in some lighter gauge aluminum for the upper shaft. A few rivots to hold on the Minelab box clip. Throw on a Whites arm cup. Presto. Instant lighter shaft. I wrote a thread on it with pictures if anybody wants to see it I'll throw up a link.

By the way, just the Minelab arm cup alone weighs HALF A POUND! Ouch!

 

[gear box]

Hey Smudge, I don't do any beach hunting up here in the northland but I feel that you won't find a better machine for land hunting,
both coins (what I do) and relics what some of the others do. I hip mount mine and it is extremely light. I'm in my early 60's and go for quite awhile if I prefer but I don't hunt all day like I used to. it is a heavy machine but when hip mounted it ain't bad. I like the hip mount for other reasons other than making it lighter and more manuverable, you can look straight down at the controls without reaching behind you to make adjustments and is very handy. Also in my opinion is you need to have a meter, it sure helped me learn the language of the GT and has been a valuable asset.
Good luck Gary

 

[bootyhoundpa]

for the dry sand beach and farm fields the gt is fantastic.......i personally dont care to use it too much in the parks ...for parks i prefer a faster response machine with better pinpointing,,, but thats me,,some others have mastered the park thing with the gt but im not one of them.... if conditions are right it can detect very deep ......its hard to put all your eggs in one basket....what are you swinging presently... good luck

 

[Smudge]

Yeah, thats what I figured too. Thanks!

 

[dewcon4414]

I dont think the Sov is going anywhere. Id be surprised if the more expensive 3030 is going to catch on as a beach machine over the Sov. You have to be careful with those screens.... cant imagine what that sticky salt water and sand is going to do to them. There just has to be more wear on the push button areas after a few years use. As long as the Sov and Xcal is selling like hot cakes why do away with them? They have what most say are the top two beach machines. I use an SE on the beach..... but im not out there in the salt water and am very careful with the screen.

Dew

 

[imalookin2]

If I were going to buy one machine for the areas you are hunting it would be the GT. As was mentioned, hip mount or chest mount and swing all day. I chest mount with a photographers harness and the hip bag. It works perfectly and I can see all the switches right in front of me. The GT is a superb machine. I hope they stop selling it. The resale on mine would double. I like it!