hey guys. i made an impulse buy on ebay the other day, and bought a nice used souvereign gt. then i see that minelab just discontinued making them dec 31. do you think if i have a problem with it down the road, that they will still repair it? also any input on this machine is appreciated. i have a fisher cz3d that i hunt with now, and the souvereign looks like there might be a bigger learning curve.
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bought a used minelab souvereign gt
- Thread starter Czhunter
- Start date
I think you made a wise decision to buy a Sov. The have a large following, and IMO will continue to do so. Same as the Excal II, but in a non-waterproof configuration, they are at home on the beach and on dry land. The learing curve may be longer than with a beep/dig, but it doesn't have to be. Only to learn the finer nuances of it's sounds. I am in the same boat, as I recently bought one and have not yet taken it on a hunt, as the weather, and with all the Christmas hustle and bustle, there has been no opprtunity. But it will come, and meanwhile, I am reading the forums and learning from what others have t o offer.
Regards to Minelab discontinueing the machine, yes, but I do feel that they will offer support for it for years to come. You could still buy a brand new one from a dealer, and the Minelab warranty would still be in place, so I would not be concerned. Have fun, and post up with your questions and finds.
Regards to Minelab discontinueing the machine, yes, but I do feel that they will offer support for it for years to come. You could still buy a brand new one from a dealer, and the Minelab warranty would still be in place, so I would not be concerned. Have fun, and post up with your questions and finds.
It is a different detector and most will hate it at first, but those that use it and get to know them will do well with the Sovereign.
I highly recommend a 180 meter to be added if you didn't get one with it as it will make the learning curve faster and easier as you will see number wise what you are hearing though the tones. The tones and the numbers on the meter is what make the Sovereign one of the Best detectors for IDing.
Start simple with the threshold on, the sensitivity on auto for a smoother threshold and disc and notch all the way counter clockwise so they will be off. put the disc in iron mask on and the track/lock and pinpoint toggle in the pinpoint mode as this control is only activated when in all metal mode and if you ever have to go to pinpoint a target you just have to switch to all metal.
It is going to make a lot of different tones and nulling too and check out all 2 way signals to get to know your GT as what is good and what is bad. Nickle will read on a 180 meter 143-146 while the zinc pennies and the IH plus some early wheat will read 176-177 and all copper, clad and silver will read 180, so with a 180 meter you will be able to tell the good from the bad that may sound about the same as our ears can tell those close tones like a meter will.
Been using mine since 1996 and hated it at first, got to know it and did good and when I really got to know it it was awesome as it was picking up coins in old parks no other detector could see at the time.
Sovereigns are built like a tank and if no one messed with it then it should last for years to come.
Good Luck
Rick
I highly recommend a 180 meter to be added if you didn't get one with it as it will make the learning curve faster and easier as you will see number wise what you are hearing though the tones. The tones and the numbers on the meter is what make the Sovereign one of the Best detectors for IDing.
Start simple with the threshold on, the sensitivity on auto for a smoother threshold and disc and notch all the way counter clockwise so they will be off. put the disc in iron mask on and the track/lock and pinpoint toggle in the pinpoint mode as this control is only activated when in all metal mode and if you ever have to go to pinpoint a target you just have to switch to all metal.
It is going to make a lot of different tones and nulling too and check out all 2 way signals to get to know your GT as what is good and what is bad. Nickle will read on a 180 meter 143-146 while the zinc pennies and the IH plus some early wheat will read 176-177 and all copper, clad and silver will read 180, so with a 180 meter you will be able to tell the good from the bad that may sound about the same as our ears can tell those close tones like a meter will.
Been using mine since 1996 and hated it at first, got to know it and did good and when I really got to know it it was awesome as it was picking up coins in old parks no other detector could see at the time.
Sovereigns are built like a tank and if no one messed with it then it should last for years to come.
