Tesoro vs Musketeer Advantage

[David]

I have honestly have been hearing rave reviews by several people on the awesome depth of the simple analog Minelab Musketeer Advantage machine in the field.

I know Tesoro's are awesome too.

Also Minelab calls it, "The most powerful VLF detector on the market."

But one question, has anyone compared their Vaquero, Tejon, or Lobo ST to this machine above and how does it fair in the test?? Thanks!

 

[Sven]

The Musky is heavy, period! If you want a lightweight detector, don't buy the Musky.
I had two of them over the past 5 years with different size coils. Here in Georgia I don't think it was any deeper than several Tesoro's I had--Euro Sabre, Silver Sabre u Max,
Lobo, Cibola, Tejon.
Best advice is to check one out, and give it a try, it may work great in your area, better in mineralized ground. You may even like it, especially if you hip mount the box. If I remember correctly it is a quiet hunter. Excellent for organized treasure hunts, less affected by other detectors in the hunt.

 

[digitaltim]

I bought a new M. Advantage a couple years ago and sold it after little use,

Its not balanced well...it is heavy...It seemed to like junk and I wasn't able to develop confidence with it. Personally I didn't care for it.

Compared to the Tesoros?? I don't think it can...apples and oranges.

To me the Minelab advantage seemed like older technology. Just ok and not as refined as a Tesoro.

The Sovereign is another story ;-)......that's a great detector.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Hi Digitaltim.
I've been rather fascinated myself of late at the idea of using a Audio only machine. The 2 stand outs from what I can gather, are the Tejon and the Sovereign. How do these 2 detectors stack up, when it comes to being able to decipher what they are telling you. In other words, which of these 2 have the most useful language?
Thanks.
Mick Evans.

 

[digitaltim]

The Tejon...by far.

There's lots of noise coming out of the sovereign, but I honestly believe much more can be deciphered from the Tejon. I never could understand the "tones" of the Sov. They're not tones like other machines, but a combination of many sounds. So I used it like a beep and dig.. I had a 180 meter, but to me that was useless, cause I dug anything that gave a solid tone.

I guess choosing between the two would have to be based on where you're hunting. I don;t think wet beach sand would be a good place for the Tejon, but the Sovereign can work well anywhere.

You'll be able to hunt for hours with the Tejon and your arms will hardly notice, but the Sovereign is a large/ heavy machine. Even when Hip mounted the Sov is very clumsy to use.

The Tejon is much faster and you;ll be able to cover more ground in less time.

Personally, I prefer the Tejon over the Sov, and the Vaquero over the Tejon. I don't hav emuch use for the Tejon;s extra features when I'm digging every thing past Iron. Often, based on its shape and area, I'll dig the iron too.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Thanks for the input.
I assume that the Vaquero and Tejon have the same audio. My main goal is to separate our $1 and $2 coins from screw caps. On TID detectors, they show up on the same numbers. Even on the Explorers smart find. from what I can gather, screw caps hit higher than these coins, which allows the Alt disc to come into it's own. These coins hit just like your zinc pennies.
From what I've seen with the Sovereign, coins give a distinct, narrow pinpoint, making them easier to figure out. I've seen a hunting buddy do this and have only heard the ballpark of what he is saying about the pinpoint. I couldn't pick it myself.
May I ask why you prefer the Vaquero? Is it more than just the extra features and weight?
Thanks.
Mick Evans.

 

[David]

Mick, I am thinking about the same as you. I want an analog dials-knob machine. The three best ones in this category on the market that I have concluded are the Tejon, Vaquero, and Musketeer Advantage for relic and coin hunting. The MXT has analog dials but with a VDI. The Tesoros are the lightest weight with the analog dials. The X-Terra 70 is lightweight but all 100% digital.

But if a person want to hunt for both coins and gold as well with an analog dial machine with Auto Trac the best ones on the market is the Tesoro Lobo ST and the Eureka Gold. I prefer the Lobo ST.


Thanks everyone for the great input, it helps. Yes the Musketeer(Muskie) Advantage is heavier than Tesoros but this is what someone had to say:

Quote, "I've tested my Muskies against the T, V and C on several occassions. I've owned 3 Tejons, 3 Vaqueros and 2 Cibolas. I still have a Tejon. Unless I super tune the V or C to an irratic measure, my Advantage is a better coin hunter than the V or C. The Tejon is close. But the frequency of the Tejon picks up far more trash than the Advantage."

The Sovereigns are very slow to work with as digit said. Here is another comment about the comparisons by someone:

Quote, "About 4 or 5 years ago, I did a "head to head" comparison of my Sovereign Elite to the Advantage. I've also owned the GT, and understand the differences between it and the Elite. I know the Advantage and Sovereign share the same basic ergonomics. But personally, I find the slow sweep required of the Sovereigns to be "unbalanced" to me. Not only do they require a slower sweep speed and offer a slower reset speed. But holding that coil out there while doing the "wiggle" is just too much strain on this old body. Without going into a lot of details, in my comparison between the Advantage and the Elite, I hunted an old picnic grounds that is now a farm field. After harvest, I went to that field with both detectors and two bags of colored golf tees. I walked down two rows with the Sovereign and two different rows with the Advantage. Instead of digging the targets, I stuck a golf tee into the spot, with one color representing the Sovereign and another color for the Advantage. I know this wasn't a scientific experiment by any stretch of the imagination. But it was a "real world" application for my test purposes. Anyway, what I found surprised even me. After marking the targets with the two colored tees, I went back over the same spot, using the opposite detector. I was able to confirm every target found with the Elite, using the Advantage. AND, I was able to confirm every target found with the Advantage, with the Elite. In addition, when I worked the two rows initially detected with the Advantage, I didn't find any targets going back over it with the Sovereign. However, I found several "missed" targets using the Advantage on the area initially hunted with the Sovereign. Like I said, this isn't scientific, by any means. I've hunted this site for over 25 years and the remaining coins are quite scattered. But one thing that struck home with me was the fact that it took me nearly 45 minutes to work those first two rows with the Sovereign. And it only took me 15 minutes to hunt the next two rows using the Advantage. In my mind, that told me that, not only would the Advantage find all the targets initially found by the Sovereign, the (Musketeer)Advantage would cover 3 times as much ground in a given period of time, compared to my Sovereign.

BBS Technology automatically transmits 17 separate frequencies over a range from 1.5khz to 25khz. This means you have more depth, greater sensitivity and more accurate discrimination(in theory). It may be a bit more sensitive in that the slower sweep speed might bring smaller targets to your attention. But I would argue both the depth and discrimination. At least from my experience, in the places I have hunted. Depth is similar. And, other than the notch capability of the Sovereign, the discrimination is similar as well. Granted, the Sovereign allows the use of a TID meter. But copper and silver coins all read the same. If you're going to dig when it beeps, and it don't give any depth information, what is the point?"

 

[digitaltim]

In the case of trying to discriminate specific items the dual discrimination of the Tejon might be what you need. I imagine setting the discrimination to crackle would help, but I'm sorry I do not have the experience to comment on the specific items you're discriminating.

To me the audio of the T and V are the same except for the T's ability to crackle / discriminate with the flick of a switch.

I prefer the V, because I try to dig every thing that isn't Iron. Setting the discrimination just above iron knocks out most garbage (including screw caps).... I'm not searching for anything specific either. Its more simple. I didn't have any use for dual discrimination.


Are you talking about the old rusty screw caps or new aluminum ones? Those will be hard to ignore with the T or V. It can easily ignore the new / non-aluminum ones, but for some reason I dug a few of the old rusted ones. They're few and far between where I search so I don't consider them a nuisance. I tried adjusting the discrimination to see where they'd discriminate out, but it was too high for me. I would have to ignore buttons etc. too. Aluminum doesn't discriminate out well either.....It does sound different and I almost always know its aluminum before I dig.

For every 2-3 pieces of garbage (including aluminum and Iron) I average 1 good find. I think that's a good ratio.

Do you have any local dealers to try the detectors with?

To be fair.....I had only been detecting for a few years when I tried the Musky Adv. ....before that I had been using Fisher Cz's and an explorer. The musky just didn't click into place for me like other detectors. I used it a couple times and let it go for a loss.

My first Tesoro was the Vaquero and it amazed me from the start.

