Is Tesoro in $$ trouble.

[JASONSPAZ1]

First and foremost I am in no way bashing Tesoro. One of my first real machines as a kid was a Royal Saber. It found me my first silver a 3cent piece.
It seems as though Tesoro is really lagging in coming to market with new products. I was reading thru my old Treasure magazines, and saw an article on new H.O.T products coming soon. The last of the H.O.T technology we saw was what introduced it Tejon, Cibola, and Vaquero. Fisher was sold and reborn, And Minelab was sold and purchased without missing a beat. I love the fact that Tesoro is a family business and will always respect them for that! But man, they cant ride the Cibola wave forever. If they do come out with a new machine I bet it will be a new Toltec. I just got a gut feeling.
Anyway I hope Tesoro is not out of the Game.
Take care
Jason

 

[dahut]

n/t

 

[Sven]

http://www.tesoro.com/IDS/index.html

 

[nad]

EVERY company in the US is going to be having money problems due to the economy..Trying to get something free is nice...., but ,I feel that unless the Detector companies tighten up, and start asking for at least a minimal service charge fee for their repairs, magazines etc, they are history...My V took a hit recently..I am the third owner, it has been modified by Dave...So, when I call Tesoro up, I am going to ask how much to send in, not, "Can you fix it free?".. I want them to be around a long time..If we sink into a Depression, even the buck an hour you crab about will be good money.If the detector should fail, and no repair facility is available, that will be a serious event in your life.. Check back in about a year and see if I'm not right,,,..Cordially Nad,

 

[Steve(MS)]

Yeah, I agree, it is nice to get something fixed for free but guess which makes the most for auto dealerships, the service dept or new sales?

 

[steve 1]

I think better of Tesoro to make better machines as the Technology becomes available. One thing you have to remember,, its a highly competitive field, and patents have alot to do with what manufacturers can and cant do. Think about it,,, how much more do you want a metal detector to be able to accomplish? If they ever figure out the Gold/ pulltab problem, and it gets marketed everybody and thier brother would have a metal detector and all the good stuff would get scarfed up in a big hurry. I believe the technology has reached a plateau, and it will stay the same for a while. nobody in the manufacturing sector is leaps and bounds ahead of anybody else as far as technology is concerned,, , , Id much rather wait till they have come out with a tried, true, improvement,, than try to sell me a gimmick that is a waste of money..

 

[Bill in Texas]

Well I know that the Tesoro Line up is not for every one and that's OK. Now I will put my 2 cents worth in. I have been metal detecting since about 1969 and have had or used most top of the line detectors. My favorite detectors since I bought a brand new Inca and Mayan when they came out has been Tesoro. Yes I have used a few of the "high-tec" modern machines, but I still like the Tesoros the best. I would like to see Tesoro come out with a new machine, but right now I would not trade my Vaquero for some of those $1000+ machines (except if I could make some bucks doing it). I still like the single soft smooth tones I get from the V. I don't like Crystal controlled highly amplified audio circuits that blow your ears off on every target and still won't read a very small piece of gold. Bill in Texas Inca, Compadre, Silver Umax, Bandido Umax, Vaquero, Tinytec and a Minelab MF1 (to find propery stakes for fee)

 

[marcomo]

OK, I'll agree that Tesoro is overdue to come out with a new model or two. And I'll agree that Tesoro has unnecessarily ceded much of the TID market.

I use the Deleon and it is a fine detector and I hear the Cortes is too.

But when a company only has two TID detectors, why would both of them have only a preset ground balance in discriminate mode? Especially since one is priced in the mid range and one in the upper mid range.

Ask Monte, this is a big deal to detectorists who live in areas of highly mineralized soil. When I first got my DeLeon I had to send it in to Tesoro to have them calibrate it to a bag of bad dirt from my area. It wasn't that big a deal to do, but still an issue that could really turn off someone new to the hobby who wouldn't understand why their detector wasn't working right. And although I really like my DeLeon, I know that mineralization changes from spot to spot and I wish the unit had either manual or automatic GB.

You also have to wonder why Tesoro has basically ceded the entire entry level market for TID detectors. We all know how great Tesoros are when it comes to trash separation, response speed and pinpointing. But by not having an entry level detector with TID they are losing a huge portion of the entry market to the Ace 250, F2 and others. And that costs them down the road too when those same novices get more experienced and upgrade their detectors.

I'm not knocking beep and dig detectors. I started with a Cibola and I think it really helped me to learn without a display. I got a good deal when I bought it, and the fact that I got over 90% of my purchase price when I sold it shows that is still a very viable unit. But there are definite advantages to the TID and that is what the market has evolved to.

But I sure wouldn't be writing Tesoro's obituary. They are not a publicly traded company, they are a small family-owned company and that means they don't need to bring out new machines before they are ready just to satisfy stockholder demand for bigger growth and profits.

Tesoro's business model is based on building high quality products and unparalleled customer service. That includes being the only detector company to offer a lifetime guarantee on their products. To me, that is a huge plus and is part of the reason for Tesoro's fiercely loyal following.

I'll go out on the limb here and say I'd be surprised if Tesoro doesn't have a new offering by next spring.

C'mon James Gifford, make me look like a psychic and not a jackass...

