Any Classic fans out there?

[Scottowl]

Here's a little about me, and what I want out of a detector:

I used a MXT for 6 or more years. It was my first detector, and I found a lot of clad at park and school sites, as well as a few older residences. Very few coins old enough to be what we are all looking for, and a few pieces of jewelry.
Enough to pay for two or 3 coils, namely the 3x6 and 6x10. I had the best time with a 5.3 round coil, tho.
So, my detector experience is strictly with an MXT. It was a learning experience, and I did nothing sepecial to find the jewelry except to put in many hours, dig up a lot of aluminum trash, and get to places where there may be jewelry to be found. There are about 12 sites I rotate through, and I have found at least 1 gold item at each.

It was stolen a year or more ago. I got another MXT after a year or so. Thanks to a local dealer who went way out of his way to accommidate me with another 5.3, or 6" coil and a set of those EXCELLENT!! new whites headphones, I'm back at it.

Recently I got an XL Pro, and that 5.3 coil I am fond of.
Now this thing is alien to me! I know how to pinpoint, but it shows me a pinpoint area big as a manhole! I know how to pinpoint, and am familiar with the 'ratcheting down' technique. I have found it will accurately ID coins at more depth than the MXT, as long as I can figure out where to dig. I also have an 8" coil that acts the same way, or worse!

I imagine I may one day dig a gold ring with it. I think back to when I first got that first MXT, and how frustrated I was with it. I was ready to throw it in the river. Instead I bought that 5.3, and that turned the lights on. The stock coil went in the closet, and I still have it, as it was not in the bag that was stolen. I lost the 5.3, 3x6 and 6x10, as well as a SunRay probe.

The third part of all this is a Classic IDX I just got last week. First thing I did was snag that XL Pro 5.3, and head to the picnic table areas the MXT fears to tread! It isolated 5 aluminum tabs in a 1 foot square. And it was quiet about it! MXT could do that, but you would have a headache from the noise. The XL Pro may do it, but I don't yet have the skill for that.

I gotta say, WOW!! Quiet, no threshhold! A broken up beep for trash, and a sweeeet sound from a coin(or aluminum tab). Other than that, quiet!!

It seems good for at least 6" depth. I chased a rusty nail or two deeper than that. I already suspected thats what they were, but I had to find out. I do not have to dig another steel bottle cap again, if I don't want to!

Are there any current production models that would perform like this IDX?

Is theXL Pro not a good choice for what I am doing? Out on a football field it is a Cadillac. I love that boonnnnggg tone!

I've been reading about the mods that give you threshhold and ground balance. It sounds like a nice rig, but the MXT is good for me in that area.

 

[lytle78]

If you want a sports field jewlery and coin magnet, get a Classic and one of the 6.59 kHz Bigfoot coils for it.

 

[HaroldILL.]

I never had a Classic detector,But I do have an XL-PRO with the rare Tone I.D. Mod. and it is awesome! I don't know Whites never put the Mod.on and kept. the XL-PRO? The best analog Whites ever made and even better with Tone I.D.!

 

[Monte]

You and I registered on Findmall 9 years ago, and it shows you've made 159 posts on all the Findmall Forums, but I am up to about 5,155 [size=small](with this reply)[/size] and I can guarantee you that a major dose of those posts over the years have been related to, and shedding praise, on the Classic series, especially the Classic ID and IDX Pro models. They have been associated with many other Classic user's posts as well because, excitedly, the Classic series are/were excellent performers, but sadly they were discontinued.

My #1 search coil choice for use on the XLT, Classic ID and IDX Pro, and the MX5, M6 and MXT family of detectors is their respective 6½" diameter Concentric.

I was the first to get a 'Mr. Bill' Crabtree modified Classic and I have owned many of them. The added Ground Balance and Threshold controls can be very useful, especially if you're using an IDX Pro AND hunting close to others who use a 6/59 kHz model and hunt close enough to you to cause interference. However, the Classic series design done by William Lahr, who I used to refer to as the FIRST "Mr. Bill," since he was into the detector design, are not as touchy and particular as some competitors brands, such as Tesoro, when it comes to using a Ground Balance setting and how well it handles some moderate ground variances when in the motion-based Discriminate mode.

