This Video Shows Some Of The Reasons Why I Swing A Tesoro Vaquero Metal Detector

jimmyzr1

Full Member
Jun 12, 2010
204
86
Sacramento, Ca
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac, Ctx-3030, Excalibur sword, XP Deus, 3 Garrett propointers, White's Tdi SL, VX3, 6000 Di Pro SL, Mx sport, Tesoro Tiger shark and more
After only around an hour with the Vaquero(disc set between 5c and foil) my wife was already "calling" good targets from junk. Not pull tabs ofcourse, no machine does that, but can slaw, larger iron, etc.

So my friend consistently digs 7-10" silver coins in Northern California parks. He uses an Etrac. How would you use or set a Vaquero or Tejon to pick up 8-10" silver coins and not all of the trash in parks? And how would you ground balance and set it? Anyone with great knowledge of these 2 detectors can answer. Thanks
 

atomicscott

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2011
1,564
1,055
Riverside CA
Detector(s) used
Current: Nokta Makro Simplex+, Teknetics Patriot, Fisher Gold Bug (original), GP Pinpointer (Garrett Clone) Lesche. Owned: Omega 8000, Minelab X-Terra 505, Fisher F2, Tesoro Vaquero, & Compadre, Whit
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Relic hunting you do run the Vaquero wide open or just nock out the nails....That is where i feel that this machine really shines. It is super light, pretty deep, handles my bad ground better than most vlf's and now they make the perfect coil for it! It;s a relic hunters dream....
With any detector it is easy to lift the coil to distinguish target size/depth. It is actually easy to learn the single tone Vaquero, IF you believe disc is the way to go and you do not mind the constant popping and clicking, as it tries to disc out iron. For the people who prefer to hear all targets so they know what they are dealing with in the ground, (and prefer not to have the snap, crackle, pop) multi-tones seems like the more logical choice. With the very accurate Compadre disc, I would not worry much knocking out smaller/mid size iron, it worked much better than the Vaq IMO. With my Vaq, I could never knock out nails! Even with disc set to quarter, lol. Any decent sized rusty nail with the slightest bend, hits like a coin every time. Supertuning made the disc disappear, rendering it basically useless
 

atomicscott

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2011
1,564
1,055
Riverside CA
Detector(s) used
Current: Nokta Makro Simplex+, Teknetics Patriot, Fisher Gold Bug (original), GP Pinpointer (Garrett Clone) Lesche. Owned: Omega 8000, Minelab X-Terra 505, Fisher F2, Tesoro Vaquero, & Compadre, Whit
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I use both the Omega and Vaquero very successfully. Your best bet is to stick with the Omega, because you don't seem to be able to grasp how to use and properly operate the Vaquero. In the right hands, the Vaquero is deadly.

tabman
Sounds about right, blame the user. Do you use the Omega in single tone? If the Vaq is so great, why bother with multi tone detectors at all? I sent my Vaq back after it would only test 9" on a quarter, they sent it back to me after "retuning it", repair slip was marked tested OK by Rusty. Not right when the others I have seen on videos will test 12-13" on a quarter at the same settings. Not to mention how the disc would not disc out a larger nail at all. JMO as always
 

jimmyzr1

Full Member
Jun 12, 2010
204
86
Sacramento, Ca
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac, Ctx-3030, Excalibur sword, XP Deus, 3 Garrett propointers, White's Tdi SL, VX3, 6000 Di Pro SL, Mx sport, Tesoro Tiger shark and more
I use both the Omega and Vaquero very successfully. Your best bet is to stick with the Omega, because you don't seem to be able to grasp how to use and properly operate the Vaquero. In the right hands, the Vaquero is deadly.

tabman

I had a Vaquero before, and for some reason never got the depth with it that you guys are talking about. Either I didn't have the ground balance set correctly or I had a bad unit. That is why I asked earlier if the Tejon was deeper than the Vaquero. My friend consistently digs silver from local parks 7-10" and with my Vaquero I mainly dug trash. I'm just curious what I was doing wrong?
 

