Tesoro metal detectors?

Hi Jovan! Let's start by saying I have used Jack Gifford designed metal detectors since the 1970s, when I began with the old Bounty Hunter, and C & G machines. I have visited the Tesoro factory in Prescott, AZ, several times, and have friends that work there, including Rusty Henry, and Vince Gifford.

Quality: There is NO other manufacturer that gaurantees their detectors for LIFE - not one. All Tesoro machines are made in Arizona, by Americans.

Technology: Top of the line VLF technology and circuitry since 1980. Simple, deep, and the best discrimination circuitry on the market today. Fastest recovery time and best target seperation on the market period. Tesoro's "High Output Technology," puts a lot of power in a VERY small and lightweight box.

Price: Lower than any of their competitors because they set the price at the factory, and do NOT allow their dealers to soak you at the retail level with high commissions. That is why a lot of Whites dealers HATE Tesoro. They are not allowed to name their own price, or charge what the market will bear!

Results: Finds made by Tesoro owners speak for themselves. Gold, silver, platinum, Civil War relics, meteorites, the list go on-and-on.

VDI screens and numbers are a GIMMICK, plain and simple. If you are discriminating out iron and foil with a Tesoro, if you get a repeatable signal you dig it with confidence - period. If you are relying on VDI numbers as to whether or not you dig a target you WILL miss treasure. No hobbyist that has been doing this for more than five-years relies on VDI screens - we trust our machines and our EARS.

You can spend a lot of money on a toy that rolls over, wags its tail and sits when you tell it to, but if you want something that will fetch it fast - and every time - with no fanfare or wasted money, Tesoro is your machine. Serious tools for serious hunters..

Facts.
 

Wow, respect! Way cool Norbyx! I don't know what your level of experience is, but I have used and owned Whites, Fisher, Garrett, Minelab, Tesoro, DetectorPro, and a few others. I now hunt with Minelab and Tesoro - period. That is because I have tried the rest, and always came back to the best. That is my biased opinion, based on 30+ years of messing around in the dirt and sand. With all due respect of course! :occasion14:

More facts.
 

quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by U.K. Brian
Well how many lies can one man come up with in one thread.

Thirty years of discriminating pulse machines from various manufacturers and suddenly its marketing hype. Get out more.

Not one of "these" machines can do a better job than the Sand Shark. Sand Shark is a low power medium depth machine.

The u.S., what did you call it, "con". Funny that several pulse designers refer to it as one of the holy grails of pulse detecting trying to get down as low as possible below 10 whilst avoiding field collapse. Low equals sensitivity and best for wet sand and wading. Depth requires high. Get over to Nasa Tom's site and read up on a beach lighting up when the lowest settings are used. Or a good goldhunting forum discussion on finding "invisable gold" and thread gold.

The there's the fact that so much was made of the SS ability to use 10.5", 7", 10" elliptical coils. O nearly forgot the Cleansweep, rather heavy compared to the Applied Creations light versions as it weighed in at 1.8 lbs. What do you do now, buy several Sandsharks ?

Must not forget the processor rubbish either. Not the only P.I. with a processor for one thing and what's the claim ? "reduces the need for retuning". Look at my post today on the 1980's C400 pulse....no retuning needed as with the majority of P.I.'s built since. Also had VCO pinpointing a generation before the Tesoro.

Still the answer has been pointed out to me in a loads of e-mails. Tesoro sponsor you !
Gibberish. Pure and simple blather. You bring ANY dedicated water pi with you, and you won't find ANYTHING in the saltwater or wet saltwater sand that I won't find with my Tesoro Sand Shark - End of Story. Technical mumbo-jumbo, opinion and attitude are moot.

PS - Tesoro WAS a sponsor of Arizona Gold Adventures, our gold prospecting school, from 2009-2011. We were PROUD to finally land the finest American metal detector manufacturer, and Arizona icon - as our first equipment sponsor. While AGA no longer has a contract with Tesoro, we are still very proud to say we use and teach the Lobo Super Traq, as our exclusive VLF gold nugget hunter in Arizona and Alaska.

Vince Gifford, and Rusty Henry, are my friends, not my "sponsors." I know them both, and I know the Americans that answer the phones, build the coils, make the boards, put them together and test them at the Prescott factory. I've talked to them, watched them do their jobs with expert skill and personal pride. I am not being paid or compensated in ANY WAY, to promote Tesoro. I promote products that WORK.


ore facts..

 

I've only been here a few months and I must say I've noticed, Terry Soloman has to have an umbilical cord attached to Tesoro :love4: cause that's all he ever preaches :laughing7:

I think it comes down to using a machine that you're comfortable and confident with and it makes no never mind about the brand as they all will find
treasure IF you know how to use the machine you have AND are in the right places.

