Musketeer vs Sovereign GT?

[Mojave]

Hey everybody. Long time Explorer SE / Tesoro user here who is thinking about selling the Explorer and getting another Minelab. I was initially looking at the E-trac, but I realized that I really like detectors that don't have pages and pages of settings to go through. I like the old fashioned knobs and switches type detectors.

I've done some research on the Musketeer and Sovereign, and I just can't decide which one to go with. The Sovereign apparently gets better depth than even the Explorers, but the weight might be an issue. I can comfortably swing the SE all day, but the Sovereign is about a pound heavier, which might make a difference. I like that I can still get a Sunray probe for the Sovereign, but it seems like the S-1 gets less performance than the X-1 for the Explorers (1.5" in disc mode, vs 3" for the Explorers). I would also probably get the meter.

Another potential issue with the Sovereign is the slow recovery speed. In my opinion, the Explorer SE has a really slow recovery speed as well, but I've learned to live with it. Is the Sovereign slower than the SE? I intend to do a lot of relic hunting, which is why I'm looking at the Sovereign, but I don't want to give up the ability to coin shoot. Some of the backyards here are trashy, and even my Explorer nulls out a bit. If the Sovereign is a lot worse, then I may not be able to hunt coins with it.

Then there's the Musky. Fast recovery speed, lighter (is it really only 2.27 pounds + battery, like Minelab's website says?), and it gets good depth as well, according to the reviews I've read. It's also cheaper. Kellyco has a good deal right now where you can get the 8" Tornado coil for only $50 more. The downsides is that the Musky doesn't have the BBS like the GT, you can't put a meter on it, and there's no pinpointing probe available from Sunray. I guess I could use a handheld pinpointer.

I know this is a Sovereign forum, but what do you recommend?

 

[Rick(ND)]

I highly recommend the Sovereign if you are not looking for anything iron. The S-1 Probe actually works better then the X-1 probe does on the Explorer as when you go to pinpoint you can leave it in all metal pinpoint and get some awesome depth with it, even in disc it gets better depth in my opinion as I have and use both of them.
Like the Explorer the Sovereign has tone ID and add a meter on the GT I find that it is more accurate as what you hear is what is on the display as you don't have to wait for the threshold to return before it will ID. This makes it better for me as I can wiggle the coil over those deep signals and try to get the numbers up as high as I can to get a better ID. The Sovereign nulls a lot too and the tone keep changing too, but will keep the tone of the last target it see until it sees the next target, the volume changes as you go over it, but the threshold keeps the last target it see. To me this help me tell it seen a good target once you get to know the tones so you can just swing the coil along and stopping only when you hear a good target or one close in tones. For depth you will have to go slower so it can see those deep good targets and also in trashy area so it can report back to you on each target it sees, too fast and you will miss good targets.
The more you use the Sovereign the better it will get as you learn more each time out with it so be prepared to learn what this detector can do. Just remember the Sovereigns hate iron and air test, but great on targets in the ground and speed kills depth while detecting.

The Advantage Musketeer is also good, but does not have anything for IDing as it is a single tone and no meter either and my experience with 2 of them is they love rusty iron and if you want to dig everything they have some great depth.

Rick

 

[Mojave]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Mojave,the Sovereign may weigh more than the Explorer,but balances out much better.On a full days search using the Explorer my shoulder really got fatigued,and after a week I needed a break for a day or two.Never had any problems with the Sovereign using the 10 inch coil all day(straight shaft).The Explorer has great depth but so does the Sovereign.The Minelab Advantage uses the same control box configuration as the Sovereign and I don't see any weight difference. I have used both and always felt more Advantage user's should use a straight shaft.My opinion from the Original to the GT they are not complete until you add a straight shaft,Sunray or Winburn 180 Meter and S-1 probe.I have had every model through the line up,including 3 GTs and I'm very pleased with the older XS I currently use.Any Sovereign with the add ons needed are going to bump the price up,but is well worth the investment. Good Luck Ron

 

[Sven]

Both are excellent detectors. But the Sov is a better deal if you get one used over a brand new Musketeer.
A good used Sov XS to GT will always cost will range $350-600 for the basic unit and with or without meter.
Musketeers XS-Advantage $165-290.00 on average.
If you had an Explorer, the Sov will be a natural for you.

My Musketeer with 8" coil weighs in about 3 3/4 pounds, stock set-up.