Good Luck
Rick
deepdiger60
New member
CZ you made a good choice the Sov GT is one of the best machines over all to hunt with and yes it takes a while to get used to it ,if your using a Fisher you have a head start a meter can help i been using my GT over 3 years now i would not hunt beaches without it i chest mount my GT in a water proof side pack , plus in fields i do very well also , and with the GT you have a great choice of coils you can see the sticky above about Sovereign and Excals coils . My favorite setting is to hunt in All Meter do a quick ground balance after you hear a target flip the toggle switch into Disc. to check to see if it is iron if you don,t hear anything it is iron go back to all metal and continue hunting , like a few said you should not have any problems with warranties from Minelab . I used a Whites DFX for 4 years another great machine so using the GT at first was a piece of cake 
Good luck you will enjoy that machine very quickly . Jim
Good luck you will enjoy that machine very quickly . JimCritterhunter
New member
Contact Ron from MI (moderator of this forum..click on his name in one of the threads to send him a PM) to get your hands on a meter. He'll hook you up.
You made a great choice. I've owned, used, and went head to head with just about everything over the years, and yet this is the machine I've finally found all I was looking for in- extreme depth, unmasking, numerous tone alerts yet with long detailed audio to judge target traits by, super high conductivity ID resolution to split hairs on rings, buttons, nickels, and etc versus tabs and other junk (highest I've ever used in the foil to copper penny range), a wide quality coil selection for specific site needs, and also smooth like butter and able to penetrate the worst of minerals. I could always find a few of these features in other machines, but never a combination of all of them in one. Thus I'm home now...
As they said, be prepared to HATE this machine until you use it a good bit. Despite all the prior machines I've owned and used, and despite owning 3 Minelabs prior, nothing prepared me for the traits and quirks of this machine. But those are what makes it such a unique beast, and thus it will find stuff at sites others have long since given up on.
You made a great choice. I've owned, used, and went head to head with just about everything over the years, and yet this is the machine I've finally found all I was looking for in- extreme depth, unmasking, numerous tone alerts yet with long detailed audio to judge target traits by, super high conductivity ID resolution to split hairs on rings, buttons, nickels, and etc versus tabs and other junk (highest I've ever used in the foil to copper penny range), a wide quality coil selection for specific site needs, and also smooth like butter and able to penetrate the worst of minerals. I could always find a few of these features in other machines, but never a combination of all of them in one. Thus I'm home now...
As they said, be prepared to HATE this machine until you use it a good bit. Despite all the prior machines I've owned and used, and despite owning 3 Minelabs prior, nothing prepared me for the traits and quirks of this machine. But those are what makes it such a unique beast, and thus it will find stuff at sites others have long since given up on.
CZ Hunter,the Sovereign hates iron opposite of CZs.You will have to put some hours in about 30 + to appreciate this detector.Good Luck Ron
thanks guys. man, i just got it delivered from fed ex. there is alot more to this machine than my cz! ive got alot to learn. i was kinda excited, so i put the battery in, and wanted to do an air test to check depth. now i probably didnt have the controles set where they should be, because i dont know the machine. also i dont really know how reliable air tests are, but i received a 10 inch tornado coil, and a 12 by 15 sef coil. i tried them both, and didnt notice any depth difference between the two coils. and im trying to figure out the difference between notch and disc......this is going to take me some time, thats for sure.
Critterhunter
New member
Minelabs don't air test well, but in a low EMI environment away from anything my GT will air test pretty darn good. On the other hand, I've dug coins deeper than these air tests show with some of these coils...
http://youtu.be/Ym__l_JtJtU
I've posted some other videos on that channel dealing with various settings and the notch and all that jazz.
In or near a home, be prepared for instability without lowering sensitivity a ton. I would recommend using Auto sensitivity to learn how the machine is supposed to act when stable on your first few hunts before switching to manual. Most of us use zero disc and notch, noise band 2 to match all the older Sovereign charts of prior models, and Iron Mask ON for a bit more depth and better ability to pull coins out of iron. What can be confusing is the way the Disc Iron Mask ON/OF/All metal switch interacts with the PP/All Metal Fixed/All Metal Track switch. Simply put, most leave the one in Iron Mask ON, and the other in pin point (PP) mode, so when you flip the disc switch to all metal it defaults to PP mode and not one of the other all metal modes. Many people though don't even use PP to pin point targets and instead do it in disc. If you aren't used to a DD try using the tip and wiggle forward until you just hear the target to find it right at the center outside edge of the coil, but in disc it's easy enough to use the center of the coil too.