Fletch88

Silver Member
Mar 7, 2013
4,841
2,367
Valdosta, GA
Detector(s) used
Garrett ATPro- 8.5x11, 5x8, CORS Fotune 5.5x9.5
Tesoro Silver microMax- 8 donut, 8x11 RSD, 3x18 Cleansweep
Minelab Excalibur ll- 10" Tornado
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Xterra 305
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
So my friend consistently digs 7-10" silver coins in Northern California parks. He uses an Etrac. How would you use or set a Vaquero or Tejon to pick up 8-10" silver coins and not all of the trash in parks? And how would you ground balance and set it? Anyone with great knowledge of these 2 detectors can answer. Thanks

You can't! That is what some of us are saying. In the right location like a private yard or homesite the Tesoro is great and all you need. But in a public place that has been detected several times over the years the amount of shallower silver left has dwindled down. I've owned many Tesoros and several FBS/BBS machines and there is no comparison for deep silver in the 7"-12" range.
 

Last edited:

DiggerinVA

Bronze Member
Sep 16, 2013
1,669
1,661
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Detector(s) used
GPX5000, AT Gold, AT Pro, Whites TDI, Bandido 2 umax, Tejon, Vaquero, Deus 2, ORX and Legend
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The thing is all machines are NOT goin to perform the same in all areas! I have only ever used two machines that i really hated.....they were a whites coinmaster(JUNK), and a Fisher CZ-3d(heavy and loves deep nails). I really like the Minelabs and had good luck with an Explorer SE. But they do not perform in my area the way they do in some areas. They lose their ability to find those deep targets in red (iron) dirt which is common here. Two examples of this is: 1. A 10" quarter in my yard been there for several years....Tried Explorer with 8' round coil, Stock coil, and a 10x12 SEF,.... ran it every way i could and it never did hit the quarter great. Got the AT Gold out with stock 5x8 and it would slam the quarter and even get a descent id number(not a quarter but good enough to dig). The Deus hit this quarter great with 8" coil and Vaquero hit it descent using new 11x8 coil. 2. Several minnieballs at the 8-11" range in a very hot soil field.....AT gold was locating these bullets using all-metal and 11x8.5 coil. Etrac would do nothing except null or "blank out" on them as if they were nails. So my point is that the Minelabs or Fishers or Tesoro's or whatever may not be the "best" choice everywhere....I have never tried a CTX3030 here, but know relic hunters who have and dont think they performed much better.

In MY SOIL the Deus, AT Gold, F75/T2 and the CZ's have proved the deepest....and the Vaquero was not far behind them loosing very little depth in the red dirt.
 

OP
OP
tabman

tabman

Bronze Member
Jul 5, 2011
2,306
7,241
Germantown, Tennessee
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Presently: CTX 3030, Tesoro Modded Cibola, F75LTD-2, XP Deus, Tesoro Mojave, MXT Pro, Tesoro Eldorado, Whites MXT All Pro, Minelab Equinox, Fisher CZ5 & CZ3D
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Sounds about right, blame the user. Do you use the Omega in single tone? If the Vaq is so great, why bother with multi tone detectors at all? I sent my Vaq back after it would only test 9" on a quarter, they sent it back to me after "retuning it", repair slip was marked tested OK by Rusty. Not right when the others I have seen on videos will test 12-13" on a quarter at the same settings. Not to mention how the disc would not disc out a larger nail at all. JMO as always

I've owned numerous Tesoro detectors and they all discriminated out iron nails cleanly and easily. Tesoro has some of the best discriminators in the business. PERIOD

I use the Omega in all tones and really like using it in certain situations if I can find an area to detect that doesn't have really bad EMI. It, the G2 and the F75SE-2 are some of my favorite VDI detectors. I have a large arsenal of detectors at my disposal, but I LOVE swinging a Tesoro most of all. Tesoros are just plain more fun to use and will find more goodies once you learn how to properly use them.

tabman
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You hit on a good point you love swinging tesoros most of all. You also say they are just plain fun and will find more goodies once you learn how to properlypm use them. That doesn't mean that everybody is going to agree.
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I had a Vaquero before, and for some reason never got the depth with it that you guys are talking about. Either I didn't have the ground balance set correctly or I had a bad unit. That is why I asked earlier if the Tejon was deeper than the Vaquero. My friend consistently digs silver from local parks 7-10" and with my Vaquero I mainly dug trash. I'm just curious what I was doing wrong?

