Somebody and I were talking in a PM about the whole thing, and they brought up a good point about the Safari deal that I was already thinking myself about why they would keep it in the line up. Of course not saying it's not a fantastic machine. After all, it is a Minelab, so don't get me wrong on that, but the strategy here is something I was already thinking when it was mentioned to me in a PM, which to me makes perfect business sense and one can't really fault a company for doing what is best for their bottom line. After all, that is the very essence of what makes capitalism work. We are looking at things from the "hobby end" of this market- a totally different perspective than perhaps they are.
A friend who owned a Safari for a short while, when I said he "has owned everything on the market", what I meant to say is that he's pretty much owned all the "heavy hitters" on the market over the years, as have I, and not of course that he's owned every machine every made. I know what I meant was probably obvious to some, but I just wanted to clarify that so as to not think I was saying otherwise. We both liked to "sample the wine" in terms of what is out there. Mainly the "heavy hitter" machines that have a reputation, and mainly what we both might feel offer some potential and give us an edge in our soil, which ranges from neutral, to mild, to highly mineralized.
For those reasons, some machines that others rave about in their soil, just didn't get the depth or stability in our soil. That's why it's always good to take any depth reports from others with a grain of salt for a machine. It could very well get those kinds of depths in their soil, but in your own a machine might not, or while others say a machine is very stable, in yours it could be a virtual chatter box.
In particular, I've tended to find that lower frequencies penetrate our soil better, especially when talking of single frequency machines. Everything over about 8khz or so in a single frequency machine that we've owned just didn't get the depth or stability in our soil. One of the reasons why I feel BBS does so well for me, is that it's at least biased into the lower frequency ranges in some respects, thus the stability and depth I've found with it in my soil.
My friend quickly selling off the Safari though was for different reasons. I used it some and came to the same conclusions for my particular tastes and wants, which are needless to go into at this time. A fine machine, but personally I would opt for a used Explorer at a cheaper price
And so my theory is (that somebody as well mentioned in an Email to me when I was already thinking this) that most people who were intending to buy a new machine ended up opting for the Explorer over the Safari, and the double edge sword to that as well is that some who might have been considering an Etrac opted for an Explorer instead.
What better way to clear out built up stock of a unit? Seemed to me most people who bought new and wanted "digital" but couldn't quite swing the price of an Etrac opted for the Explorer since some believe they are relatively comparable in performance, or they went the route of buying a used Explorer at a cheaper price than a new Safari. Wouldn't surprise me at all if a year or so from now they announce the Safari has been canned, and in the mean time people wanting new no longer can opt for an Explorer, so they just end up buying a brand new Safari? If Minelab announced the Safari was to be canned as well, I suspect that might hurt it's sales and they'd still be stuck with a glut of machines, as people frantically bought up the SE Pros because it was "now or never" in some respects concerning that.
Same deal with the BBS units...Many seem to opt for the cheaper Sovereign over the Excalibur for hunting the beach, or even to wade waste deep, and save a good bit of money that way. If they want a new machine with a warranty for the beach, and they want BBS for various unique aspects of BBS, now they'll just opt for paying the extra amount of cash and get an Excalibur, since the Sovereign is no longer an option in terms of buying "new", or at least over a span of time here as stock dries up that will be the case.
What I think would be a fantastic business move for Minelab, would be to come out with a dual purpose land/water BBS unit in the style of the AT Pro. Meaning- light unit and with a waterproof VDI meter and full function controls (like a Sovereign is), so that it's just as at home on land as it is in the water.
Somebody remarked here in this thread, that they wondered what the market share really is of people who bought an Excalibur who intended to dive with it. I agree with that. Seems the vast majority of Excaliburs are being bought to wade with and not dive, so a machine that is only rated at 10 foot depths seems like a very smart idea to me, being that it could be built with less weight and cost to make it pressure proof at greater diving depths.
