Steve Herschbach

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My first metal detector in 1972 was a White's Coinmaster 4. I became a White's dealer in 1976. Over the years I owned the following: White's Beachhunter ID, White's Coinmaster IV, White's Coinmaster V Supreme, White's DFX, White's Goldmaster, White's Goldmaster II, White's Goldmaster V/SAT, White's Goldmaster 3, White's Goldmaster 4/B, White's Goldmaster 24K, White's GMT, White's M6, White's MXT, White's MX Sport, White's Surfmaster II, White's Surf PI, White's Surf PI Pro, White's Surf PI Dual Field, White's Sierra Pulse Pro, White's TDI, White's TDI SL, White's Vision, White's V3i And as a dealer I "borrowed" and played with countless more models. Right as of this moment I still have a DFX, V3i, and Goldmaster 24K I got in the fall of 2018. It's just now sinking in that after 48 years of using White's metal detectors, I have probably officially purchased my last new White's. I guess it is not impossible yet somebody could purchase the company and somehow take things on to new and improved models. Unfortunately, I just do not see that as being very likely. The name may continue, but White's as an industry leader is probably nothing more now than a memory. It's hard to believe that a company that produced something as sophisticated as the V3i in 2009 is now done.... I was still harboring a hope that somehow a V4 would see the light of day. In fact I figured they either pull a rabbit out of their hat, or it was over. Unfortunately it proved to be the latter. I do know one thing. My V3i is in pristine condition, and I am going to treat it with kid gloves now. If there was ever a detector that might become a collectors item, the V3i is it. I do not think we will see anything remotely like it ever again. The Goldmaster 24k is a very good detector, and thanks to Tom Boykin I got to use it early on and write my last big review of a White's detector. I always felt a little bad about the MX Sport debacle, so it was nice to end things on an upbeat note. A picture of my last detector from White's Electronics, quite a difference from my first "big box" Goldmaster in 1973.

Large coils cover more ground and get good depth on coin size and larger targets. However, when multiple items are under the coil at once, this can confuse the detector. A small coil helps better separate targets where they are close together, like a picnic area. Small coils also enhance sensitivity to smaller items like ear rings. The trade off is the small coil does not cover as much ground, or reach quite as deep, as the larger coil. Lots of details and more reference material here

Well on top of White’s closure, we have pandemic shutdowns plus 4th of July holiday. Not a good time to be trying to find people and get answers.

That’s not strictly true. Tahoe is large enough that is can get some decent surf. It’s just not as big nor often as the oceans, but I am sure it creates scour conditions that might be beneficial at times.

Yeah, time to stock up on spare parts, just in case.

Thanks, I have no specific questions, but am just trying to build a resource for those that may. I put the post together in response to a request for information via PM.

So far there has been almost no official information from White’s, including information about any other service centers being available.

Welcome to the forum. The orange detector looks similar to the Quest brand sold here.

Makes sense to me. I think you are encountering the concentric rings of electromagnetic force lines which have weaker and stronger areas under the coil. It's these wrapping lines of energy that allows a large coil to have better wrap and and "see under" effect than a smaller coil in some cases. So I surmise that as you go deeper you are hitting areas where the field is weaker and stronger, causing the target to fade in and out.

Yup. In other words, detecting as it has always been, with many very clear dig me signals, many very clear "do not dig" signals, and then a whole bunch of questionable signals. If you dig these most will be junk, but a few will be good targets. Frankly, the AQ changes nothing for me as far as detecting except that areas I would not hunt because they were done, "cleaned out", I'd now hunt again with hopes of making more good finds. But they've already been hunted, supposedly to death, so a lot of good stuff has been extracted and much of the junk left behind. No matter how you look at it the situation is more like cleaning up leftovers, than turning hunted beaches into virgin territory.

You'd be amazed Simon. Nails? How about entire houses and hotels!? Where I hunted in Kauai, there have been direct hits by hurricanes. I am not exaggerating when I say entire buildings demolished, sucked into the surf, ground up, and spread about for decades. Concrete slabs, foundation blocks, rebar... well, all the heavy stuff mother nature could not wash away or corrode away. This is common in any area that has hurricanes - not to mention the ships sunk and ground up and washed ashore. There were places I hit with mask and snorkel where the bottom was just a mix of sand, basalt hot rocks, concrete chunks, and reddish lumps of every size and shape of ferrous junk. The only good part is most smaller ferrous corrodes completely away in time, but the big stuff turns from metal to lumps of rust and sand/coral that a PI detector just loves.