A nice slow sweep up to maybe medium speed (depending on your soil) is what these Minelabs want. But when you happen upon a target, especially a super deep one, you need to wiggle over it in short wiggles or short sweeps and keep that in constant motion to pull the best ID and tone out of the target. Don't stop, keep at it to work up the ID/tone to it's best # and pitch. This isn't unique to the Sovereign. My QXT was the same way. When you do this "Sovereign wiggle" the machine seems to go into an enhanced amped mode of some kind to try to pull the best ID out of a deep one. I can even hear a sort of "click" and white nose effect to my GT's audio when it does this, and then a click out of it when I stop. I still wonder if this machine had maybe an aftermarket mod done to it (Dixie mod?) that I didn't know about when I bought it used, because I haven't really heard anybody else mention this click/white noise thing. Anybody?
As for the 15x12, very stable coil like the 12x10. The 15x12 will greatly help faster gridding of large open fields or beaches, but in my mineralized soil I suspect it sucked up too much ground matrix, because it didn't get the depth of the 10" Tornado on coin/ring sized targets. It did go deeper than the stock 10" Tornado in my mineralized sand though for some reason on coin/ring sized targets. The 12x10 for me is deeper on land than either of them. If you look in the coils sticky thread at the top of the forum you can find thread links on various coils. The stock 10" Tornado is one excellent coil. Best stock coil I ever owned on a machine, just think the 12x10 takes it up a notch in all respects for me. For a trash coil look into the 8" (7.25") Tornado as it's got an excellent reputation for that and also as an everyday coil too. I was loaned a 13" Ultimate coil and really like how different it is from all other coils I ever used, stock or otherwise, so it's different enough to want one in my line up as well for larger areas to grid faster. I got rid of my 15x12 because of the depth issue *in my soil* and also because it was too much like replicating my 12x10.
If you get a Minelab meter meant to use V-clips, you don't have to mount it in the lousy stock location. Easy mod found in the meters/ID thread sticky. Or Ron's meter doesn't even need the V-clip and can mount anywhere.
Far as warranty/repair work, look at it this way- Some dealers might be selling a new GT a year from now they still have in stock or can get from Minelab's warehouse. They have a 3 year warranty now, so that means at least 4 years down the road they'll have parts. And, I doubt they'd stop fixing them right after that, as that would not be a very good image to customers in the future.
http://youtu.be/Ym__l_JtJtU
I've posted some other videos on that channel dealing with various settings and the notch and all that jazz.
In or near a home, be prepared for instability without lowering sensitivity a ton. I would recommend using Auto sensitivity to learn how the machine is supposed to act when stable on your first few hunts before switching to manual. Most of us use zero disc and notch, noise band 2 to match all the older Sovereign charts of prior models, and Iron Mask ON for a bit more depth and better ability to pull coins out of iron. What can be confusing is the way the Disc Iron Mask ON/OF/All metal switch interacts with the PP/All Metal Fixed/All Metal Track switch. Simply put, most leave the one in Iron Mask ON, and the other in pin point (PP) mode, so when you flip the disc switch to all metal it defaults to PP mode and not one of the other all metal modes. Many people though don't even use PP to pin point targets and instead do it in disc. If you aren't used to a DD try using the tip and wiggle forward until you just hear the target to find it right at the center outside edge of the coil, but in disc it's easy enough to use the center of the coil too.
A nice slow sweep up to maybe medium speed (depending on your soil) is what these Minelabs want. But when you happen upon a target, especially a super deep one, you need to wiggle over it in short wiggles or short sweeps and keep that in constant motion to pull the best ID and tone out of the target. Don't stop, keep at it to work up the ID/tone to it's best # and pitch. This isn't unique to the Sovereign. My QXT was the same way. When you do this "Sovereign wiggle" the machine seems to go into an enhanced amped mode of some kind to try to pull the best ID out of a deep one. I can even hear a sort of "click" and white nose effect to my GT's audio when it does this, and then a click out of it when I stop. I still wonder if this machine had maybe an aftermarket mod done to it (Dixie mod?) that I didn't know about when I bought it used, because I haven't really heard anybody else mention this click/white noise thing. Anybody?