That's my experience.

HH

 

[trueblue]

digitim , Micks reffering to the Alimnium Caps and the daul disc on the Tejon copes with seperating them from Aussie $1'&2's very affectively .....

For cherry picking Milky whites $1 & golden coons $2.... I set primary disc to crakle on the largest of tab s alt disc just at the piont that $1's & 2's drop out completely with these settings the Alloy Caps will ring loud an clear in both discs but you will loose the $$$coin in alt disc , also If ya toggle into fast AM PP mode the $$$ coins will give a lowpitched zipper kind of tone the alloy gives a higher pitched tingy type tone , as for shallow targets the alloy caps often overload the Tejon they also often throw out to the side ....coins on the otherhand are usually tight and clean , all done in a jiffy due to the 3way toggle ...it aint perfect but it gets the job done with outstanding results

 

[Jackpine Savage]

put a big old DD coil on one and the will go deep. One of the best machines I ever used for pulling deep high conductors out of old iron sites is the Advantage. The kind of sites where the iron and coins are both deep. It's amazing how those big DD coils will seperate iron from coins at depth. It takes some technique but it is NOT hard!!

Tom

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I'd like to also thank everybody for your input.
As luck would have, I met my first Tesoro hunter today. While detecting one of my favourite sites, he watched for a bit, then introduced himself. After a conversation, he revealed that he has a Silver Umax. He had it in his camper van. He was good enough to let me play with it. I had trouble telling one target from another, but after some experimenting, coins became very easy to tell apart from the aluminium screw caps. I lifted the coil and found that the drop off of these 2 types of targets were very different indeed.
That said, after using it, I found that it isn't my cup of tea. But I DO appreciate the time that you have taken to answer my questions and inform me about the Tesoro's.
Cheers.
Mick Evans.

 

[David]

Guys, do not forget the Tiger Shark. It is like a waterproof Vaquero with almost the same features but about 2 pounds heavier.

I just wish Tesoro would get its act together and put the Auto Trac(Super TRAQ on the Lobo ST) technology on the Tiger Shark, Vaquero, and Tejon and get rid of the Manual Ground Balance knob. It would make these machines MUCH more desirable to buy and I would buy a Tiger Shark with Super Traq as soon as possible if it was available.... but we can phone, write letters to, and put pressure on Tesoro to add this Auto Trac feature on these machines and I will start buy doing this...

 

[Cajundirtdobber]

If you mount the box under the arm cuff it is as light feeling as a tesoro cortes,how do i know because i own both,and the advantage will finds coins 12 inch deep with no problem .

 

[Cajundirtdobber]

A lot of us coin shooters do not like the auto traq,we like to set our own ground balance.Just like the old orig lobo has,i would take the old lobo over the new lobo any day due to manual ground balance.

 

[Nauti]

Hi David,
I owned a muskeer and a tesoro cibola over here in England.Both great machines but the tesoro was definately better on smaller items and better in amongst the iron.As mentioned above,the minelab is a lot heavier than the tesoro.The musky will go very deep on larger items such as large coins so it really depends on what you are looking for.
Overall,if i had to choose one i'd go with the tesoro but this is simply because i am more interested in looking for smaller coins.If skightly larger objects are your quarry,the musky will do the job very well.

 

[Sven]

One of Keith's Southern most favorite machine, he has a lot of more posts about it than what I have posted below. I am giving a current Musky purchase, one more a try as I have kept revisiting them every 4 years or so. Like any machine, the Musky is not for everyone.

"Musky= 5Khz deep high conductor slammer...Will unmask very well with the 8 inch coil...BUT it will give you one ear bashing on rejected targets that BREAK THROUGH..its really ultra high HZ tone and noisy attitude will leave your ears ringing for hours after a trashy hunt.The musky was Minelabs response to the 1266..the Musky is every bit as deep probably deeper in bad soil and way better out discing out deep iron...it will also hit low conductors like button sizes very well...Will it unmask like a GMP on Buttons in iron and even coins severely masked??NO

but in semi trash and open areas its just flat out digs deep on especially pulltab range and up..and loves Big Brass at real depth..Things the GMP will walk over at depth

The audio is the key to use and it will take awhile to learn a false from a legitimate hit You need that ROUND sound from that forced false sound..