There are very many threads on the Equinox here - a whole sub-forum in fact. The Equinox is probably the best selling metal detector in the world, so it is not like it is a risky proposition. I suggest you dig into the forum for further information. The Monster and Equinox both have advantages on certain types of gold versus the others, the type of things expert split hairs over all day long. Fr whatever it is worth I had both and sold the Gold Monster. Whatever it did better than an Equinox was so minimal if anything that it was not worth keeping it in addition to the Equinox. Personally I preferred the White's Goldmaster 24K over the Gold Monster, but with White's future in question will no longer be recommending it as an option. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/4236-minelab-equinox-versus-gold-monster-1000-for-prospecting/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/5255-gold-monster-1000-vs-equinox-800/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/9992-video-minelab-equinox-800-vs-gold-monster-1000/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/forum/53-minelab-equinox-forum/

Deeply corroded/rusted nails where there is more rust than metal are going to be a problem just like always. I have never had a problem digging brand new, shiny nails at a beach. This test is nice, and if you are having a problem with brand new crossed nails sitting on top of a ring sitting on top of the beach, the AQ is the solution for that problem. Will the AQ do better than any PI you have used before? Little doubt about that in my mind. I just don’t want anyone coming back later and saying “but you said I would dig no nails Steve.” No, I did not. It is going to be very site specific, and if your site has lots of nails where over half the metal is gone, replaced by a think rind of rust and sand... those are problems targets. If bent, doubly so.

On the TDI Pro the upper handle was a bolt on assembly with separate part numbers The prototype models has a straight shaft, and the production models an S shaft. In either case you could remove the handle via four bolts to hip or chest mount the control box. Since the production models went S shaft, there were aftermarket straight shafts. Here is the Anderson aftermarket straight shaft for the TDI Pro: https://www.seriousdetecting.com/product/anderson-whites-tdi-metal-detector-black-carbon-fiber-shaft/ Does anyone have any part numbers for the original TDI upper handle? The SL models the handle does not normally separate (attaches from inside the control box) and so only White’s or White’s dealers would have access to the part number for the upper straight shaft or S shaft. The straight middle shaft 500-0288-1 or S shaft 802-5213 is standard on many whites detectors, and there is a “tall man” version 500-0240-1 of the S shaft. Does anyone know or have access to part numbers for the handle on the TDI SL, either straight or S shaft? The TDI Beachunter uses a removable shaft that can probably be retrofitted to the SL models with some drilling. This appears to be the White’s Diver Rod Kit, part # 802-5195-1, with straight middle shaft 500-0288-1 added, and may retrofit to the SL with some drilling. White’s Diver Rod Kit One of the best deals going in a rod assembly for years has been the Whites Space Saver Rod Kit for Classics and Early Goldmaster models, part number 802-5236. This may also retrofit the the SL and is in any case a good way to get some Whites Rod parts cheap. While they last. White’s Space Saver Rod Kit If anyone has any information they can add about any TDI model rod or shaft parts, now would be a great time to archive it while it’s still halfway easy to track down.

Most YouTube videos are aimed at being entertaining rather than being in depth analysis of a detectors features and performance. One reason I do not do videos is that in order to do one the way I want it would take, and I’m not joking, probably about 30 to 50 hours to shoot the video and edit it in such a way that I would feel like I had really done the job well. In my case I may spend 8 hours driving back and forth plus gas money just to run a detector at a particular location, camping overnight to get in a couple days of field use and comparisons with other detectors on found targets. It takes multiple locations to get the full picture. And some manufacturer thinks I’m going to do all that just for a free detector I don’t need anyway? Or to chase eyeballs on a YouTube channel in hopes the ad revenue will pay for the time and effort? That in a nutshell is why the very best videos are never going to get made anymore. The people watching want everything to be free, and the manufacturers are not willing to pay for the real deal. In fact they don’t care about in depth information as much as content that just draws eyeballs, no matter how offbeat or silly it is. That said I appreciate any videos anybody does take the time to do videos for people to watch for free. As far as the content... you get what you pay for. At least they are bothering at all, which is more than I can say about me!

