Tesoro metal detectors?

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
For some reason Scott, I think a Bounty Hunter would suit you well!

Wow that was witty! How did hee-haw ever let you go? Oh & a huffy bike would suit you well, I believe. I happen to ride a Santa Cruz (and a Trek).
 

Johnny Hall

Jr. Member
May 15, 2015
48
21
North Florida
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Compadre
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
hey guys im johnny in north florida and i joined this place just for the tesoro side of it all. i got questions and comments both , i had bought myself a compadre from advice of some other forum i cant find way back to now , i had stroke 3 years back and sold everything i had in a few months , boat , cycles , fishing gear and even the little gem of a detector. if you cant walk or talk or swing arms about you probably not gonna go forth and use metal detector or anything else. fast forward 3 years im back up on feet , talking walking typing and most all other things albeit with lots of stroke pains (strange bad stuff) i lost like 80% eyesight so screen on detector is no use for me anyway. my gf(lesia aka lisa) is also a heart attack patient we are like mid to late 50's couple well she up and says "im sorry you sold that little metal detector" "it would be something fun to do and get us outdoors together and i found two dimes in the yard with it" i did not know she ever used it much less liked the little gem i miss it also and at 2.2 pounds or whatever light weight they are it was easy to swing so im going to get at least another compadre - i want to ask these of the vets here about the tesoro line - first im a american so if i can buy american i will do just that not usa china but u.s.a. :D what tesoro detectors use single 9v battery and are there any other detector lines built here in the states. lesia wants to hunt the beach i think but we will start again with one compadre and take turns using it . i have been told by vendors no other line of MD has warranty like tesoro , are there any others that offer such warranty now? much thanks in advance for having me here and also any guidance and answering my questions
 

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Tnmountains

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 27, 2009
18,716
11,705
South East Tennessee on Ga, Ala line
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Conquistador freq shift
Fisher F75
Garrett AT-Pro
Garet carrot
Neodymium magnets
5' Probe
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have several machines but still like my old Tesoro. It is the one that stays in the truck all the time in case I come across a site. It will tell me if it is worth returning. I can cover a lot of ground fast with it. If I need to come back and slow down I bring a newer model. My Tesoro is very old and still works great and it has recovered a fair amount of relics,silver and gold.. Pin pointing is amazing as is iron discrimination.They are good machines and I can not bash them.
Like anything you have to have good targets first and learn what ever machine you may have. But I can not say anything bad about Tesoro and their service is better than anyones. I have never needed service though!
Some people think they are gifted in reality they just live near and hunt great sites.The site is everything.
 

Tnmountains

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 27, 2009
18,716
11,705
South East Tennessee on Ga, Ala line
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Conquistador freq shift
Fisher F75
Garrett AT-Pro
Garet carrot
Neodymium magnets
5' Probe
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
hey guys im johnny in north florida and i joined this place just for the tesoro side of it all. i got questions and comments both , i had bought myself a compadre from advice of some other forum i cant find way back to now , i had stroke 3 years back and sold everything i had in a few months , boat , cycles , fishing gear and even the little gem of a detector. if you cant walk or talk or swing arms about you probably not gonna go forth and use metal detector or anything else. fast forward 3 years im back up on feet , talking walking typing and most all other things albeit with lots of stroke pains (strange bad stuff) i lost like 80% eyesight so screen on detector is no use for me anyway. my gf(lesia aka lisa) is also a heart attack patient we are like mid to late 50's couple well she up and says "im sorry you sold that little metal detector" "it would be something fun to do and get us outdoors together and i found two dimes in the yard with it" i did not know she ever used it much less liked the little gem i miss it also and at 2.2 pounds or whatever light weight they are it was easy to swing so im going to get at least another compadre - i want to ask these of the vets here about the tesoro line - first im a american so if i can buy american i will do just that not usa china but u.s.a. :D what tesoro detectors use single 9v battery and are there any other detector lines built here in the states. lesia wants to hunt the beach i think but we will start again with one compadre and take turns using it . i have been told by vendors no other line of MD has warranty like tesoro , are there any others that offer such warranty now? much thanks in advance for having me here and also any guidance and answering my questions
Johnny I think you will do fine. I would Pm Terry Solomon for the best advice. It will be a very light machine for you. Glad you are here and back into your hobby.
 

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
hey guys im johnny in north florida and i joined this place just for the tesoro side of it all. i got questions and comments both , i had bought myself a compadre from advice of some other forum i cant find way back to now , i had stroke 3 years back and sold everything i had in a few months , boat , cycles , fishing gear and even the little gem of a detector. if you cant walk or talk or swing arms about you probably not gonna go forth and use metal detector or anything else. fast forward 3 years im back up on feet , talking walking typing and most all other things albeit with lots of stroke pains (strange bad stuff) i lost like 80% eyesight so screen on detector is no use for me anyway. my gf(lesia aka lisa) is also a heart attack patient we are like mid to late 50's couple well she up and says "im sorry you sold that little metal detector" "it would be something fun to do and get us outdoors together and i found two dimes in the yard with it" i did not know she ever used it much less liked the little gem i miss it also and at 2.2 pounds or whatever light weight they are it was easy to swing so im going to get at least another compadre - i want to ask these of the vets here about the tesoro line - first im a american so if i can buy american i will do just that not usa china but u.s.a. :D what tesoro detectors use single 9v battery and are there any other detector lines built here in the states. lesia wants to hunt the beach i think but we will start again with one compadre and take turns using it . i have been told by vendors no other line of MD has warranty like tesoro , are there any others that offer such warranty now? much thanks in advance for having me here and also any guidance and answering my questions

Johnny, the Compadre is a great detector. It loves small gold jewelry. There are some other great US built detectors. Teknetics machines are built in Texas & run 20 hours on a single 9 volt. EuroTek Pro is one of them.
 

Johnny Hall

Jr. Member
May 15, 2015
48
21
North Florida
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Compadre
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
thanks guys im glad to be back in too. machine should be here this week too , whats even better is the gf is as happy as i am , thats way cool and a big ticket item to me. i wanna ask you vets this : are there any pinpointers a step up from centec (HF) but not costing almost what the compadre cost? i did pretty well pinpointing with the other tesoro but sometimes a pinpointer is just a must so say in the 50-60 usd range? or should i just try to save up and buy a used propointer from somebody ? thanks brothers


ps: terry is why i went back with tesoro , he reminded me of all the stuff i had forgotten. i will do just that and contact him , thanks again ...
 

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BadM0nkey

Full Member
Apr 28, 2013
246
77
Andover, NJ
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75 SE Limited Edition
Garrett ProPointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'd say to look for a used propointer. With the new waterproof one out people must be upgrading.
 

Johnny Hall

Jr. Member
May 15, 2015
48
21
North Florida
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Compadre
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
this one has the larger coil im not yet used to , feels nice to swing though but i have not weighed it , hopefully its just my noobness but in all metal it chatters wildly until i go past foil and i thought i had pretty well cleaned out my yard , it did rain early this morning , i do really like being able to see thru this larger coils center and have already learned where targets are at , i found two coins (pennies) and a chunk of like i guess a wheel weight and a tire killing screw . im just concerned about constant chattering even when sitting machine down if i dont go above foil it sits and chatters not being moved - hopefully its me and all them coins i not yet dug this new large coils is seeing :D - any advice is always welcomed and appreciated
 

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 one has the larger coil im not yet used to , feels nice to swing though but i have not weighed it , hopefully its just my noobness but in all metal it chatters wildly until i go past foil and i thought i had pretty well cleaned out my yard , it did rain early this morning , i do really like being able to see thru this larger coils center and have already learned where targets are at , i found two coins (pennies) and a chunk of like i guess a wheel weight and a tire killing screw . im just concerned about constant chattering even when sitting machine down if i dont go above foil it sits and chatters not being moved - hopefully its me and all them coins i not yet dug this new large coils is seeing :D - any advice is always welcomed and appreciated

It may chatter excessively if sensitivity was set too high at the factory. The internal sensitivity trimmer (I believe vr2, a goodle search can confirm this) can be adjusted clockwise to REDUCE sensitivity, just to the point that the chatter stops. Counter-clockwise will INCREASE sensitivity. I actually increased sensitivity on mine & was able to get about 1" more depth.
 

Johnny Hall

Jr. Member
May 15, 2015
48
21
North Florida
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Compadre
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
thanks scott i think its me , i think when i had the previous compadre with small coil i simply missed a tremendous
amount. i read a post by a vet and he said to go just a skosh (slight bit) more past pull tab and after that we found coins and brass or copper not sure , hose end. lesia even made a couple of finds (and is hooked) , lesia had lower back fusion last year and is facing another surgery and she used the little gem for over an hour and was having a blast . this is absolutely perfect machine for us and it delivers results too . i doubt its adjusted wrong i think with this larger coil its just seeing all the targets i missed with other machine and coil combo. we are both elated to have our tesoro
 

old_newbie

Tenderfoot
Jun 19, 2014
5
1
Chicago
Detector(s) used
Whites coinmaster gt, Fisher F2, Tesoro bandido 2 umax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have a Tesoro Bandido 2 micromax. Also have a White's Coinmaster GT and a Fisher. The coinmaster is deep. I finally learned how to properly ground balance the Tesoro. It does take a bit to learn what it is telling you, but if you work with it, you find it is a top notch machine. Deep and hits good targets hard. Like any other machine you have to learn what it is telling you. May not have a display with VDI, but it pinpoints perfect and you can use it for strictly coins, jewelry or everything. Once you start adjusting discrimination and sensitivity, you quickly learn what settings work for different things.
 

WhiteTornado

Hero Member
Jun 18, 2013
615
453
Baltimore/DC area
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Tesoro Cibola, Garrett Pro-pointer, Sampson T-handle Shovel, Lesche hand digger, Garrett and Gray Ghost Ultimate headphones
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Glad you are back into the hobby. I use a Tesoro Cibola, the only machine I have ever owned. You're right about the light weight of the machine, it's great. I also like that this machine and my Garett ProPointer both use 9V batteries. No need to keep an armload of AA batteries with me :). I've hunted for 2 years and this year I'm doing more and more hunting with low discrimination, just above the iron mark. I am also getting better with the built-in pinpointer on the Cibola. Some people say the built-in pinpointer is useless but I disagree. I have been getting extra finds since using it more. It can really help reveal a deep, somewhat iffy-sounding target.

One tip I can offer is to not go too high with the sensitivity. I used to have mine up around 8, but now I run it at about 6. At least, that usually works best for me here in central Maryland. I think when you set it too high for your area and soil conditions, it can overwhelm the detector with too many signals. Then you have a harder time determining the good signals from the iffy ones.

Good luck and happy hunting :treasurechest:
 

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