Jump to content

Thank You White’s Electronics Of Sweet Home, Oregon


Recommended Posts

Very nice post Gerry!👍 I wonder how many of us made their best finds with a White's detector? I know I and my wife have and the detectors continue to produce decent finds consistently today. If White's is unable to continue and least they can hold they head high and recount endless stories they have helped people accomplish finding an incredible amount of treasure.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • The title was changed to Thank You White’s Electronics Of Sweet Home, Oregon
23 hours ago, phrunt said:

Just imagine if you were swinging the Equinox back then, or the 24k. 🙂

My 1st few years of detecting gold was chasing all the little dinks as I did not realize big gold was still around.

When I starting finding bigger gold in the early 2000's, it was the Fisher GB-2 with 14" coil and it was the king for a few yrs.  Then we realized the White's MXT with the 14kHz could go deeper on bigger gold and the Iron ID was more accurate than the GB-2.  So all of a sudden, many of us switch to the MXT and felt we were digging less big iron and more big gold.

Even though I was a Minelab dealer back then, their VLF gold machines were clumsy, slow and not ideal for covering a lot of uneven ground and tailing piles.  Minelab was more into their PI gold machines and their Eureka Gold was not a favorite of mine.  Yes I used it and found some nice gold, but it was so much different than the US machines back then. 

I have to give credit to the MXT as it truly was a well designed and quality built detector for its day and many people liked it, used it and found good size gold with it.

Minelab really never had a good light weight decent Iron ID detector like the MXT until later on around 2006 or 2007 and then it took us a couple yrs to realize, it was also good at big gold and tailing piles.  Minelab (back then) just didn't have the grasp of us Americans and how picky we were and are. White's on the other hand was all about ergonomics, S rods and clean strong signals.

Minelabs 1st decent detector to compete with the MXT was, anyone know?  The X-Terra 70.

So as I said above and I know not everyone will agree, but I'll give credit where I feel do, to White's and their fabulous MXT for the majority of my bigger gold back then.  Again, I was a Minelab dealer, but I felt they didn't have their focus on that part of the market at the time.

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve Houston and I ran a prototype MXT at Ganes Creek of all places, but it was not until the next year that I figured out how good it was there. I sold a ton of MXTs off of what happened at Ganes Creek. Over 1000 ounces of gold found there with the MXT alone.

White’s representative Steve Houston with 3.25 ounce gold nugget he found at Ganes Creek, Alaska in 2002...

steve-houston-ganes-creek-gold-nugget.jpg

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

God, I feel terrible now for speculating/opinionating on the why and how! :laugh: Seriously though, nice post Gerry! 👍🏼

Got a tip for you though. Your detectors found nothing. The locations produced the finds, and you did the finding. You are the one making the machines look good, not the other way around. :smile:

Steve,  No hard feelings my friend as we have had our PM conversations on this very subject.  Heck I felt like much of what was said on the other post started when I was in NV, was actual truth. But a bunch of the folks giving input have not been around White's but maybe 10/20 yrs.  Back in my early MD'ing days White's was the real deal and there was no Minelab.  Changing of the Guard is all.

When I got home and had a discussion about it with my father (the same guy) in the early 1970's pic, he was shocked.  It wasn't madness at all as with his degrading health, he has not had a detector in his hands for 4 or 5 hrs.  He's on oxygen and in a wheelchair the last few yrs.  Anyway, that guy who taught me most everything to get going on my own back then, he lit right up like a Christmas tree and had a shitty grin on his face for a long time as his memories went back almost 50 yrs with detectors in our families hands.  My uncle, my dad, their dad (my grandpa) my cousins, me and even my little brother later on, we all had White's detectors and back then, felt they were the best.

Still smiling ear to ear my dad recalled some of our hunts, his finds and many adventures.  He talked about the old horse race track and the 21 Seated silver we found in the late 1970's  (most of them were Halves and Quarters).  Dad was smiling and talking and I just sat there watching his face and body get more into it.  He told me about the 1st Civil War Relic hunt I took him on back in South Carolina in the later 80's.  He still remembers his US Breast Plate he dig under a house in downtown Charleston.  Heck I had only seen them in museums and or pictures in W & E Treasure magazine, then we are holding a fresh dug one in our hands.  My dad was full of joy during that visit this week and that is when it dawned on me.