As for the 15x12, very stable coil like the 12x10. The 15x12 will greatly help faster gridding of large open fields or beaches, but in my mineralized soil I suspect it sucked up too much ground matrix, because it didn't get the depth of the 10" Tornado on coin/ring sized targets. It did go deeper than the stock 10" Tornado in my mineralized sand though for some reason on coin/ring sized targets. The 12x10 for me is deeper on land than either of them. If you look in the coils sticky thread at the top of the forum you can find thread links on various coils. The stock 10" Tornado is one excellent coil. Best stock coil I ever owned on a machine, just think the 12x10 takes it up a notch in all respects for me. For a trash coil look into the 8" (7.25") Tornado as it's got an excellent reputation for that and also as an everyday coil too. I was loaned a 13" Ultimate coil and really like how different it is from all other coils I ever used, stock or otherwise, so it's different enough to want one in my line up as well for larger areas to grid faster. I got rid of my 15x12 because of the depth issue *in my soil* and also because it was too much like replicating my 12x10.
If you get a Minelab meter meant to use V-clips, you don't have to mount it in the lousy stock location. Easy mod found in the meters/ID thread sticky. Or Ron's meter doesn't even need the V-clip and can mount anywhere.
Far as warranty/repair work, look at it this way- Some dealers might be selling a new GT a year from now they still have in stock or can get from Minelab's warehouse. They have a 3 year warranty now, so that means at least 4 years down the road they'll have parts. And, I doubt they'd stop fixing them right after that, as that would not be a very good image to customers in the future.
bootyhoundpa
Well-known member
like many have already said, be prepared to hate it before you love it..... the gt usually reads better thru the ground than the air so dont be discouraged by your preliminary air tests....... the notch knob is just a luxury if you want to- notch out- a nuisance target such as pull tabs while still retaining all other targets in the scale lower and higher than where you have decided notch out or cancel ...... an owners manual is also helpful when learning this machine...... air testing is good so you can tune your ears to the different tones different coins make .... also air test rusty nails.... iron usually makes a short scratchy pop sound whereas coins a copper give a sweeter ,smoother higher tone.... gold is usually a low tone tone but so is foil,pulltabs nickle and garbage.... i found it best to start off in my backyard,the beach or farmfield where digging every questionable target was not a problem that way over time your brain starts remembering target/ tone recognition....... ive found more large cents and gold with mine than i ever thought i would..... i also dig alot of crap,but hey the more targets you dig the better your chances....good luck and give it time you to will learn to love it..... dave..
Wow....you guys are a huge help. Thanks for all the info, and takin the time to type it all. I appreciate it. I was in the front yard playin with it. Thanks for explaining the notch. I thought the notch, and disc were the same thing. I think I understand now. So using the disc, if you turn it clockwise to around foil, it we disc out everything foil, and below... and the notch..if you put it on foil mark, it just nulls only foil out. It would be nice to have marks on the notch and disc dials, so you have a visual on what your notching, or discing out....but I guess I will learn in time what is where in time using it........thats part of the fun
GeorgeinSC
Well-known member
I purchased my first detector in July. Bought the GT on the recommendation of my brother in law. Wondered what I had gotten myself into when I first started trying to use it. With a little time swinging the coil I started to be able to hear some of the differences in the tones and started to understand what my machine was trying to tell me. Of course I am still learning. As the guys have said a 180 meter like the one that Ron makes is a tremendous benefit in IDing your target and in learning what the machine is telling you. I think that I have done quite well for only having the machine a few months. Found a lot of clad coins, three silver coins and some silver rings. Last Friday I found 3/4th of a Irish Copper Halfpenny from the 1700's. Haven't been able to determine the exact date yet. I have found coins at the beach that were so deep that I was beginning to think my machine had gone crazy. In time you will learn to love your Sovereign. There is a lot of good information in the forums that you may find beneficial in learning the machine.