Sovereign modification

[wandwaver]

Hello all. I was wondering how many sovereign gt users have had the mod by msr which is supposed to give up to 3 inches extra depth. So I wondered if it is worth it and how the mod measures up in the field. I have seen 2 posts where users claimed to have an extra 2.6 inches of depth. Are there any other changes in performance after having the mod for instance does tone change or does the machine become more unstable. Also does the mod have a switch that applys it so that the mod can be switched off and the machine revert to pre mod operation giving the user the choice of detecting with the mod or without it . Thanks in advance. Davey.

 

[Rick(ND)]

The secret to the Sovereign is learning it well, I have always said that the ones that design the Sovereigns know how it will work the best. That said I bought one that had a mod from someone done to it and tried it out and found the tones were set so most target sound higher pitched, it was silent search also so there was not threshold or had to set it up higher. The ones that I had was the XS series and the GT series has the switch for silent search that I can see where in some cases it is OK. On my test I did with actual targets in the ground in my test bed that was made around 1980. Several of the coins I didnt get a reading like I did with my reg Sovereign GT I had. Maybe it was a bad mod that was done by some, so I sent a very nice Sovereign to someone I trusted that knew the mods and checked it out before I sent in my test garden and wrote down the spec to compare when I got it back. Right off I notice the tones sounded higher pitched, had to turn up the threshold to hear the threshold, I feel the threshold you have to hear to get the depth as it cant break the threshold, also in iron you never know when in a null you can not hear the coin next to it.
Any way in the test garden I notice I lost depth, couldnt tell the zinc pennies from the copper pennies as the tones sounded the same. I open up the control box and seen the tones were set to max and the threshold was also set to max, so with my good Sovereign I was able to compare the tones and the silent search to keep them the same and did the test again and I got my ID better and the the depth the same. I think that those that thought it gave them more either swing the coil faster and miss those iffy signal on good target close to iron or a null of the detector.
This was with the XS series of the Sovereign I had been using since 1996 and got a GT when they come out which I still have with the SunRay 180 and the S1 probe, but haven used it for a few years because of health problem and the weight is too much now for me and if they ever make a light weight Sovereign I will be the one I will get, and save my GT for a spare. I think many of them that learned the Sovereign and know what they can do still have them in reserve.
This is my experience I had with the mods while others may disagree. Maybe someone is doing mods I dont know of and doing something more than maxing out the tones and setting it to silent search.


Rick

 

[Ron from Michigan]

The secret to the Sovereign is learning it well, I have always said that the ones that design the Sovereigns know how it will work the best. That said I bought one that had a mod from someone done to it and tried it out and found the tones were set so most target sound higher pitched, it was silent search also so there was not threshold or had to set it up higher. The ones that I had was the XS series and the GT series has the switch for silent search that I can see where in some cases it is OK. On my test I did with actual targets in the ground in my test bed that was made around 1980. Several of the coins I didnt get a reading like I did with my reg Sovereign GT I had. Maybe it was a bad mod that was done by some, so I sent a very nice Sovereign to someone I trusted that knew the mods and checked it out before I sent in my test garden and wrote down the spec to compare when I got it back. Right off I notice the tones sounded higher pitched, had to turn up the threshold to hear the threshold, I feel the threshold you have to hear to get the depth as it cant break the threshold, also in iron you never know when in a null you can not hear the coin next to it.
Any way in the test garden I notice I lost depth, couldnt tell the zinc pennies from the copper pennies as the tones sounded the same. I open up the control box and seen the tones were set to max and the threshold was also set to max, so with my good Sovereign I was able to compare the tones and the silent search to keep them the same and did the test again and I got my ID better and the the depth the same. I think that those that thought it gave them more either swing the coil faster and miss those iffy signal on good target close to iron or a null of the detector.
This was with the XS series of the Sovereign I had been using since 1996 and got a GT when they come out which I still have with the SunRay 180 and the S1 probe, but haven used it for a few years because of health problem and the weight is too much now for me and if they ever make a light weight Sovereign I will be the one I will get, and save my GT for a spare. I think many of them that learned the Sovereign and know what they can do still have them in reserve.
This is my experience I had with the mods while others may disagree. Maybe someone is doing mods I dont know of and doing something more than maxing out the tones and setting it to silent search.


Rick

Rick is one of the best Sovereign hunter's around, great advice HH Ron

 

[Rick(ND)]

Thanks Ron

Good to see you posting again as its been a while and was thinking you got out of detecting or were busy with other things.
I don't get out detecting like I would like too, infarct I did detect for about 15 minutes at a place we stayed at and when I got down to dig I feel over and when I tried to get up I fell on my A$$, so that took care of my day.
Never even got out with the Legend since I got it and probably sell it. I still have my GT even though I haven't used it for a while, but I plan on keeping it as it brings back some great memories' of all the models of the Sovereigns I have used.

Good to see you post again on the Sovereign forum again as we miss you here.

Rick

 

[Nauti]

Hi Wandwaver,
Sorry this is a bit late but i had the mod done by msr,i sent my machine in to have the threshold pot replaced and it came back with the report and a footnote saying that he had done the depth mod for me too.It hasn't made any difference to the tones or threshold or had any other negative effect on the machine.

