.... Often enough, questions come up about the bastard child of the Tesoro line, the Golden. Mike Hillis is usually the only one with much to say about it (he is the one who convinced me...) and the questions normally go something like this, found recently in a little-noticed post on another forum:
"I would like to hear from someone who uses this unit and get some insight. Thanks, Ron B."
Here's what "mudman" said - -
"Ron it is a great detector and is real good on buttons and coins. The tones are a little close together but with some practice ( a few times out) you will have no problems telling them apart.
As far as the notch I can't say as I ever use it, as I run mine with no discr. at all and just use the tones. I have used it in some sites that are just littered with iron and can still pick out the goodies. If the iron drives you a little crazy you can turn up the disrc. a little and still pick through the trash.
Not sure if this helps you ....all I can say is that it is a great detector."
I agree with everything he says. Much depends on your hunt style and, if you are a relic man, then this may be good advice. But most detectorists arent as worried about iron as they are non-ferrous trash. I dont run in "0" disc much, myself, as I am a coinist for the most part.
I normally hunt at the preset arrow or just below and toggle the notch to pick out the tabs, if I happen to be in a trash zone. Here's some other observations.
- Run your SENS at around 7 to start, then go higher if you dont get a lot of falsing. If you do, back down til it gets quiet again. I remember my first uMax experience, after using a SSII for so long. "HOT," even harsh, were the things that came to mind. Folks, the uMax circuit is sensitive and you dont need the MAX BOOST as much as you fool yourself into thinking you do...
- Set your THRESH at a barely audible hum, or maybe a hair more.
NOTE: like all Tesoros, you can "SuperTune" the DISC circuit by cranking the THRESH. This will allow weak signals from deeper targets to punch through strong. But, it kills the ALL metal/pinpoint mode and it isnt needed until you hit a clean site with deep targets.
- Do some pre-sampling to get a feel for the notch width. Think of the NOTCH Narrow/Off/Wide toggle as enabling the upper end of the respective notch window and the NOTCH WIDTH pot as adjusting the width of that window DOWN from there. Once you get a feel for this, mark the dial for the range of trash items you're likely to encounter.
- The Golden is said to have 4 tones. There are actually SIX tones:
Low = iron, foil
Mid 1 = high foil through nickle/tab
Mid 2 = high tab through screwcap/zincer
High = copper cent and above.
Double chirp = targets too close to the coil
"Rolling tone" = flutyy, low to high, and indicates iron
- With this detector, familiarity is key. The cacaphony of tone can be boggling at first, as there is, simply put, a lot of trash in the world. Just let the tones filter in and learn to work with them. Do a lot of digging at first. After a awhile, things will begin to make sense and you'll be "in-tune" with the machine.
- The ground balance is pre-set. Some folks add a GB pot later, but it probably wont be needed...test it in your soils first.
This detector offers all the bennies of the various Silver Series, with the hot Max boost AND the notch feature. It's a winner.
"I would like to hear from someone who uses this unit and get some insight. Thanks, Ron B."
Here's what "mudman" said - -
"Ron it is a great detector and is real good on buttons and coins. The tones are a little close together but with some practice ( a few times out) you will have no problems telling them apart.
As far as the notch I can't say as I ever use it, as I run mine with no discr. at all and just use the tones. I have used it in some sites that are just littered with iron and can still pick out the goodies. If the iron drives you a little crazy you can turn up the disrc. a little and still pick through the trash.
Not sure if this helps you ....all I can say is that it is a great detector."
I agree with everything he says. Much depends on your hunt style and, if you are a relic man, then this may be good advice. But most detectorists arent as worried about iron as they are non-ferrous trash. I dont run in "0" disc much, myself, as I am a coinist for the most part.
I normally hunt at the preset arrow or just below and toggle the notch to pick out the tabs, if I happen to be in a trash zone. Here's some other observations.
- Run your SENS at around 7 to start, then go higher if you dont get a lot of falsing. If you do, back down til it gets quiet again. I remember my first uMax experience, after using a SSII for so long. "HOT," even harsh, were the things that came to mind. Folks, the uMax circuit is sensitive and you dont need the MAX BOOST as much as you fool yourself into thinking you do...
- Set your THRESH at a barely audible hum, or maybe a hair more.
NOTE: like all Tesoros, you can "SuperTune" the DISC circuit by cranking the THRESH. This will allow weak signals from deeper targets to punch through strong. But, it kills the ALL metal/pinpoint mode and it isnt needed until you hit a clean site with deep targets.
- Do some pre-sampling to get a feel for the notch width. Think of the NOTCH Narrow/Off/Wide toggle as enabling the upper end of the respective notch window and the NOTCH WIDTH pot as adjusting the width of that window DOWN from there. Once you get a feel for this, mark the dial for the range of trash items you're likely to encounter.
- The Golden is said to have 4 tones. There are actually SIX tones:
Low = iron, foil
Mid 1 = high foil through nickle/tab
Mid 2 = high tab through screwcap/zincer
High = copper cent and above.
Double chirp = targets too close to the coil
"Rolling tone" = flutyy, low to high, and indicates iron
- With this detector, familiarity is key. The cacaphony of tone can be boggling at first, as there is, simply put, a lot of trash in the world. Just let the tones filter in and learn to work with them. Do a lot of digging at first. After a awhile, things will begin to make sense and you'll be "in-tune" with the machine.
- The ground balance is pre-set. Some folks add a GB pot later, but it probably wont be needed...test it in your soils first.
This detector offers all the bennies of the various Silver Series, with the hot Max boost AND the notch feature. It's a winner.
She pestered me for two weeks to give it to her. Course I did but still use it like it is my own. 