I have no hard feelings towards anyone for their comments as I don't think most of the 180 posts has the history my family and I do with White's metal detectors.  But for my family and I, so so many memories throughout almost 50 yrs and 40 of those it was White's or nothing.  Yes I started using other brands back in the 90's and even had great success the last 20 yrs with other brands, try to tell my dad otherwise, is like going to McDonald's and they are out of Big Mac's and try to sell you a fish burger.  It just don't happen like that.

So again, it was my dad, his smiles, memories and joy he shared,  inspired me to write my comments/words.  To my family it almost felt like a funeral of a good friend.  Yes I argued, at times pulled teeth in frustration over some of the issues, and even cursed my good friend a few times, but blood is thicker than water and in my families eyes...he was a great man, a good camping companion and one hell of a treasure digging friend.  Nothing but respect from us and well deserved.

We had hundreds of photos of our lives growing up with meta detectors, but a house fire in the early 80's took them all away from us.  All I have now are cuts from an 8MM reel my aunt gave me the pics in rough detail of my dad and some finds early 1970s, a picture of my grandpa sitting at the table getting ready to go, some pics of my dad and I on our CW hunt.

Yes Steve, we just as well could have been using Fisher or Garret (Minelab was a dream) back then and probably would have had the same success or at least close to it, so I do agree with your last words.  Just don't try and tell my dad that, you could be eating a fish burger from McDonald's.

 

Dad19926.jpg

Dad19923.jpg

Dad19922.jpg

Dad19921.jpg

1AGranpaMac.jpg

Dadearly70s1.JPG

Dadearly70sc.JPG

Dadearly70sf.JPG

Dadearly70sk.JPG

Dad199242.jpg

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Steve Houston and I ran a prototype MXT at Ganes Creek of all places, but it was not until the next year that I figured out how good it was there. I sold a ton of MXTs off of what happened at Ganes Creek. Over 1000 ounces of gold found there with the MXT alone.

Well I for one took home more than my share.

Just think if we had another Ganes Creek to go to or even your dig at Moore Creek.  Boy those were some times.

Remember the loud mouth Minelab guys back then (I won't mention names) and how they were going to go there to Ganes with them big PI's and show all us non educated VLF hunters how it's done?  Those times, emails, banter and all were some of the silliest and most disgusted gold hunters I have been around.  What is so bad about that, is I still to this day, get folks who think their big badass Minelab is the best at everything. 

Bottom line, the best detector is the one you know inside and out...better be the one in your hand.  And make sure you know its strengths and weaknesses.  Weaknesses is where so many people fail, not knowing what they are missing.

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whites was my first detector in 1972 and my first detector dealership in 1976. Yeah, a lot of history there so I know how you feel Gerry.

We told people Ganes was a once in a lifetime opportunity and would not last forever. I don’t think there will ever be anything quite like Ganes Creek ever again unfortunately, or even Moore Creek for that matter. It was great having a hand in both. I talked Doug into giving a “pay to detect” operation a try and sent his first customers his way. Getting Moore Creek up and running will go down as the greatest adventure in my life, and I’ve had a few.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

 

Dad19922.jpg

You can't replace those  Kodak moments.     Living in the    Rochester area you also see what happened to a  company that made  mistakes. 62,000 people working  for     them in 1982  alone in a mid  size city.Kodak    Park was a city in a city. They invented the  digital camera in the 70's.I knew one  worker who was in the   Rochester ANA coin club who had all 5 1913 v nickles in his possession  at a meeting when the club had them there before  1962, when one went missing after for many years.He was the president of that club in 1964. Oldest ANA  club  that did not disband .Pitt the famous coin collecter worked for Kodak too and was in that club I think.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Still smiling ear to ear my dad recalled some of our hunts, his finds and many adventures.

My dad (who is now 96) was also shock to hear what happen to White's. He is in a wheelchair, has bad eyesight and a heart condition, but he keeps on plugging away. We reminisce quite a lot when I visit about nugget hunting, gold mining and detecting in general. He really misses detecting, but talking about our adventures in the past can brighten his day. Here is his first gold he found with a Eagle II with a Jimmy Sierra Goldfoot coil.

131843173_Scan1198(1028x750).thumb.jpg.3e8b98339c25a6f553de9d3cf729cbcf.jpg

Running a high banker with dad.

130065623_Scan100(1000x1370).thumb.jpg.2a1b8b76e03917eacd490684149eecd0.jpg

Thanks again Gerry for sharing your memories!

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...