There is a Sov XS in the classifieds now:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?44,1134065

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I always liked the S-1 probe but didn't realise how much pinpoint depth potential it gave the Sovereign.Both a penny and a quarter in discriminate mode will air test 3.5 to 4 inches.All Metal mode to 4.5 plus.That's a lot more reach than the Whites Bullseye I used,but short of the PI Pistol Probe and much easier to pinpoint surface targets.Though I never liked the X-1 probe on the Explorer.By the way what is the air test of the new Garrett Pro pinpointer?? HH Ron

 

[Ron from Michigan]

You can't loose on that deal. HH Ron

 

[Southwind]

The Sovereign GT is much cheaper, but the E-Trac anyway, is a much better coin detector. The GT is very deep on relics.

 

[Canewrap]

My vote is for the Musketeer, as the learning curve is easy and when relic hunting you'll want to dig most of your targets anyway. I use a TID to identify activity areas/hot spots and then go over to a beep and dig approach for that area. This is where my Musketeer comes in as its a little deeper than the TID machine I have. It keeps you from ignoring good targets because of their supposed value on a TID machine. I'm finding out that some valuable or desirable relics come in as iron when deep. Yes, from what I've heard the Sovereign just might be the ultimate relic hunter, but I don't need all the bells and whistles once I've identified a good area, just depth and to me the faster recovery doesn't hurt either.

 

[Adrian SS]

I think the SOV GT should do all right if my old Sov XS can find this stuff.

http://i792.photobucket.com/albums/yy203/ausnapshot/IMG_0001.jpg

 

[Sven]

I think the SOV GT should do all right if my old Sov XS can find this stuff.

Lot's of goodies there!!!!

 

[Critterhunter]

I've owned several Explorers and they wear my arm out much quicker than the GT because they aren't balanced as well. I still prefer to hip mount my GT when using the 10" coil though to make it even easier on my arm. With the S-5 coil I don't hipmount it and find I can hunt all day with no problem. Normaly even with the 10" I wouldn't need to hip mount it most of the time but I'm talking about those days where you are hunting 7 hours straight in the woods climbing up and down ravines and such. First time I tried that with the GT without hip mounting it I was real sorry.

 

[Neil]

Hey everybody. Long time Explorer SE / Tesoro user here who is thinking about selling the Explorer and getting another Minelab. I was initially looking at the E-trac, but I realized that I really like detectors that don't have pages and pages of settings to go through. I like the old fashioned knobs and switches type detectors.

I've done some research on the Musketeer and Sovereign, and I just can't decide which one to go with. The Sovereign apparently gets better depth than even the Explorers, but the weight might be an issue. I can comfortably swing the SE all day, but the Sovereign is about a pound heavier, which might make a difference. I like that I can still get a Sunray probe for the Sovereign, but it seems like the S-1 gets less performance than the X-1 for the Explorers (1.5" in disc mode, vs 3" for the Explorers). I would also probably get the meter.

Another potential issue with the Sovereign is the slow recovery speed. In my opinion, the Explorer SE has a really slow recovery speed as well, but I've learned to live with it. Is the Sovereign slower than the SE? I intend to do a lot of relic hunting, which is why I'm looking at the Sovereign, but I don't want to give up the ability to coin shoot. Some of the backyards here are trashy, and even my Explorer nulls out a bit. If the Sovereign is a lot worse, then I may not be able to hunt coins with it.

Then there's the Musky. Fast recovery speed, lighter (is it really only 2.27 pounds + battery, like Minelab's website says?), and it gets good depth as well, according to the reviews I've read. It's also cheaper. Kellyco has a good deal right now where you can get the 8" Tornado coil for only $50 more. The downsides is that the Musky doesn't have the BBS like the GT, you can't put a meter on it, and there's no pinpointing probe available from Sunray. I guess I could use a handheld pinpointer.

I know this is a Sovereign forum, but what do you recommend?

Hi Mohave,
the musky advantage coupled with the same coil and shaft as a sov gt is going to be the same weight so no weight savings there. and its not as versatile as the sov or explorer.
have you tried the pro coil or a joey coil on your explorer, that will make it feel quite a bit lighter. weight on the end of the pole sure makes a big difference. like critter says about the S5 on his sov, try an X5 or even X8 on your explorer, that will help with the weight.
if your explorer is nulling alot your probably running to much disc so try opening it up. get away from programs and just use the iron mask, keep it as low as you can, factory setting on it is way to high. it will also recover faster between targets. at factory settings it resets faster than the sov but the meter lags, some confuse that with reset from target to target. the tones on it as you know are your best ID. the sov has great tone ID as well.
Have you thought about an Xterra? they reset faster than both the sovs/explorers and are lighter, lots of coils available too. thats a nice machine, make sure and look at the 70/705 if your doing salt water beaches.
HH
Neil