 

[badarse]

Could I have the msr contact info please

 

[Nauti]

Msr are in the uk bud and are an officially authorised minelab service center.Just put MSR metal detector repairs into google and it will come up with details of how you can contact them.

 

[Odanscoils]

Msr are in the uk bud and are an officially authorised minelab service center.Just put MSR metal detector repairs into google and it will come up with details of how you can contact them.

Wonder if they can replace the faded screen on my old Explorer xs ??

 

[Nauti]

Wonder if they can replace the faded screen on my old Explorer xs ??

No harm in asking.......i would say more than likely.

 

[Rick(ND)]

Hi Wandwaver,
Sorry this is a bit late but i had the mod done by msr,i sent my machine in to have the threshold pot replaced and it came back with the report and a footnote saying that he had done the depth mod for me too.It hasn't made any difference to the tones or threshold or had any other negative effect on the machine.

Do you see any difference in the performance after the mods were done?? The reason I ask is the Mods that was going around since I was a Minelab dealer in 1996 is the mod that was said to get more depth was done by several dealers and it was the silent threshold and turned up the tones and may be something else done I didn,t know of. It was done to make the it a silent threshold so you didnt have to listen to all the noise we had to listen too. They claimed it got more depth with the higher tones and I just had to see for myself on the test I did. There were many used one I bought to resell as people and found many said they just couldnt get used to this detector and when I got them i seen why as the tones sounded too much the same, and the threshold was to loud when switching to pinpoint. I found out they had the mods done and only knew of the one mods, so the one you got done was different than the one going around.
I think these mods that were done over hear are the only ones I know of and only ones I had seen, so maybe there is another mod I dont know of, but still stand by those that designed the Sovereign knew what they wanted it to do as it gets penty deep is you know how to use it.
I found that going slow at times and i mean real slow and listening to those tones change with no disc or very little got so many good target others walked over with my XS series and when the the GT it had the silent search switch on it I didnt know what it was good for, but seen those area with a lot of iron it them the threshold would be doing a lot of nulling or no change in the threshold in area void of targets and found switch to the silent search and when I started to get positive signals I would switch off the silent search as hearing those threshold is where you get the depth in my opinion. By doing this I used to get good targets in with trash as the Sovereign is seeing everything and going slow you can hear any trash target close to a good target.
I like many others that know the Sovereign knows what it can do, it may be slower swinging, but see what other cannot see in my opinion, many that got to know the Sovereign and sold them to try a different detector are trying to get a Sovereign back or has one in their collection of detectors.

when I decided I wanted to try a Sovereign I had to become a dealer as there was no dealer around here as you had to buy from a authorized Minelab dealer and at the time there was no used one around and no dealer could mail them out , so I became a dealer and the first few time out with the Sovereign I thought I really made a mistake and didn't like it, but this is the times when this forum got started and with the help of those that were using the Sovereign and telling me to not give up and gave me a lot of tips and with their help learned this detector and seen it was and is one of the best detectors out there with some nice finds from areas that many considered worked out.

Rick

 

[Ted S]

Nice story Rick! I have a Mark 1 that I loan out once in a while to a hunting buddy! You sure don't see them anymore!

 

[Nauti]

Hi Rick,yes I have seen a difference but not 3 inches as was stated in the original post.I hunt the beaches almost exclusively now and generally use a small thin ladies gold wedding band to test the depth of my detectors on the wet sand.I got about an inch and a half extra depth in all honesty which doesn't sound a lot but it opens up another level of targets I suppose.If I remember I did some tests on coin sized targets but can't remember the depth differences I recorded but I'm pretty sure I never attained 3 more inches in depth on those either,maybe a couple at most but every little helps.I have noticed that the machine seems very sensitive to very small targets,I seem to be digging the tiniest fragments of aluminium which I can't remember doing before with my other GT's.
I haven't noticed any changes in the tones to be honest,all seem to be as they should so I don't know what he has done to it and I don't think he tells anybody either.All I know is that he is an authorised minelab repair specialist and he has a 40 year electronic engineering background so I assume he knows what he is doing.I agree with what you say........minelab engineers know exactly what they are doing and certainly did with the GT,I often wonder if they over did it as it seemed to be ahead of its time and is still capable of matching any of the newer machines if you learn what it's saying.I'm over in the UK and have had a lot of success with the machine (not my current one) on some of our ancient sites which are quite iron infested,not an area that the GT is supposed to do well in.I always hunt with no discrimination and with a threshold which is pretty essential over here as you really need to know where the iron is and also how much there is........its where the small hammered and roman coins hide.Sometimes its a case of listening to the small blips you get with the Sov in amongst the nulls and work them with the coil.........I've found plenty of good targets like that even in heavy iron.A lot of people have been put off this machine because they have seen you tube videos of its failure on nailboard and other useless tests,also not realising that the machine can still pick up a good target while the threshold is nulling.I have made the mistake in the past of selling my GT's to try other machines but was lucky enough to get the one I own now and this one isn't going anywhere.
I could do some depth tests on US coins but I don't know how useful they would be as the sand on our beaches is of the brown type and quite highly mineralised which will obviously reduce depth........I could also do some air tests but again they aren't the best indicator of what depths the machine will attain on actual targets in the ground.

