Question about the Golden U max

[cju7250]

I have a Cutlass II U max and love it! This is the first Tesoro i've owned and have greatly improved my success since i'm not constantly looking at a screen or checking settings! I will admit that I do miss hearing the different tones though. So i've been reading through a lot of post about the Golden U max and it sounds like once you get the nickel notch set up, you can run a low discrimination and the tones will give you a good idea what's under your coil? Am I reading this right? On my Cutlass II U max I only have numbers (1-10) and I always leave it at 3 when hunting and dig all good signals. And sometimes i'll even dig a softer signal, as long as it's a consistent, repeating signal. I guess my question here is, since I do like having the different tones, is this machine really as simple as setting up that "nickel notch" and hunting? Or is there more to it than just that? I'm sure the machine is capable of more, but for someone like me who loves the Cutlass II (older silver Umax), but would like to have different tones, would this be a good machine for me? I'm not a big fan of having to constantly change settings or fiddle with knobs while i'm hunting. I got stuck in that scenario with the F5 I had last year and it seemed like I was always second guessing myself on whether I had the machine setup properly. So is the Golden U max as simple as it sounds, or am I just wishful thinking?

 

[The Magician]

I'll try to answer as much as I can from my perspective:

The more I use the Golden, the more I hunt with less discrimination, perhaps not if I'm looking for silver. It's been almost a year now since I've had it, although I've found three gold rings and a gold chain, I am currently on a gold drought.

The notch: Once you understand what it is, it becomes a luxury... an absolute luxury. Though I feel that I'm missing something the more I use it. I started out using it exclusively with the disc turned a bit past pulltab. Almost most of the coins (australian) that I look for are above that. The next step was to use the notch on narrow and turn the disc a bit past pre-set. I find that using notch this way, I'm getting more older coins, but in-ground tests indicate it shouldn't make that much difference even though the proof is in the puddin'.

Now I'm experimenting going lower and/or having the notch off and flicking it in narrow to check quickly, then move on. Notch, even in narrow, will knock out the bigger rings (unless they are deep ). One of the best things about the notch settings, is that you can have your thumb ready to flick it narrow or wide and back off again. The other great thing is you can use the Disc/All Metal switch the same convenient way which I cannot do without! A switch is much more convenient than a button.

As for tone ID, yes, you do get extra depth, but at that extra depth the tone will usually be the lowest tone. That is to say at it's deepest.

If say a silver coin (we have different silver coins here in oz) gives a clear high tone, turning the disc down below iron with give the hight tone with a blend of one or two lower tones. I find the tones to be accurate with a concentric or a small DD like the cleansweep, to about 4-8 inches depending on what size coil you're using. They will give you a good idea what's under the coil, the pitch that is, along with the literal meaning of "tone". Flick it in all metal quickly and you get an even better idea.

 

[SpiritRelic]

With the golden there is a notch width control that can be used to control the tone on different conductors.This control can operate this way if you have the golden set in the disc mode without using the notch narrow,wide toggle switch.This toggle can be set to narrow and then used also with the notch width control.The detector can then start to notch out a narrow range of trash targets such as most tabs while letting the nickel to be accepted.As the toggle is switched to wide the detector will allow for even a wider range of rejected targets that will allow for rejecting zinc and screw caps while accepting all other coins and still get the nickel range also.It is a very fun machine to use in very trashy areas because of this great disc ability along with the tone id.This makes for a serious cherry picker in the worst trash conditions.It can rake in some coins and jewelry very quickly.The only draw back with this detector is even with the narrow,wide toggle off and the disc set bellow the nickel mark there is a loose of depth to the nickel range.The hi-tone high conductor range remains deep.This detector is a must have for me,because i just enjoy cherry picking those high tones so much.It makes for some fun detecting in the park.Others will add to this hopefully cju because i really am fairly new to this machine. :-*

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Its all about tones and tone breaks and of course what you are looking for and your particuliar area...

Some learn quicker than others and some have better tone hearing preception but with a little experimenting and time in the field all should fall into place and certainly well learned is head and shoulders above a one tone linear disc. unit. Tesoro learned from its mistakes and now offers a new tone ID which is easier for the most part for the average guy to interpet......

Go to the search engine of this forum and it certainly helps in setting up your unit as lots of info from experienced users. Knowledge is the key and research helps...

 

[Furious T]

The Golden is a machine that can be as simple as any other machine to use, or as complicated as you want to make it. You have a geat machine with the Cutlass II, and the Golden would be a great addition to the Cutlass, as it would complement it with the variety of tones that it produces on different targets of differing conductivity. The features of notch, wide or narrow, combined with the different levels of discrimination, make it a machine which can be adjusted to the n th degree. Thing is, you dont have to use these features if you want to keep it simple, and the features can be understood fairly easily be reading and re-reading the manual, and getting out in your back yard and experimenting with coins and assorted rubbish. One of the features of the Golden that I like, is that it alerts you to metal close to the coil, whether or not this metal has been discriminated out. By slightly raising the coil and then swinging again over the target you then know if this target should be disced out, or not. You then have the option of lowering the discrimination to check the target. The tones are great, and the Tesoro audio is one of the best. Good luck with your decision...as I said, it would be a good addition to the Cutlass II.

 

[cju7250]

Thanks for the replies guys! I love my Cutlass II Umax, and the tones are definitely not a necessity, just something that I have missed since getting the Tesoro. It sounds like the Golden Umax can be adjusted and manipulated for pretty much any hunting situation? That would definitely be a good selling point! I don't go to sites and say "I'm only hunting coins today" or "I'm only hunting rings", but I live in a very rural area, so one day I may be hunting a tot lot in town, then tomorrow an old home site, and the next day, woods hunting. So if I can adjust the machine for these different situations and still have the tones and would be able to use the same 5.75" coil as my Cutlass II Umax uses now, that would be great. I was considering looking more into the Vaquero, and I know it's suppose to be the depth monster, but I think the Golden Umax's other features would be more beneficial to me. And honestly, I really have no desire to get rid of the Cutlass II, and it may be awhile before i'm ready for the Golden Umax, but I just wanted to get some opinions on this machine before I get my mind set on anything. Any other responses will be greatly appreciated!

 

[SpiritRelic]

This detector does quack like a duck.And i like to think of the golden as having different levels of blast shields.I went into a lot a couple of days ago that would be really hard for me with a single tone detector.That's the trash level on the inner city parks.But i can get in there.I located a small area and dug two deep wheat pennies in all that trash.One was a 1919.So i have to have a golden on stand by.I would not have been able to do much without the golden in all that trash.