If Minelab could come up with a machine...A Sovereign/Excalibur hybrid, with the controls of a Sovereign and a waterproof VDI, and sell that machine at roughly the price of the current Excalibur, then I would think it would be a fantastic seller and take the water/land world by storm, because it's not too far out of the price range of the average Joe for a "do it all" machine.
Of course the ultra cheap $500+ price tag of the AT Pro in a dual land/water unit is one of the reasons it is such a hot seller. Yes, I wouldn't expect a dual Sovereign/Excalibur to be priced that low, but on the other hand one has to expect to pay a little more when we are talking about Minelab's multifrequency technology here.
On the other hand, the research (R & D) development for BBS has probably long since been paid for, which is one of the biggest expenses of making a new product. They don't have to "re-invent the wheel" here. Just throw a GT control board into a waterproof control box, and bring all the internal controls out of that box in waterproof fashion.
The coils exist already and so do the headphones. All they'd have to do is put it on a straight shaft and I'd think, saving R&D, they could perhaps push the cost down of such a machine, perhaps even a bit lower than the Excalibur, and being that the Excalibur has been around for years, the diving market is probably already saturated for that market anyway, where discontinuing the dive-read Excalibur wouldn't be a big loss in potential sales.
And hey, with a few minor tweaks to the existing GT circuit board, they could throw in a few new features- being able to click the discrimination dial down into a mode where even iron is now heard, or the level of rejection of it could be adjusted. Stick a second pot on top of the notch, so you could not only adjust where the notch is but the width or it. Or better yet, make the notch now a function on the digital VDI meter, which you could accept or ejection certain number ranges.
They don't have to muck up the VDI functions with too much heavy software. I wouldn't want to see that done, because one of the very reasons the Sovereign appeals to people is that it's a "low hassle" digital machine in terms of set up to run all out in performance, without getting yourself lost in the weeds.
Just add a few functions to the simple VDI meter, or even if you don't do that and just keep all the controls as it in a waterproof GT control box, I think Minelab would have a huge winner on their hands, and it would be a win/win for them, because not only are they saving the R&D costs in terms of the electronics or coils or headphones, but they are also eliminating the cost of manufacturing two machines (Sov/Excal) and killing two birds with one stone. For those two reasons alone this idea seems insane for them not to pursue, because it makes perfect business sense for the bottom line of profit versus cost.
PS- And if they now include waterproof connectors for the headphones and coils....Watch out because that would give this thing even more steam to be flying off the shelves!
Who could ask for anything more? A dual land/water unit at a price, while still probably much more than an AT Pro, that offers the best of both worlds- hunting "dead" public sites on land for old coins, because the Sovereign can find old coins at those kinds of sites that others have long since given up on...And, off you go into the water, where BBS as well has earned a well deserved respect in the water as well as something to be reckoned with, just like it has on land.
How can you ask for anything more? Other than be darn sure they put it on a stinking straight shaft like any real metal detector should, and make sure the meter is mounted on top of the grip as any real metal detector should, and also that a trigger pin point switch be included. All very minor things that are all hardware and have zero to do with electronics R&D. Very little investment for such a high potential in return, so it's just begging to be done...
Well I know with multiple frequency machines, one has to sweep slow and that is why I would like to have pre-set frequencies as well. That way on those days I want to scan a certain property with some speed, this would enable me to "kick it up a notch" or switching over to BBS and perform a much more intense hunt. Also, I think it would be nice (for the pre-set frequencies) if there was also an adjustable "reset" so in trashy areas one could adjust this setting to pick through the trash. I will say I am impressed with the G2 with its fast reset / processor in junky areas. They should call the new machine the Sovereign GT PLUS. I saw the meter that was installed in the GT control box - Pretty neat setup. I agree with you on Minelab - I hope their next machine is affordable. I think the 3030 is a cool machine but I can't justify the thousands of dollars to have one. Maybe they will make a scaled down version of machine.
