Tesoros Are Not Dead

[Sven1]

Still a ton of guys out there using them.

I was not going to do any more mods. Kind of got begged into doing some detectors as everyone else retired from doing them.

Modified 4 detectors over the past 6 months. Three were Tesoro models. A Cibola, Golden Sabre II and my own Compadre.

The Cibola turned out to be a factory hot one when it arrived. By far the best one performance wise before and after the mods that I have done or come across.

A Golden Sabre II somewhat turned into a Pantera. Space inside the case was at a premium when installing new parts. Gave it some unique qualities with a slight learning curve.

Now , there was motivation when I looked at the Compadre hanging in the wall. Picked up some needed parts and went to work. Love it, especially with dual disc controls. got hooked on dual disc when using the Vista X.

 

[JCR]

That's neat.

[Mike_Hillis]

Sven,

On the GSII I like to add a manual ground balance and a notch width mod.  I 've also got a VID signagraph (think DFX) meter for it as well only haven't located a housing I like for it yet.

Fun detectors.    Been pondering adding a manual gb to the disc circuit side of my Cortes.

Keep modding!

Mike

[DSMITH]

I love my Beep and Digs currently own 5 Beep and Digs, and yes one of them is a Tesoro Vaquero which is my newest Acquisition

[stupot]

Neither are they dead in England either Sven. There is a strong following of these machines on tough industrial river foreshores like the Thames.  small coils a necessity, difficulty is finding a 4" as they are rare over here.

[RickUK]

Sven,great to see you posting again about your detector mods,still have my Laser B1 and 3 with the 4'' coils on,Silver Sabre,Compadre and the Laser Trident 2 Extreme.....will have to get a few of them out again and start swinging them.

[Steve Herschbach]

It's only the company that is dead, not the detectors. Tesoros are still some of the best and lightest detectors ever made and highly regarded by those that hunt by ear in trashy ground. Analog offers audio nuance that most digital models lose with their overprocessed output. New detector cell phones on a stick also tout their 3 lb light weight when my old Tesoro Silver uMax weighed in at 2.2 lbs over two decades ago - lighter than a Deus!

 

[Txquest]

So true Steve. Had a Vaquero for years. Found my largest gold nugget with it 8 grams. Quite by accident. Was working a relic site. It was such a pleasure to swing. So many coils to choose from.  If I could find one now I probably buy it.

[Noah (FL)]

Always loved seeing the Tesoro mods you did Sven. I modded a couple Compadres with extra disc circuits then later added sensitivity control and coil connector.  Makes for a quick way to check “ID range”.  My favorite setup had two additional fixed discrimination points using tiny trimmer pots mounted inside with a 3 way toggle to select.  I would set the regular disc control to disc iron or small foil  then one trim pot set to just barely disc out a nickel and the other to break up on a zinc. They were fun to hunt and play with but I ended up selling them.  Still have some parts left and a couple Compadres but don’t want to risk screwing them up since it’s getting pricey to replace them and any more I just enjoy a Tesoro for what it is.

Here’s a video of the first one I modded.  

 Tesoro Compadre 3D Mod