Hi Nomad!
If you see him again, please see what he'd want for one. And if you could see if he'd rather deal direct that'd be good.
Hate to say, but a lot of the older machines had at least as good depth as current machines. My opinion for what's worth is the manufacturers realized they couldn't improve on that so concentrated on the bells & whistles. The older machines make you learn what they're telling you. I started with an old BFO, and the learning curve was big especially for a kid. In later years I bought a Sovereign with all the loops and the meter. I think I've used the meter maybe 3 times.
Garrett has a blood hound coil that essentially made it a two box detector. If I can find a box, that'd be a lot better than paying $1000 - $1300 for a dedicated two box. Not to mantion having to hump two machines in the field! If it works out PM me. Thanks for thinking of me!