Let's say BILL goes out and buy's a CTX 3030 and his neighbor across the street TED buy's a Tesoro Cibola and BILL only gets out from time to time and hunt's his yard and a couple tot lots and a local school ground. TED on the other hand goes out all the time to old homesteads, older parks and research's places to hunt ... who's gonna find the better stuff ?

Now, BILL goes with TED to his spots and is still out hunted by the cheaper machine does this make the Tesoro better then the CTX ... yes and no, yes as it comes down to the operator and his connection with the machine he uses and no because BILL doesn't know how to use his machine properly and to it's fullest abilities

Just my thoughts on the subject
 

Tesoro's warranty is ONLY to the original buyer and there are exceptions to their warranty.

Such as out of production....

Hmmm. You were told by someone at the Tesoro Factory NOT to buy the machine - becaouse they are so old they don't make them anymore, but you disregarded that warning and bought it anyway? Now you are upset because it doesn't work?


Because they don't think you returned it soon enough

"TESORO SAND SHARK BY R.Allard

I have had mine for about 5 years with no problems and really my problem isnt with the metal detector itself but rather the "lifetime warranty" lets face it if your going to drop that kind of coin on a detector you would expect that the customer service and the warranty would be worth the extra 4-600.00. Not the case in the tesoro world I guess.
Lets face it you can go on ebay and buy a 300.00 underwater detector that will do just as good as the 7-900 dollar ones and as a mater of fact my wife uses a triton that works just as good as my sand shark. so when there warranty/repair department wanted to charge me an extra 250.00 to repair a board and case that was clearly a warranty issue needless to say it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Here is the situation... I have been a certified Dive Master for 10+ years and regularly take my students metal detecting. I have used this detector on tons of dives to 120-140 ft. on my way down one day hit around 90 feet and noticed bubbles starting to come from the detector housing at the bottom. so yes the water got into the housing. I returned to the surface pulled the batteries out an dried as much as i could off. It was the end of the season and I put the detector on a shelf to finish drying out and forgot about it till this last month when a old student asked if i still took people out detecting.
So i sent the detector to Tesoro and they told me get this....it was a warranty issue and they would have replaced it if i would have sent it in when it happened. But because i didnt send it in immediatly i would have to pay for the parts and the new housing or I could just replace the board and hope my old housing didnt leak. They have had several problems with this housing and as a matter of fact they even have changed the bottom of the housing so the coil wire is moulded into it now. so if your gonna spend the extra coin on a warranty dont... just go buy 2 or three of the less expensive ones and throw them away when they break or leak. BTW the tesoro is rated for 300ft so a failure at 90 is clearly a issue in manufacturing and one would think would be covered under warranty.....guess not!"



"Update on repair
May 03, 2008
Looking forward to getting my repaired Tiger Shark back, but am a little disapointed that I am being charged $195 for the repair. So much for the lifetime warranty.

Overall Rating 1 star
Bud Slater from Dudley"




Even Tesoro acknowledges there are exceptions...




WARRANTY SERVICE

Your Tesoro metal detector is covered by a Limited Lifetime Warranty, the terms of which are listed below. If your metal detector should require service, you may return it to the Tesoro factory at the address below.
LIMITED LIFETIME WARRANTY

This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may have other rights which vary from state to state.

This instrument is warranted to be free of defects in material and workmanship as long as it is owned by the original consumer purchaser. This warranty is not transferable and is valid only if the warranty registration card has been completed and mailed within 10 days of purchase.

TESORO will, at its option, repair or replace any instrument covered by this warranty, without charge, except for transportation charges, at its factory in Prescott, Arizona.

[emoji666] This warranty excludes batteries, damage caused by leaky batteries, cable breakage due to flexing on body mount units, and wear of the searchcoil housing. Also excluded are instruments which have been abused, altered, or repaired by an unauthorized party.[emoji665]
 

Last edited:
I have read nothing but good things about Tesoro's service. I can't find the post, but somebody here on T-Net purchased a used obsolete model and the Tesoro factory repaired it anyway and only charged for parts, not labor.

For what its worth, I love my my Sand Shark. Before I bought one, I researched every machine on the market, many of them "hands-on". And I could not be happier with my decision.
 

I've only been here a few months and I must say I've noticed, Terry Soloman has to have an umbilical cord attached to Tesoro :love4: cause that's all he ever preaches :laughing7:

I think it comes down to using a machine that you're comfortable and confident with and it makes no never mind about the brand as they all will find
treasure IF you know how to use the machine you have AND are in the right places.

