So little talk about the Silver Sabre II Plus... Why??

[fir469]

I own a SSII Plus and absolutely love it!! I use it as my scouting detector when I'm out on the road and don't want to bring the DFX along. I scan the site in a higher disc setting (Accepting brass up to silver) and dig the clean crisp "Pop" targets. Works like a charm and has pulled some nice finds. I usually go back to the site with the DFX accepting a wider range to nab nickel signals, but hardly ever end up getting higher conductive targets running behind the Tesoro. I think that means that she shines and doesn't miss much for the DFX to find.

Anyone else running a SSII Plus or similar older model that has some input on their likes and dislikes in the units and their finds??

 

[Dirt Poor]

I have the Silver uMax, that I swept a virgin cavalry camp with a few years back. Then I bought a new MXT, thinking I would go back and get what the Silver left. WRONG!!...The Silver had done a fine job of cleaning up. I sold that MXT, but still have the Silver.

 

[Tfor2]

The greater than great myth today is that extra depth is the amen and amen of the hobby.

While one needs decent depth, one doesn't need to reach China.

Right now the rage is over-powered unstable machines. THers are digging more empty holes than ever.

Tesoros old and new have something really great. They go deep enough without losing stability.

All this wild nutty talk today about digging coins at 12+ inches...where the heck are these people hunting...the city dump?

By the way, it's all pure bull anyway.

I've owned and used the old Silver Sabres and they find the old coins and everything else worth digging.

The extra deep machines such as the Nautilus IIb and Explorers have never yet found me anything of any real value past the depth potential of a good Silver Sabre or Silver uMax. They have found some really deep horseshoes.

 

[downeaster]

I agree with Tfor2. In the past 40 years, I've used them all and I simply find more with a Tesoro. They do all I need a detector to do. My finds will bear that out.

 

[BarberBill]

I think the fact that it is an "older model" is the main reason you don't hear about it much.
BB

 

[Monte]

I own a SSII Plus and absolutely love it!! I use it as my scouting detector when I'm out on the road .... Works like a charm and has pulled some nice finds.

Often, a "scouting" of a site will be an older-use site or scouting for a place that might not have been detected before, so that can lead to "location" being a good reason you might find coins and good stuff and a lower number of trash targets, aka "nice finds."

I usually go back to the site with the DFX accepting a wider range to nab nickel signals, but hardly ever end up getting higher conductive targets running behind the Tesoro. I think that means that she shines and doesn't miss much for the DFX to find.

This would suggest to me that:
A.. The site just doesn't have any deeper coins to be found.

B.. The site might have enough shallow trash that it is masking mid-depth to deeper coins.

C.. You're using a larger (stock) coil with the DFX, or any other detector for that matter, and without setting to allow a slower-sweep in a littered area

D.. The site might be a fairly popular one and has been worked enough through the years that you're only getting some of the more recent losses from the past ten to fifteen years or so.

E.. You might be relying on the DFX's visual and audio Target ID and therefore ignoring a potential higher-conductive target that is masked.

Now, to your Tesoro. They brought out the 'original' Silver Sabre in October of '83, and followed that with the Silver Sabre Plus which came out in August of '86. Both were in the metal housing; both featured the more limited lower-end Discriminate adjustment range. The 'Plus' did provide some access for Threshold and GB adjustment, but they were a very glitchy model.

I have had several of them, and at the time I was a Tesoro Dealer and detested them. Why? Because the 'original' could have the GB tweaked for a good functional setting that worked in a variety of sites. The 'Plus', however, was quite touchy and it was very difficult to get a good, functional GB setting in some of the higher-mineralized sites I hunted. The overall performance was just not as good as the 'original' due to not being able to achieve or retain a good GB. Now, what was irritating was that it was a hit-and-miss thing. I might get in one specimen that could be GB'ed and it worked reasonably well at a half-dozen challenging sites, compared to 4 or 5 specimens that just didn't do that well.

Tesoro's were never known then for using tight tolerance components and that resulted in some 'hot' and 'cold' performance from similar specimens.

The 'original' was discontinued after 5 years and 9 months of production, The 'Plus, was only produced for 4 years. Then, 11 months after they quite making the 'Plus' Tesoro brought us the Silver Sabre II which was a far-superior performer! For 6 years and 8 months they made the SS-II which used an ABS plastic housing, had an external "knob/shaft" so you could tweak the Threshold trimmer, was powered by 2-9V batteries, and best of all, it featured the ED-120 Discrimination Tesoro had brought us with the Bandido. This broader-range of adjustment meant a lower Discriminate setting which provided less iron-trash masking and much better response from the US 5

 

[fir469]

Yeah I usually hit a site with the SS Plus if I'm on the road while working and happen to notice a spot that has potential. Otherwise the DFX is the go to detector.

I mostly use the 10x12" SEF on the DFX300 with Preamp of 3-4 and an AC of 74-76 if the site allows. I run my recovery speed at a constant 24 for general sites, 18 for very low trash sites and a 28-30 for trash laden sites always with a sweep speed of 1 and I work slowly. In trash laden sites I switch to a 4x6" DD coil and come back after cleaning with the larger coils. Unless the site is overly trashed, I always dig all positive VDI signals regardless of their VDI or Tone. In trashy sites I usually cherry pick cleaner signals and some mixed signals, but if there is just too much trash I'll walk away and grab another site off my list to hunt. I'd rather not lose finds at another site that others may stumble on while I'm trash picking a site all day.

I think that's a great point about not many deep finds to be had, and often wonder if that is indeed the case with a lot of sites. I've been hunting on sites recently that I know are pretty much untouched just based on the finds and trash that come out. I also think some sites I've been hitting, due to high ground water and semi-swampy conditions or excessive sand in the soil matrix, that a lot of older finds are just too deep to pick up.

 

[Hombre]

n/t

 

[fir469]

Indeed!! A wealth of info I never knew for sure... Thanks!

 

[Dirt Poor]

Cool info! Thanks, Monte!