This is what I'm talking about. I hunt mostly places that have been detected forever. Plain and simple the vaquero is the wrong choice. I myself used one for a year and a half. I struggled, but would get on forums only to be told you just have to learn that one tone. Then I got a explorer and within a month started digging more old coins on good days than the year and a half with the vaquero. I noticed you have taken right to your new etrac. If you follow what is said on forums that etrac should've been a lot harder to learn and the vaquero should've been easy. It wasn't that way for me either.
 

atomicscott

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2011
1,564
1,055
Riverside CA
Detector(s) used
Current: Nokta Makro Simplex+, Teknetics Patriot, Fisher Gold Bug (original), GP Pinpointer (Garrett Clone) Lesche. Owned: Omega 8000, Minelab X-Terra 505, Fisher F2, Tesoro Vaquero, & Compadre, Whit
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
This is what I'm talking about. I hunt mostly places that have been detected forever. Plain and simple the vaquero is the wrong choice. I myself used one for a year and a half. I struggled, but would get on forums only to be told you just have to learn that one tone. Then I got a explorer and within a month started digging more old coins on good days than the year and a half with the vaquero. I noticed you have taken right to your new etrac. If you follow what is said on forums that etrac should've been a lot harder to learn and the vaquero should've been easy. It wasn't that way for me either.

That was my whole point. Instead of spending over 1 year learning a single tone, I could have been recovering coins instead of trash like I did with my other machines.
 

DiggerinVA

Bronze Member
Sep 16, 2013
1,669
1,661
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Detector(s) used
GPX5000, AT Gold, AT Pro, Whites TDI, Bandido 2 umax, Tejon, Vaquero, Deus 2, ORX and Legend
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Here is a video by a guy that i really enjoy watching....he has no brand loyalty and if it works he uses it......I have seen him use Vaquero's, Sovereigns, Etrac's, F75 ltd, G2, etc......

Anyway it shows that the Vaquero can hold its own for a 450 dollar machine!
https://youtu.be/Qa1sTRoJDKc
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Here is a video by a guy that i really enjoy watching....he has no brand loyalty and if it works he uses it......I have seen him use Vaquero's, Sovereigns, Etrac's, F75 ltd, G2, etc......

Anyway it shows that the Vaquero can hold its own for a 450 dollar machine!
https://youtu.be/Qa1sTRoJDKc

I love that vid. So what is it really showing. OK he finds the target first and the etrac says dime at 6 inches. OK then the vaquero says yes there is a target there but at this point without the etrac Iding already you would know if it was a rusty washer or perhaps a coin. Then he explains he's running the etrac at 23 and turns it up to 25 out of 30 ok it might be a hair unstable. Then he shows the vaquero set at 10 with threshold pretty high which starts killing disc. Then he puts it in supertune and it sounds like a popcorn popper it's so unstable and wow it's even deeper. What you may or may not know in supertune you can throw any hopes of accurate disc right out the window. And then all metal ,please tell me he's not suggesting using all metal in a park. That video just like the one at the beginning of this thread should be introduced as commercials for tesoro. The point is if you or anybody else like them that's awsome. But making outrageous claims is a whole different story. And I'm not saying you diggin in Virginia. I'm saying these videoes are twisting things to express an opinion.
 

DiggerinVA

Bronze Member
Sep 16, 2013
1,669
1,661
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Detector(s) used
GPX5000, AT Gold, AT Pro, Whites TDI, Bandido 2 umax, Tejon, Vaquero, Deus 2, ORX and Legend
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
OK Dirtscratcher.....the whole Tesoro thing aside; how do youlike the your Sovereign GT? I have been thinking about one for sometime and more so here lately. If I don't get a PI....it will probably be a Sovereign GT.
 

atomicscott

Bronze Member
Aug 18, 2011
1,564
1,055
Riverside CA
Detector(s) used
Current: Nokta Makro Simplex+, Teknetics Patriot, Fisher Gold Bug (original), GP Pinpointer (Garrett Clone) Lesche. Owned: Omega 8000, Minelab X-Terra 505, Fisher F2, Tesoro Vaquero, & Compadre, Whit
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I love that vid. So what is it really showing. OK he finds the target first and the etrac says dime at 6 inches. OK then the vaquero says yes there is a target there but at this point without the etrac Iding already you would know if it was a rusty washer or perhaps a coin. Then he explains he's running the etrac at 23 and turns it up to 25 out of 30 ok it might be a hair unstable. Then he shows the vaquero set at 10 with threshold pretty high which starts killing disc. Then he puts it in supertune and it sounds like a popcorn popper it's so unstable and wow it's even deeper. What you may or may not know in supertune you can throw any hopes of accurate disc right out the window. And then all metal ,please tell me he's not suggesting using all metal in a park. That video just like the one at the beginning of this thread should be introduced as commercials for tesoro. The point is if you or anybody else like them that's awsome. But making outrageous claims is a whole different story. And I'm not saying you diggin in Virginia. I'm saying these videoes are twisting things to express an opinion.