 

[Rick(ND)]

Hi Rick,yes I have seen a difference but not 3 inches as was stated in the original post.I hunt the beaches almost exclusively now and generally use a small thin ladies gold wedding band to test the depth of my detectors on the wet sand.I got about an inch and a half extra depth in all honesty which doesn't sound a lot but it opens up another level of targets I suppose.If I remember I did some tests on coin sized targets but can't remember the depth differences I recorded but I'm pretty sure I never attained 3 more inches in depth on those either,maybe a couple at most but every little helps.I have noticed that the machine seems very sensitive to very small targets,I seem to be digging the tiniest fragments of aluminium which I can't remember doing before with my other GT's.
I haven't noticed any changes in the tones to be honest,all seem to be as they should so I don't know what he has done to it and I don't think he tells anybody either.All I know is that he is an authorised minelab repair specialist and he has a 40 year electronic engineering background so I assume he knows what he is doing.I agree with what you say........minelab engineers know exactly what they are doing and certainly did with the GT,I often wonder if they over did it as it seemed to be ahead of its time and is still capable of matching any of the newer machines if you learn what it's saying.I'm over in the UK and have had a lot of success with the machine (not my current one) on some of our ancient sites which are quite iron infested,not an area that the GT is supposed to do well in.I always hunt with no discrimination and with a threshold which is pretty essential over here as you really need to know where the iron is and also how much there is........its where the small hammered and roman coins hide.Sometimes its a case of listening to the small blips you get with the Sov in amongst the nulls and work them with the coil.........I've found plenty of good targets like that even in heavy iron.A lot of people have been put off this machine because they have seen you tube videos of its failure on nailboard and other useless tests,also not realising that the machine can still pick up a good target while the threshold is nulling.I have made the mistake in the past of selling my GT's to try other machines but was lucky enough to get the one I own now and this one isn't going anywhere.
I could do some depth tests on US coins but I don't know how useful they would be as the sand on our beaches is of the brown type and quite highly mineralised which will obviously reduce depth........I could also do some air tests but again they aren't the best indicator of what depths the machine will attain on actual targets in the ground.

From what I have read you do know your Sovereign which is good. You have seen what this machine can do in the right hands. Myself I have showed many people that says the area is worked out and claim there is nothing left, but when done showed what the Sovereign could do and got some deeper coins and such they missed. I am sure you have seen some of the deeper signals that only get a slight blip, but by doing the Sovereign wigle you can hear enough to dig.
Now the GT I feel has a little more power and seen where I got fooled a few times on some trash, but see if you change direction you can tell if it is good or bad. My GT I have the 180 meter and the S-1 probe (makes it heavier ) but I like the probe that runs off the disc of the Sovereign so I can separate the trash from the good target.
The main thing is knowing what this detector can do and go slower in some area for the deep signals so the Sovereign can see and separate what it see.I use the sensitivity to almost max and not use the auto but just go slower.
I am glad you like the Mod and would like to see what it can do, but the ones have seen is what I posted and another thing I have seen, but dont make sense is on my 8 inch coinsearch coil being I didnt hip mount I cut off some extra cable so I could change the coil faster and by doing this I got more sensitivity it seem like. Dont know why but went over several area I and others hit hard and still picked out some silver dimes we all missed. It just worked for me with no real reason it should of, mabe the extra cable or not wrapped so much around the shaft, but feel it worked and sold it with a Sovereign XS I sold to someone new to the Sovereign.
glad to see your opinion and hope it will help some that is using a Sovereign. Sure do wish they still made a Sovereign GT, but lighter than what they did.
Rick

 

[Nauti]

I've had a bit of success with the auto sensitivity to be fair (on really bad sites)but mainly i try to run as high a sensitivity as i can.I never managed to get a meter for mine,they are as rare as hens teeth it seems.Had the inline probe on my quattro but to be honest i dont use one now as i dont really find them that much use.......i always find my target and much quicker than some do using a probe lol.
Im still coping with the weight at the moment but it would definately be nicer if it were lighter.I look at some of the newer lighter models that are also waterproof but im not really that tempted at the moment,they just aren't doing it for me.....any suggestions??

 

[Rick(ND)]

Nice story Rick! I have a Mark 1 that I loan out once in a while to a hunting buddy! You sure don't see them anymore!

That too was a excellent detector and had mine until I got my Sovereign in 1996 and sold it to a good friend which did excellent with it.
the only problem I seen with them is the battery contact and used to know where I could get the clips at broken detector as he had the parts for the Teknetics.

Rick

 

[Odanscoils]

Here's my light weight Sovereign GT setup.
I bag the control box. Just swing the coil and meter.

 

[Nauti]

I'm looking into doing that myself.........there are some nice fully waterproof camera bags out there that you can waist/belt/ shoulder mount so I will problem go with one of those.