My own Classic ID doesn't have any of the after-market mods, but it runs exceptionally well virtually anywhere I take it. That's been a strength of the Classic series detectors. I have the Threshold set to be comfortable for me with my headphones [size=small](I run them wide-open on the Volume setting)[/size] and I adjust the internal trimmer [size=small](VR4 is the Threshold trimmed on the Classic's)[/size] for a proper slight audio Threshold hum. I then find some of the most mineralized ground in the areas I usually hunt, and there are some bad areas, and I use that site to adjust the Classic Ground Balance for a very, very slightly positive GB in the All-Metal mode [size=small](lowering the search coil from about 6" down to about ½")[/size].

Out in an open, sparse-target sports field or big grassy park, I like the XLT and XL Pro, usually with an 8" search coil. That said, I also enjoy and often prefer using my MXT All-Pro with a 9" Concentric 'spider' coil for any more open area hunt. I have a 6½" [size=small](the 5.3 Eclipse)[/size] Concentric coil I use for all other applications where it is brushier or trashy, and that's the coil I keep on my MX5 most of the time. I have a Blue Max 600 [size=small](the original 6½" diameter Concentric)[/size] for my Classic ID, and also have a 4½" 'Snooper' coil [size=small](the Blue Max 350)[/size] for the nastiest-of-trash conditions, especially iron, where a very slow methodical sweep helps pluck some keepers.

Trust me, your Classic series model with a 6½" Concentric coil is an excellent compliment to the MXT family detectors as well as an XL Pro or XLT. The modifications can be handy, but are not necessary. It is more of a personal choice thing.

Monte

 

[OregonGregg]

The Classic machines in the right environment ( iron infested ghost towns and old homestead sites) are some of the hardest machines to beat. They really are great machines.
Here is my old Classic IDX out at a ghost town site. It has found me a lot of nice coins and tokens in some tough hunting conditions. Here I just dug an old trade token.

 

[Scottowl]

You have posted 5000+times, and I have probably read most all of them!
I am sold on the MXT. I have the most confidence in it than the other detectors of mine. A lot of hours spent holding one, to be sure.
When I finally got the 61/2" coil and a better than expected set of headphones, I was pretty durn happy. The next time I see that local dealer, I am paying him the $20 we were haggling over. I was/am very happy with the quality of goods.
The IDX is not the Pro model, but it is spotless. I think it was a closet queen in its past life. There is no threshold sound. A good target makes a nice sound through the Prostar headphones. The meter is not needed, but a fun enhancement. It would be great in a tot lot, or as a loaner to get someone interested in detecting. Very easy to use, yet no toy.
I was debating on the mods, but will pass for now. Later I may fool around with the threshold and ground balance, when I feel confident I know how to do it right.
It is such a nice little detector as is! The next step with it will be that little Snooper coil, and seeing about how close to the fence lines I can get.

 

[Scottowl]

Hey! Nice detector!!
You even have the right coil for it!

 

[Scottowl]

Do they still make those bigfoot coils?

 

[Monte]

I'm sure you know, but some readers might not, that the Classic series Discriminate mode is always a silent-search operation and there is no 'Threshold' audio to hear.

The Threshold is adjusted for only the All Metal/Pinpoint mode using the VR4 trimmer inside the control housing. It is a stand-up positioned trimmer on the left-hand side, right next to VR3. Don't mess with the VR3 or other trimmers, only the GB trimmer [size=small](which lays flat on the circuit board in line with the hole under the USA flag decal)[/size] and the VR4 trimmer for the audio Threshold level.

Most of the Classic series models were shipped with a Threshold level that was just a bit higher than 'proper' when using quality headphones, and that's because they figured a lot of kids or older people who might get a Classic would just be using the detector w/o headphones. Since I ALWAYS use quality headphones [size=small](White's Pro-Star with my Killer B Wasp as back-up)[/size], I make sure all my Classic models [size=small](unmodified)[/size] have the VR4 Threshold trimmer tweaked to be a 'proper' slight audio hum with the headphones.

Looking for a hard-to-find 4½" Snooper coil [size=small](the Blue Max 350)[/size], then you might want to e-mail or message OregonGregg as he rounded up quite a few of them and just might have one or two 'extras' left.