I've made some GREAT finds with a Musky even in aluminum...After awhile aluminum will sound Flat and piercing..Brass coins and lead will sound round and Smooth even in that modern trash...in iron it can be really splattery on disced items and the small things even though it may hear them will be hard to pick out ..yet get out of iron and it will dig a deep cuff button..

Its really hot on silver especially quarters on up..

I actually pulled a 5k dollar Mississippi martingale out of melted aluminum one time with my Musky..that tone just sang compared to the non stop squeals of aluminum..So its no joke and at times will be exceptional..I wouldn't want it as my only machine but then its a great tool at the right time and right site...

Power balance for ultimate depth...it will dig past a foot on a minnie ball with 8 inch coil...Which is really a 7.25" coil.soft smooth whispers...

Deep will sound different than shallow and will also sound like deep iron till you get that certain faint fuzzy whisper that just seems right..

If you have good soil big coils will go crazy deep...bad soil stock is about right..
I like to use it on Sites for relics...Deep relics..Battlefields and such deep on Minnie balls..

It is also good on deep silver like parks and such too..just ignore the blares and go for the Deep smooth sweet ROUND Fuzzy hits...

It still works good in dense trash also and can snag deep stuff in thick iron especially Higher conductors deep..

Its just not a dissecting unit if you compare it to a GMP..

The thing about HIgher Freq High gain units is they are best used on depleted nail infested sites looking for smaller items..

the Musky is low freq but such High gain its sort of the same but goes for deeper stuff and the laws of physics doesn't allow a person to dig deep targets all day in high iron and trash from masking..yet the Musky with such fast shut down and Hyper gain and tight coils can snag deep stuff of high conductance that the High freq units just cant see at depth because of freq..

I would suspect the Gmaxx is alot like the Musky but never used one..its on 4 or so Khz.from the videos i've watched of that unit its a fast low freq hyper gain unit..and theres not alot of those..

Very limited

Omega
Musky
Gmaxx

maybe others i don't know of but a low freq machine can show you stuff at times at depth that a high Freq will never see..

Dig a Foot deep U.S. Buckle with a 18Khz machine and see how it sounds...Not very good...dig it with a 5 Khz machine and it's a hard hitter...

Found this out one time digging dropped .54 sharps with a Lobo St..they sounded decent to good and was digging them down to about 11 inches or so in a square foot area dug about twenty in that little spot spot...then got a scratchy hit and thought a deeper sharps ..well no it was a U.S buckle ..lying flat...left me scratching my head..but as years went by it dawned on me just how blind High Freq units can be to high conductors at depth and even large high conductors..

I would say a Musky or Gmaxx would compliment a GMP very well and be an eye opener...just like a Omega compliments a G2 ...they both can hunt behind each other..

Keith"

 

[Cajundirtdobber]

You must have not had the box under the arm cuff,if you did you would see it is balanced 100% and can swing all day plus get the deeper targets

 

[Sven]

Rear mounted was always best but, not the best to accessing the controls.
Even converted a Musky to fit into A White's IDX style box. That was nice until the cat knocked the detector off the table..........while I was working on it making some changes.

 

[fwcrawford]

I have both machines and like them both, but it is hard to make a comparison between these in my opinion.
Personally, I believe the Vaquero has better discrimination.
I have the high tone Vaquero and do not mind the extremely high tone of the Musketeer.. I can get some pretty good information from that single tone like the Vaquero.
Both machine have amazed me in the finds I have made with them.
I believe the Musketeer will get more depth in red clay than the Vaquero ( and many other machines ).
I have found deep coins with the Musky in red clay soil that was bone dry.. this really impressed me about this machine.
I tried the Sovereign in the same soil and even with the sens. turned down low, the detector nulls a great deal like there is metal in the ground even though the ground is not loaded with trash.
For hiking back into the woods to search around old home sites, I prefer the Vaquero due to its light weight, but have also used the Musketeer with good results.
In my opinion both detectors are very good and both will find good targets and trash.
I sure don't see many for sale lately, so I'm assuming that folks are hanging on to them for some good reasons.