Steve Goss, the main technician for Compass Electronics when it was still operating and before the fire shut the doors - operated the plant up until about 2 years ago and produced new metal detectors.
Steve still repairs the detectors and so does Keith Wills (whom I have the GREATEST of respect for) of East Texas Metal Detectors. Keith also modifies and IMPROVES the capabilities and depth of most detectors (hint, hint), especially Compasses. He works on White's too. There is another man online somewhere who repairs them too, but I've lost his address and phone number.
Steve Goss does have a phone number, but he is very difficult to find. I do not know his number any more but I have seen it posted on another site somewhere on a forum. He lives somewhere in Forest Grove, Oregon. A man recently had a Compass CoinScanner Pro (with a night light) for sale who had been a dealer of them for some years, and it was still new and in the box and was selling for $350 in Salem, Oregon. Of course, there is no warrantee, but at east there is a place or two where one can be repaired.
A man called "Siciliano" (sp?), and another who calles himself "Lawrenzo", and another who calls himself "Brian Keith" may know of one for sale. "Crazyman" may know of one too. Lawrenzo and Siciliano at times have one for sale on another detector forum. I have a great deal of respect for all the four above and the first two guys buy and sell detectors often, and are to be well-trusted for sales and delivery. Brian Keith is a good old boy and whatever he says is always the truth. He uses Compasses too. Trust his word. Crazyman frequents a couple of forums too, here and there. He is by no means anybody's fool. He really knows his detectors and there is little I would differ with, as to his opinions.. The owner of the forum where I see an occasional one for sale, plus the above persons now and then, is called "TexasReb". I do not have any respect for TexasReb though, for personal reasons. The forum may be on "Detectornet"?
Out of the 20+ detectors I own, most are Compasses or Tesoros. I only need one Fisher but I might get a 1236 for it's light weight and ability to cancel iron and win contests with. I may just go ahead and sell this Tejon and get a 1270, a detector that will do much of what the 1236 will do and in some cases even more, even though it is heavier. I think the 1236 does a bit better in a lot of nails though. The 1270 will do better in bad ground than a Tejon, completely. The 1236 sits right between those two in that regard.
If I could own only one detector I would keep the Compass Scanner R&C because it has beaten EVERYTHING I've seen for depth of detection of coins, except for a PI. It will find the tiniest of nuggets (#8 shot size at 6", just like a Fisher Gold Bug2 ), and is one of the very best at killing iron and cherry-picking. A Tejon will find a #8 shot at 4 inches. So will an MXT. Two inches makes a big difference when it comes to hunting nuggets, especially for a beginner, like me.
If I didn't like looking for nuggets once in awhile and/or finding tiny jewelry on high-iron/salt beaches I would say the CZ-70 as being the best all-around detector ever made. It too will find a #8 shot size nugget at 4". The Compass beats it in small object finding. My Compass XP Pro cherry picks a bit better than the GoldScanner Pro or the Relic & Coin though, because Keith Wills has recently done some work on it for me..
Keith Wills really knows what he is doing. He is a MASTER detector repairman. I repaired detectors back in the 80's but mostly I did electrical repairs and not electronics repairs, save for an occassional resistor, trimmer, or capacitor replacement, or a pot or two or a board crack or solder repair, etc.
My current Minelab may soon become a boat anchor, or maybe I can find someone who has a need for one. Minelabs are almost never seen in this country, but they are seen on the beaches here now and then. Most of the time the operators are tinkering with the settings and aren't searching. Mostly I see White's, Fishers, and Bounty Hunters here, and in that order too. I think it's because the soil is real bad and the first two work well in it and the Bounty Hunters are usually the cheap ones and are more suited for people who mostly leave then sitting in the closet or their garage. And I'm not refering to the T-2 either. That's a different animal altogether.. And yes, I own a Bounty Hunter or two too.
Have fun all, and I think I'll go get a case of Coke and check out a park or two.