Monte

 

[Monte]

Yes, and he has "the right coil" for all of his different Classic models, his XLT, his M6, and his MXT Pro .... the appropriate 6½" Concentric. Gregg got into this great outdoor sport a bit late in the game, but he asked, he listened, he read, and he has spent a very valuable amount of time hitting mainly ghost towns, stage stops, homesteads, etc. in Eastern Oregon, Western Idaho and Northern Nevada .... with impressive success!

Quite often he posts his finds, some on the Findmall Forums [size=small](here and the MXT Forum)[/size], but most have been posted under the Relic / Old Site Forum at the AHRPS site under his other handle 'pulltabs.'

That's a tag I wish he'd change since he seldom ever hunts urban sites where those pesky critters abound. He ought to figure out something more fitting for the types of places he most often frequents [size=small](and I don't mean the beverage and gaming barn there in town)[/size], like "rustytin" or "TSP" [size=small](for trashy site picker)[/size]. Maybe "BlasZinLi" [size=small](for Blasted Zinc Lids)[/size], or perhaps "WiBeDe" [size=small](White's Best Detectors for hunting such littered sites)[/size].

Either be creative or join the ranks of the many who pick on the tot-lots, parks, schools and other urban sites that are loaded ................................ with modern pennies and 'pulltabs.'

Every detector OregonGregg owns and uses can be fitted with a 6½" Concentric [size=small](using a Blue Max 600 or 5.3 Bullseye for the 6.59 kHz models)[/size] or the same-size 6½" Concentric [size=small](5.3 Eclipse)[/size] for the MXT 'family' of detectors.

Monte

 

[Scottowl]

I have read quite a bit over the last couple of years. I got a late start in detecting too.
I would like to see a crash course on ground balancing. GROUND BALANCING 101!
My understanding is the detector will tune out any minerals out, and not respond to them.
I hear the term negative or positive ground balance, but I don't know what that means.
I learned on the mxt. It can ground balance itself. Its much smarter than me!!!

 

[OregonGregg]

You folks used back in the day " gaming barn" lol but I gotta say after trying the Oregon Video lottery machines in these "gaming barns" must say in was kinda a one way street ( in Oregon's favor) if anything my new handle might be OregonBroke to accurately reflect things But as you also pointed out, i'm still a bit of a greenhorn in this neat hobby so I'll just keep my "pulltabs" handle over at the AHRPS site for awhile.

 

[reddirtfisher]

I had a Classic IDX Pro with bullseye 5.3 and 4 inch snooper coils. I would run with guys using top of the line Garretts, Minelab, Fisher, etc and hold my own pretty good. It was the best detector I ever owned. I got upset when Whites discontinued the Classics and the Eagle Spectrum, XLT's and DFX's. I sold all my White's stuff and went with Tesoros. Sometimes I regret it because the Whites were a lot deeper than the Tesoros. The Tesoros seem to do better in high trash and small gold items. I really don't care for any of Whites new detectors made after the Classic/Eagle period. I just recently got a White's Eagle Spectrum 1992 model. I took it back to some sites that I had gone over with the Tesoros. I found Wheaties at 10 inches deep. Tesoro is supposed to come out with a new metal detector soon. I will be going back to using White's older models if I don't like the new Tesoro. Happy Hunting to all, RDF

 

[Hombre]

I'm a Classic fan, I have a Mr. Bill modified IDX Pro, it does a good job in the small ferrous trash that seems to be everywhere that I hunt. I use the 6½" BullsEye coil on it most of the time, then If I want more depth, I will use the Pro Scan 800, an 8" coil that will give you an inch or two additional depth. The Mr. Bill's modification adds a little more sensitivity and Target ID depth along with the added Manual ground Balance and Threshold controls. I have found that once set, the Ground Balance does not change, only when changing to a different coil, does it need a Ground Balance adjustment. To check the Ground Balance on the IDX Pro, raise the coil about 6" above a metal free, clean piece of ground, pull the trigger or flip it forward to a locked position into all-metal mode. Then lower the coil to the ground and listen for a threshold change. It should have a 'slight' (+) rise in threshold sound as coil gets close to the ground, then you are good to go. If set like this, it will ID a dime or quarter correctly, if set too negative it will drop the ID to the next lower segment, In other words, a quarter will read as dime and dime will read as a zinc, ect.