Wow DS you really crystalized that! My experience was exactly the same. I also tried someones suggestion to leave sens @ 6-8, that's all you need. Nothing past 5 or 6" with sens so low. As I cranked up sens, disc got worse & worse (as did the popping/clicking). Depth was better with thresh cranked up but now you have a chattery"dig-it-all" machine as the disc no longer disc'ed, lol.
 

OP
OP
tabman

tabman

Bronze Member
Jul 5, 2011
2,306
7,241
Germantown, Tennessee
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Presently: CTX 3030, Tesoro Modded Cibola, F75LTD-2, XP Deus, Tesoro Mojave, MXT Pro, Tesoro Eldorado, Whites MXT All Pro, Minelab Equinox, Fisher CZ5 & CZ3D
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Some Minelab users are at their very best telling the Tesoro users in the 'Tesoro Forum' how much better they are.

I've hunted with guys that used Minelabs and they didn't out hunt me and my Tesoro detectors. Besides Tesoros are more fun to use.

tabman
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Some Minelab users are at their very best telling the Tesoro users in the 'Tesoro Forum' how much better they are.

I've hunted with guys that used Minelabs and they didn't out hunt me and my Tesoro detectors. Besides Tesoros are more fun to use.

tabman

Both videos are silly. People looking at spending their hard earned money deserve to know both sides. If you're referring to me as a minelab guy, you're wrong. I'm a First Texas guy who has a lot of different detectors not listed.
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Some Minelab users are at their very best telling the Tesoro users in the 'Tesoro Forum' how much better they are.

I've hunted with guys that used Minelabs and they didn't out hunt me and my Tesoro detectors. Besides Tesoros are more fun to use.

tabman

Why don't you tell us what part of my reply to video is wrong.
 

Fletch88

Silver Member
Mar 7, 2013
4,841
2,367
Valdosta, GA
Detector(s) used
Garrett ATPro- 8.5x11, 5x8, CORS Fotune 5.5x9.5
Tesoro Silver microMax- 8 donut, 8x11 RSD, 3x18 Cleansweep
Minelab Excalibur ll- 10" Tornado
Minelab CTX 3030
Minelab Xterra 305
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Both videos are silly. People looking at spending their hard earned money deserve to know both sides. If you're referring to me as a minelab guy, you're wrong. I'm a First Texas guy who has a lot of different detectors not listed.

His videos along with a certain members advice are the reason I bought my first 3 Tesorsos. And yes my money is very hard earned and after trying other brands felt kind of remorseful TBH.
 

OP
OP
tabman

tabman

Bronze Member
Jul 5, 2011
2,306
7,241
Germantown, Tennessee
🥇 Banner finds
2
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Presently: CTX 3030, Tesoro Modded Cibola, F75LTD-2, XP Deus, Tesoro Mojave, MXT Pro, Tesoro Eldorado, Whites MXT All Pro, Minelab Equinox, Fisher CZ5 & CZ3D
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I stated, "Keep in mind, a nail or pull tab right next to a silver coin will show a junk VDI number and give a junk tone ID on a detector with a screen and tone ID."

That's not true for all screen and tone Id detectors. Good ones will signal both. Very misleading.

I asked you which 'good ones will pass the pull tab board test and you never did name one, because you can't. Even harder tell me one that will give a proper ID on Monte's nail broad test. Until you do I'm not going to waste anymore of my time with you.

tabman
 

dirtscratcher

Bronze Member
Mar 18, 2009
1,877
1,350
Columbia falls Montana
Detector(s) used
Minelab Sov GT Explorer XS Tesoro Vaq t2se x705
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I can't answer that but know of quite a few that work awsome in finding coins amongst nails in the ground.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top