 

[AUDuke]

Jame Gifford told me once that " we don't want to be the biggest detector co. we want to be the last one"

 

[slingshot]

My question is:if EVERY detector out there can't tell the difference between a ring and a pulltab or correctly identify targets ALL the time why not wait for the technology? And WE(at least ME) aren't in the greatest financial shape in the world,either. And some of the most valuable finds of our times have been reachable by most metal detectors. I'm thankful for the "trash talk" afforded by most Tesoros and the fact that they are welcome relief from the heavy detectors I used in the past. I've owned nearly a 100 detectors in the past 30 years and I assure you the search for the "perfect" detector will in no way replace "beep-dig". Even the simplest Compadre is a work of art.:blush:

 

[R-n-R Magnolia SpringsAla]

The darn things work, as far as I'm concerned they peaked with the Old Bandito. At least tesoro dosen't spray paint the machine, tweek two things, upgrade the "software" and call it "new and improved widget Plus, XS, 2001, or Supertuned" unlike some other companies. The US as a whole is caught up in the new stuff every year problem. Is the I phone that much better than a nokia 5600?? no but there is demand for the coolest, new doody-bobber that grown men are gonna stand in line for at 4am. I would rather Tesoro be slower at turning out products than rush and turn out crap that has to be sent in from delivery, to fix an issue. My two zincs.

 

[Neil]

but for some reason theyve stalled at the tesoro factory. can it really be that difficult to do? I mean thats what they do there, build/sell/repair detectors. I sure hope to see something in the near future from them.
Any chance Heidi was the chief engineer also? I think she retired awhile back

Neil

 

[marcomo]

EVERY company in the US is going to be having money problems due to the economy..Trying to get something free is nice...., but ,I feel that unless the Detector companies tighten up, and start asking for at least a minimal service charge fee for their repairs, magazines etc, they are history...My V took a hit recently..I am the third owner, it has been modified by Dave...So, when I call Tesoro up, I am going to ask how much to send in, not, "Can you fix it free?".. I want them to be around a long time..If we sink into a Depression, even the buck an hour you crab about will be good money.If the detector should fail, and no repair facility is available, that will be a serious event in your life.. Check back in about a year and see if I'm not right,,,..Cordially Nad,

Nad - Always enjoy your thoughtful posts, but I've got to disagree with you here.

The magazines that the detecting companies supply free are advertising. They help convince us to buy their products. If they didn't work, they would stop printing them.

Tesoro does offer a lifetime warranty on their detectors. The actual warranty is only for the original owner, but Tesoro's policy is if it is their product they will usually fix it free regardless. As long as the detector hasn't been modified.

This policy does amount to extra repair expenses for Tesoro, but it also helps them sell detectors. And it breeds extreme devotion and loyalty among Tesoro users.

Everybody says the sky is falling and yes, the economy is in bad shape. And I know a lot of people personally that are hurting.

But we've had recessions (and a depression) before and everybody always said the sky was falling then too.

I will check back in a year and I'll bet things will be at least starting to improve. And Tesoro will still be in business, probably with some new product(s).

 

[bulletman]

Just purchased my third Tesoro today from my local dealer. Already had it out today to see what it would do. I have been digging in the dirt since 1987 - having owned over 30 different metal detectors. I still have an even dozen in the spare bedroom. My DFX is now sitting in the dust - behind the new Tejon that I just tried out today. The Tejon pulled out 5 bullets today - my usual is 1 or 2 at best with the DFX. I was just meandering around in the field with the Tejon, started getting whispers that my others will not give. All 5 bullets were deep - between 8 and 12 inches in highly mineralized soil.

Is Tesoro in trouble? Not in my book. It would be hard to improve on something that is near perfection. Meters and graphs are interesting - however, they do have their faults. The best indicator to dig - is your ears. Meters lie a lot - good and deep targets often register in the iron to foil range on my metered machines. A good simple machine (Tesoro) is still best in my book.

Bulletman

 

[John LA]

n/t

 

[therover]

R-n-R...isn't that the new detector Thing-a-ma-gig Corp is coming out with this Christmas ?

I hear it only finds gold, civil war relics, and coins dated prior to 1965, is solar powered so it never needs batteries, weighs 5 ounces, waterproof to 1000 feet, comes with 5 coils and if you order now, you get the upgrade package that can make the detector cook a prime rib to perfection in 15 minutes. Just put the meat on the super DD ZX 15 inch coil and it does the rest. You don't even have to season the meat !!!

Plus...they only cost $49.99

On a serious note...you been getting out in the water with the BHID ? I am going this weekend after a long 2 month absence. I am itching to get out there...haven't hunted the beach in a while. Went dirt diggin with the Tejon a few weeks ago but I need to get to the beach !

 

[ellis]

read all the above.very interesting too ..i've wondered for a long time why tesoro does'nt come out with a 180 meter on something like the cibola.i have the sunray 180 on my ml sovxs and it works beautifully.i have also had two different tesoros and enjoyed them very much.One more thing i would like to see tesoro do is come out with a good twin box deep seeker.i think that would help them a lot.please don't shoot me i just like to speak opinions too--great hunting ery'body

 

[slingshot]

Opinions are what make this forum interesting.

 

[steve 1]

n/t

 

[dahut]

Unless I miss my guess, Tesoro had the uMax configuration before anyone else. To date, only a handful of makers have really gotten on the 'small and powerful' bandwagon.
Rather than add a lot of fancy displays, I'd like to see Tesoro add non-motion all metal to their entire line - along with either a manual GB or functional autotrac circuit.