Let's say BILL goes out and buy's a CTX 3030 and his neighbor across the street TED buy's a Tesoro Cibola and BILL only gets out from time to time and hunt's his yard and a couple tot lots and a local school ground. TED on the other hand goes out all the time to old homesteads, older parks and research's places to hunt ... who's gonna find the better stuff ?

Now, BILL goes with TED to his spots and is still out hunted by the cheaper machine does this make the Tesoro better then the CTX ... yes and no, yes as it comes down to the operator and his connection with the machine he uses and no because BILL doesn't know how to use his machine properly and to it's fullest abilities

Just my thoughts on the subject

Oh the CTX, with all it's doodads, bells & whistles, is just a gimmick, havent you heard? It can't do anything better than a $500 detector. Minelab must be the best con artists in the business!
 

Simple question: Is there ANY metal detector manufacturer on this planet with a BETTER warranty than Tesoro?

Answer: No.

Does Terry Soloman own a Minelab? Yes. He currently owns the GPX 5000, and has owned the E-Trac and the GPX 4000 in the past.

Do the Tesoro haters come out of the woodwork when Terry says the Tesoro Vaquero or Tejon will find ANYTHING the Minelab CTX 3030 will find? Yes

LMAO!
 

Simple question: Is there ANY metal detector manufacturer on this planet with a BETTER warranty than Tesoro?

Answer: No.

Does Terry Soloman own a Minelab? Yes. He currently owns the GPX 5000, and has owned the E-Trac and the GPX 4000 in the past.

Do the Tesoro haters come out of the woodwork when Terry says the Tesoro Vaquero or Tejon will find ANYTHING the Minelab CTX 3030 will find? Yes

LMAO!

The warranty is the last thing i would consider. Its all about how they work. And as long as they work like they do i will never buy another. I only wish the warranty was a satisfaction or your money back guaranty. I would have an extra 450 dollars.
 

My two cents...I own Tesoro and Minelab detectors and like both of them. As far as the CTX 3030, I've been watching Gravedigger Max's videos for quite sometime now and he seems to find LOT'S of pull tabs and bottle caps with it and not many coins, silver or gold. Just saying...
 

My two cents...I own Tesoro and Minelab detectors and like both of them. As far as the CTX 3030, I've been watching Gravedigger Max's videos for quite sometime now and he seems to find LOT'S of pull tabs and bottle caps with it and not many coins, silver or gold. Just saying...

I own both and think the comparism is not even close. To be fair i will add the dig everything method is not for me and made it not fun.
 

The warranty is the last thing i would consider. Its all about how they work. And as long as they work like they do i will never buy another. I only wish the warranty was a satisfaction or your money back guaranty. I would have an extra 450 dollars.

You gotta wonder what would happen if they only offered a 3 year warranty like ML does!
 

Don't know, I only bought 1 new one a Sov GT and that was 6 years ago and it has never needed repairs. I have bought 5 used Minelabs and saved thousands off retail.
 

Don't know, I only bought 1 new one a Sov GT and that was 6 years ago and it has never needed repairs. I have bought 5 used Minelabs and saved thousands off retail.
Yes those Sovereign's seem to run for ever …. Could be why Minelab quit making them .. I never had to send a Sovereign for repairs..
 

Yes those Sovereign's seem to run for ever …. Could be why Minelab quit making them .. I never had to send a Sovereign for repairs..
My excals are all over 10+ years old and i saved over $2000 over cost of new on 3 I owned, still own 2... The 2 I own I bought for $600 and other $475...., combined still less than 1 brand new..


They both have all the custom mods, I wouldn't sell either one for less than $850. I had some trying to buy one for that and I wouldn't sell.
 

Last edited:
My excals are all over 10+ years old and i saved over $2000 over cost of new on 3 I owned, still own 2... The 2 I own I bought for $600 and other $475...., combined still less than 1 brand new..

Nice! Got my X-Terra used 1.5 years ago, still works good as new. I would not hesitate to buy a used ML even with zero warranty
 

Nice! Got my X-Terra used 1.5 years ago, still works good as new. I would not hesitate to buy a used ML even with zero warranty

My explorer is 14 years old an is able to hang with any detector ive came across. Oh and never had a problem.
 

Isn't it astonishing that on a thread started over two-years ago, and with over 150 responses, you can count the Tesoro haters and detractors taking part in it on one hand? :occasion14:
 

Isn't it astonishing that on a thread started over two-years ago, and with over 150 responses, you can count the Tesoro haters and detractors taking part in it on one hand? :occasion14:

Actually. If you would go back and read the thread. It was a member asking a question about a Tesoro that drug up a 2 years old thread. Not a hater
 

Actually. If you would go back and read the thread. It was a member asking a question about a Tesoro that drug up a 2 years old thread. Not a hater

Actually, you should re-read my statement. :thumbsup:
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom