tesoro vaquero vs fisher 1266x

[cokat7]

Hi all, I'm just wondering how the tesoro vaquero would stack up against the fisher 1266x. I realize that the 1266x is out of production but I have recently considered buying one given it's reputation as a legendary relic hunting machine. Is there any users out there that have used both? I'd be glad to hear of any honest comparisons between the two.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sandman]

The 1266 is almost 30 yrs old and I can hardly remember using it. What I do remember is the two position disc mode which is almost like the Tejon with its trigger. Comparing the two is easy. The Vaquero is not as deep, but easier to use and lighter too. I don't know if Fisher will repair the 1266 anymore.

http://www.losttreasure.com/content/archives/fisher-research-1266-x-metal-detector

 

[cokat7]

With all the recent hype on the vaquero and many dedicated 1266 users that swear by it, I did expect a little more feedback.
Thanks for your input sandman.

 

[U.K. Brian]

Not that many have tried a 1266 at its best because as Sandman says its old. Unfortunately performance does drop off with age and people I know moved on just because they could not get the machines restored to the original performance. (certainly couldn't in Britain, I had to send my CZ to the U.S. to restore its performance).

So I would not buy one off E-Bay but if someone I knew retired out of the hobby and was selling one I might risk it if it still performed well and was cheap. Well means pretty noisy compared to most modern detectors. You had to learn to listen to the pops and crackles and sort out the weak good signals coming through.

The risk is it could fail in a week and if you can't get it repaired then its money down the drain.

 

[josephwor]

I will get back with you soon. I have both detectors. About 2 months ago, I purchased a Tesoro Vaquero to hunt around my farmhouse I just purchased that was built in 1890.

In the 1980's I hunted civil war artifacts very heavily abd have owned a few detectors.

In my soil, I was dissapointed in the depth of the Vaquero. It was no improvement over my Tesoro Conquistador that I bought about 10 years ago that cost a lot less money.

I planted a test Garden of quarters @ 4",5",6" and 7". The Vaquero found the one @ 4" and is a strain to find the one @5" I have to turn everything to the max which gives me so many false signals, I could never find any similar sized object @ 5" or more. My old bounty Hunter Outlaw finds it in discriminate mode. It's all metal mode don't work no more.

As of now I sent the detector back to Tesoro. I should have it back in a week. I just bought a used fisher 1266x on ebay. It looks like it has been through WWIII. It is somewhat of a strain but @ if finds the quarter buried @ 7". Evidently I have strong ground mineralization. I don't have it yet, but I bought slightly used Tesoro Lobo to test on my buried quarters. The lobo is designed for extremely mineralized ground. I plan to find a used Tejon as well. Then I will pick the best performing detector from the 4 and sell all the rest.

I have been busy because I am currently moving in the farmhouse. I will post updates as I do more test. Look for another posting within a week. I don't know if there is something wrong with my Vaquero or not. it will be interesting to see what Tesoro says. It may be that the detector is not the best for my soil.

This has been an expensive venture. I will have some used detectors for sale in a couple of months.

 

[U.K. Brian]

I think there must be a fault if its only as good as your old Tesoro. I think the Vaquero is a very good machine and better value than the Tejon. I would have thought you should be hitting the quarters at ten inches. Then you can always "Supertune" !

I like the Lobo Supertrac but its not the deepest Tesoro by any means. Fantastic sensitivity though.

 

[cokat7]

Joseph, thanks for your input. I'm looking forward to your results.

 

[Newfiehunter]

Just read your post regarding the Fisher 1266X....That was a great detector. It had dual discrimination and the only gold chain I ever found was with that machine. Found many gold rings as well and many nice coins...It was well balanced and had great depth. Many fond memories with the 1266X.

When I read your post I had to check that gold chain with my Vaquero and it picked it up nicely. The 1266 was heavier but it had the dual discrimination which was a nice feature to have. If the Vaquero had that feature, it would be one super machine. The tejon has it though, I believe which may have been copied from the old 1266.

Don't really use my Vaquero much as the CZ5 is my main unit. The Vaquero is my backup but a good machine nonetheless.

 

[josephwor]

It's me again.

When my vaquero came back from Tesoro, I put it's 9x8 coil on the lobo. It out performed all fo the detectors. My farm is very unusual. The mineralization is enormous. It's way worse than the typical Georgia red clay. I have tons of these little brown rocks. Most of them are BB size and the concentration is very high. The detectors pick them up very strong. I tried picking them up with a magnent. They look like iron but the magnent didn't pick them up. There is a mineral museum near me. I'm going to take some of the rocks to them. I am also surrounded by gold mines and found a prospecting hammer on my property. (That's why I like the Lobo)

I have some top quality machines, but they will only go 4-5 inches max. Because of my unique conditions, I probably can't do a fair comarison.

One thing I really don't like about the Vaquero is when you are in all metal mode to go into discriminate, you have to turn two knobs to a setting. You can't just hit a switch. For that reason, I am selling my Vaquero.

Another word of advice I have is to buy used. That way if it doesn't work for you and you paid a fair price, you can re-sell it and not loose very much. I'm playing musical detectors trying to find something that works.

I will be selling my 1266xb and the Vaquero soon. For my soil conditions, the Lobo seems to work the best. After I sell the Vaquero and the 1266XB, I will try a Tejon.

Keep in mind I only plan to hunt my farm for the most part. I have not even tried these machines any where else.

One last thing. Tesoro usually will repair a detector for free even if you bought it used. The Tesoro service manager called me after normal working hours and talked to me for almost 2 hours discussing my soil conditions and options.

I uploaded a picture of the little rocks. They show up best on my gravel driveway.

 

[josephwor]

I also have quartz boulders 3 feet tall all over the property

 

[cokat7]

Thanks Joseph, Appreciate the update.

 

[jwm45]

i have had lots of 1266x's most are all worn out because the lack of parts,but fisher still has a few parts and will repair them.i found a mint 1266x one ago and will keep it,but also have a mint 1265x with a 8"conc.coil the coil is better than the stock coil on the 1266x.
the only tesoros i have found deep are the tejon and the cibola,vaquero is not to deep.the best depth detectors are m/l and fishers.

 

[josephwor]

It's me again. I ended up buying a used Tesoro Cortes, used Tesoro Lobo ST and a used Tesoro Tejon. I sent all 3 to Tesoro for repairs and custom calibrations. I go them back. There was no charge even though I disclosed I just bought them all used. They didn't even charge me shipping.
You can't get better customer service.

I spent a saturday at a park (not for relics, but coins) with the three tesoro's and my 1266x. In the park scene, hunting coins in a trashy area, the 1266x outperformed everything else.

I like the 1266x because it is idiot proof and you don't have to learn the machine. I have not used the Tejon much, but for relics It might be my choice. It's the only Tesoro that could compete with the 1266x.

Back to your original question. I would take a 1266x over a Vaquero any day. If it were between a 1266x or a Tejon I would probably lean with the Tejon because of the warranty and it is a current machine.

 

[froggy38383]

Hi all, I'm just wondering how the tesoro vaquero would stack up against the fisher 1266x. I realize that the 1266x is out of production but I have recently considered buying one given it's reputation as a legendary relic hunting machine. Is there any users out there that have used both? I'd be glad to hear of any honest comparisons between the two.

Thanks in advance.

I owned a 1266x for several years then switched to a Cibola. As far as relic hunting goes my finds were/are much better with the Cibola. The Cibola easily outperformed the 1266x both as a coinshooter and relic hunter, I wished I had bought one sooner. It is lighter, simpler, deeper. I think the technology is more advanced. With the Vaquero you have the added benefit of manual ground balance. Hope this helps.

 

[doc holiday]

Joseph get a Whites TDI SL and forget the mineralization.And it will blow away your other detectors in depth.

 

[LuckyLarry]

The Vaquero should do better for depth in hot soil than the Tejon. The 1266 should outdo both of them, although it is primarily a relic machine, not necessarily an ideal coin hunter. The Tejon is notoriously noisy in high Fe soil and in some cases won't ground balance at all, it runs with too much gain that you can't dial out, because it was designed for the lighter soil in much of the SE USA and Western Europe for relic hunting.. The 1266 is one I have not owned, but the circuitry has similarities between it, the 1236, and the 1270. The Tejon is an "offshoot"(?) of the 1270 circuits. Both the "too hyper" 1270 and the Tejon have lots of stability problems in highly mineralized (Fe) soil, but the 1236 does not, it's watered-down so that it behaves better for coin hunting. Ask Keith Wills at east Texas Metal Detectors if he can repair a 1266, he is the best. 903-734-7773



Larry

 

[cokat7]

I ended up buying a 1265x with the stock, white, 8" round concentric coil about a month or 2 after I started this thread.
I went over a couple places that I had pounded with the vaq, by pounded I mean supertuned and power balanced, vco with a just audible hum and digging anything that made the slightest sound.
The 1265 managed to get down and signal off on a few more targets.
I would say that the 1265x is about an inch deeper than the vaquero that I had.

 

[dirtfisher]

I ended up buying a 1265x with the stock, white, 8" round concentric coil about a month or 2 after I started this thread.
I went over a couple places that I had pounded with the vaq, by pounded I mean supertuned and power balanced, vco with a just audible hum and digging anything that made the slightest sound.
The 1265 managed to get down and signal off on a few more targets.
I would say that the 1265x is about an inch deeper than the vaquero that I had.

I am sorry but there is just no way. I owned a Fisher 1265x for years and although a deep machine it has plenty of faults. There is no way that thing is deeper than a Vaquero. My Cibola is a preset machine like that Fisher and would at least get 4 more inches of depth than the 1265x. Also the Fisher does not have good iron discrimination and will tell you that the good target laying next to that nail is bad because the nail is there. The Vaquero is the EXACT same machine as the Cibola only it has a manual ground balance that will penetrate deeper than the Cibola in bad ground. There were also much deeper targets picked up by the Cibola the Fisher wouldn't even whisper on. I can't even begin to tell you how many more finds I made laying next to junk with the Cibola over the Fisher in the same field pounded hard with that 1265x. It is quite possible that the coil of the Vaquero was just swung a little above or below that target you picked up with that Fisher. It is very easy to do with ANY detector.

 

[LuckyLarry]

"4 more inches of depth" is quite a lot df, that would be a gain of about 50%. I'm wondering if there was some kind of a problem with your old 1265x. I know that the Cibola is a nice little detector, an excellent coin machine, but it is not (normally) known to be a depth demon, and not quite as close to the depth of the Vaquero, or 1265, and especially the 1266 Fishers, especially in higher iron soils. I'm not challenging you df, I just have an "as would be expected" question about your statement, or did I read it incorrectly? It surprises me that it would get roughly 1.5x the depth of a well-known at least somewhat deeper machine that is so coveted that it's almost impossible to find one for sale anywhere. I know that the new Bisstools are close clones of the 1265 and 1266 Fishers, with just enough modification to avoid lawsuits, copyright infringements, and additional mods and toys so as to increase depth a bit. My first guess is that someone did a mod job on your Cibola. My 2nd guess is that your Fisher needed some work. I would like to know (if) any modifications were done, and (how) they were done. I could modify one and get another 2" air depth, but I'm not sure I could get any more than that without rendering it useless. Thanks

Check this out. Note* The 1266 and the 1265 are almost the same detector, both beasts for depth in high Fe inland soils, although as is normal for that site, there are "fish stories" to the max:

metaldetectorreviews.net/detectors/185-1-fisher1266X.html

Larry

 

[dirtfisher]

"4 more inches of depth" is quite a lot df, that would be a gain of about 50%. I'm wondering if there was some kind of a problem with your old 1265x. I know that the Cibola is a nice little detector, an excellent coin machine, but it is not (normally) known to be a depth demon, and not quite as close to the depth of the Vaquero, or 1265, and especially the 1266 Fishers, especially in higher iron soils. I'm not challenging you df, I just have an "as would be expected" question about your statement, or did I read it incorrectly? It surprises me that it would get roughly 1.5x the depth of a well-known at least somewhat deeper machine that is so coveted that it's almost impossible to find one for sale anywhere. I know that the new Bisstools are close clones of the 1265 and 1266 Fishers, with just enough modification to avoid lawsuits, copyright infringements, and additional mods and toys so as to increase depth a bit. My first guess is that someone did a mod job on your Cibola. My 2nd guess is that your Fisher needed some work. I would like to know (if) any modifications were done, and (how) they were done. I could modify one and get another 2" air depth, but I'm not sure I could get any more than that without rendering it useless. Thanks

Check this out. Note* The 1266 and the 1265 are almost the same detector, both beasts for depth in all inland soils, although as is normal for that site, there are "fish stories" to the max:

metaldetectorreviews.net/detectors/185-1-fisher1266X.html

Larry

There are also Cibola and Vaquero stories to the max. The Cibola IS known to be a depth demon and so is the Vaquero. As far as the 1265x and 1266x goes there is no way possible they could be a depth demon in all soils simply for the fact they lack a manual ground balance just like the Cibola. I am not saying my 1265x was not deep. Because it most certainly was in the right ground. But the Cibola had it whipped easy with it supertuned. When the Cibola was not supertuned it had the same already impressive depth as the 1265x. The Cibola also had much better iron discrimination than the Fisher because the Fisher loved Iron way too much. The Cibola simply ignored it better and still picked up the good targets next to it. I was a major Fisher fan when I had my 1265x. I was very partial to it and proud of it because I thought I had an outstanding detector. And I did. But when my buddy had the Cibola and was digging much deeper finds and more of them I started getting discouraged. So we put both of them to the test. I walked behind him and every target he hit I checked it with my Fisher. When it came to the really deep small targets the Fisher just wouldn't even sound off. Not even a whisper. On about 90 percent of the targets the Fisher would pick it up, but not all of them. He found a .69 caliber minnie ball and threw it on the ground and we did a quick air test. He could raise his coil up by at least 4 more inches. After that I bought me a Cibola and have been amazed at the increased finds and although I don't know how it gets as deep as it does sometimes, it has me questioning more often than not if I want to dig that deep to get that target. But I do it anyway. Sometimes it is trash but sometimes it isn't. Since then I have become a major Tesoro fan. And I apologize if I sound very partial to it. I don't mean to be but I must say I have been quite impressed with their products.

Compared to the 10 reviews that the 1266x has, how about checking out the 74 reviews the Cibola has or the 52 reviews the Vaquero has?
Tesoro Metal Detector Reviews
The only reason you don't find many 1265x's or 1266x's for sale anymore is because most of them have broke down. They are out of warranty and parts are getting scarce.