It’s not quite the issue a person might assume. Metal in close proximity to a coil is largely ignored as long as it is not moving. Detectors back in the good old days had metal coil bolts! But still, best to keep metal away from the coil as much as possible. The original Golden Mask rod had the lower most knurled knob removed for this very reason. Good catch, and thank you. 👍🏼

I have been trying hard through many very detailed posts to explain that there is not a yes and no answer to this question. Does the Impulse AQ have excellent ferrous see through ability? Yes. Does it cut through all ferrous like butter and see just the gold? No. The nail demos are just that. Cool demonstrations, using new nails. The issue is not new nails, but largish, deeply corroded ferrous objects, rusted flat round objects, especially with holes, hair pins, and bottle caps. Does the Impulse AQ do an excellent job of seeing through most ferrous? Yes. Are there many items that will cause the ring signal to degrade to the point you might pass it up? Yes. Are there many ferrous items that will fake you out and have you digging them thinking it might be a ring? Yes. I think the Impulse AQ is the best pulse induction detector made to date for water hunting, with superb depth, and more discrimination and audio tricks that can be employed to advantage for finding rings than ever before in a PI detector. But nobody should get the idea they are going to get one and go punch though piles of ferrous stuff like it does not exist, getting the rings and missing none. The only way to do that is go all metal and dig everything. Nobody should think they are going to dig only non-ferrous items. I have gone to more effort to present a realistic assessment of what this detector is capable of than any detector I have ever reviewed. Either people are not seeing my posts, or the desire to believe the Impulse AQ is something other than a very capable PI is overwhelming and cannot be overcome no matter how much or what I post. Impulse AQ - Digging With Tones and Disc In General Fisher Impulse AQ Discrimination Explanation Fisher Impulse AQ Preliminary Report Fisher Impulse Discrimination In Depth Discussion Some problematic items for the Impulse AQ...

Has anyone used one or both of those beaches and have any comment? The MS-2 in particular seems like a great value to me, having all the features of headphones costing three or four times as much. But do the have the sound and durability?

Great job on the video and the ring Aaron! New thread about headphone questions....

When it comes to gold study the geology and mining history of the area. This gives you a realistic idea what you may find. Anything else is wishful thinking. You are fortunate these days in that you can have all you want in one detector. The Minelab Equinox 800 is in my opinion the most capable general purpose detector made to date, comparing to top tier VLF detectors at any task. This includes nugget detecting. In your shoes I would be getting it primarily to hunt for coins, jewelry, and relics, while being assured that you can use it to look for small gold if you wish. But in your location, you with the best metal detector, no matter what that is, and me with a gold pan, I know who I am betting on as having the best chance of finding gold. I say that as a person who has specialized in finding small gold with a metal detector for decades. I wish you the best of luck no matter what you decide. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/7468-my-tips-on-nugget-detecting-with-the-minelab-equinox/

I think if you really want to find gold, in your situation you’d be better off with a gold pan. Use the right tool for the job, and this is one job where a gold pan is the better tool. With a huge amount of effort with a metal detector you may find some gold. In most small gold locations however you will come away empty handed. If there is gold that can be found at all, a properly used gold pan will find it, and at far lower cost. In a lot of ways a gold pan is a more serious prospecting tool than a metal detector, revealing gold in multitudes of locations where metal detectors would say there is no gold at all.

You forgot Mark. I follow the other forums, and no, no reporting anywhere else. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/12996-first-impressions-of-the-aq/ Just an FYI... I in no way obligated myself verbally or in writing that I would report in X amount of time or even at all. I agreed to the written terms of purchase and I signed a check. Any reporting I have done on the AQ has been of my own volition and nothing more. https://www.detectorprospector.com/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=33673

Try to avoid digging in grass when conditions very dry.

Hmmm, that was kind of dumb of me. I thought nothing about how that ring so close the coil might cause problems, all I thought at the time was that having it there would make for a stronger connection. I’ll have to cut mine off with a dremel tool since it’s all epoxied together now. The next one up should be no issue, or at least it was not on my original.