quattro

[diggetdawg]

so iv'e had my quattro for a little over a year now, i bought it because of all the usual hype. bought andy's book, rechargable battery pack, charger, cover etc. its been an ok machine ... but now i feel like i bought a piece of obsolete worthless crap that no one would want to buy if i wanted to trade up. should i keep it for 50+ years and hope it becomes a classic??? taken for a ride again.....


diggitdawg .

 

[nick hunter]

Hello !

If I was you, I wouldn't sell it because of the come of a new one. After all, when you bought it, you had the choice between the Q and Explorers...

I always buy detectors that suit my needs. I might sell my own Q later, just because of the weight. But just because the Safari comes out doesn't mean the Quattro won't detect anything any more for you.

I still detect very often (in fact more than with the Quattro) with an obsolete 1984-technology TR detector, and make some great finds with it. Wouldn't want to sell it!
No Siree !!

Don't make the mistake thinking the best finds are 1 or 2" deeper than your Quattro can reach...That is not true !

The only advantage of the safari would be recovery speed. Searching slowly in all metal with the Q should give good results.

Nick

 

[diggetdawg]

hello nick.. yes i'm still finding nice stuff with the Q but it's still irritating to know that a year after owning it the price drops 3-4 hundred dollars because they are trying to get rid of the inventory of something that will no longer be made. i know when u sell a used detector after a year ur lucky to get 30 -40 % but a popular detector thats still being made will sell better than a model that was discontinued after a few years, when they improve on something its a good thing. when they improve on something & change the name and discontinue the line, its a bad thing for people that have one. again its not that im going to sell it (probably cant now) but we all would have faired better if they would have called it the Q 2 ...... but they no longer want to be related to the black sheep of detectors. just my 2 1943 copper cents




diggitdawg....

 

[diggetdawg]

P S they sold us a prototype for a thousand $, & now that we helped them develop the finished product they call it a safari & we can again buy it for a 1000 $.

 

[Andy Sabisch]

I would not say you were taken by a long shot. The Quattro is still a potent detector and if the Safari had not come out, would you have felt that you had a sub-par detector?

The Safari & Quattro have comparable detection depth so if you are saying you need the new model for more depth, not true.

Unless you hunt primarily in high trash sites, the Quattro will still give you above average performance thanks to the FBS-technology that both share with the Explorer and Quattro. If you slow your sweep speed down you can pull keepers out of the trash . . . most successful Explorer users have found the same thing is needed with that model which is why the E-Trac focused no correcting this issue.

So in terms of your statement . . . . .

But now i feel like i bought a piece of obsolete worthless crap that no one would want to buy if i wanted to trade up. diggitdawg .

I would disagree . . . . . if you are not doing well with your Quattro, I'll offer to help you get the most out of it. Send me a PM and we can chat.

If you are doing well, stick with what works and be smiling as you head home each time you are out with a pocket full of keepers.

A lesson I've learned when buying a computer . . . . . I understand that the day after I buy one there will be another model from the same company that is faster, more powerful and cheaper . . . . so you can either wait forever hoping for just the right time to buy a detector or take the plunge, master it and clean out the sites around your house.

Hope this helps . . . .

Andy Sabisch

 

[Golden]

Hello Andy,

I've been a long time user of the Quattro and have reaped the rewards for patience, persistance and practice. As you stated, it is a potent detector where given the chance, in my opinion will out shine may other relic machines. I have used it extensively in very trashy ground where mineralization and ironization can generally be a problem for a lot of machines, but I've found I can still detect in this type of ground with satisfying results.

So I'd just like to say that for those of you who own a Quattro, don't give up on it just because it takes a little more effort or forethought in it's use. Any detector in the hands of a skilled user will reap rewards within it's scope of ability and function. The Quattro has a bit more of a learning curve, less so than the Explorer 2, but that's what makes it a challenging and fulfilling detector, for me.

Golden

 

[diggetdawg]

ur all missing my point, i like my quattro but intead of improving on it and calling it Q 2 and thats what it is, they just dicontinued it. depth is fine but what if i wanted to trade up to the new faster one ? nobody wants to buy a dicontinued detector. if someone would like to start out a newbee with a great detector at a fair price it would sell if there was a q2, but now its just old history and for me its only been a year so yes im a little irritated & no disrispect to u andy, but i can see where u would most certainly love the quatto. i have your book and it's a great book.just more minor details minelab
forgot to put in their insruction manuals lol. I appreciate your offer andy but i dont believe i can get anything more out of this machine without putting it over something metalic. I know how fast technology for computers move & thats great,but i also know when to put my boots on to wade through the b.s.

 

[diggetdawg]

also the E track is not replacing the explorer, its a new machine. people will still be buying explorers because they are tried & true and still available.

 

[Andy Sabisch]

I don't think we are all missing your point. You feel that Minelab should have called the Safari a Quattro II which would have allowed you to still have a machine that had a name similar to their current line. Well, calling it a Safari or Quattro II or an XYZ still leaves you with a detector that is no longer in their product line or in other words DISCONTINUED.

The fact is that if you look at Minelab's product line in terms of price points, they had few options other than what they did. The Safari is the same price as the Quattro was and if they had bumped the price up as all manufacturers have done when they come out with a newer model with new features such as the Explorer XS -> II -> SE, it would have been overlapping the price point of the Explorer SE Pro. Yes, they could have increased the price of the SE Pro but then it would have overlapped the price of the E-Trac.

Having been a dealer for more than 25 years, I can tell you that if you walked in with a year-old Quattro and wanted to trade it in on a Quattro II or a Safari with the Quattro no longer being produced, you would be getting the same from me in terms of a trade in $$$.

Your statement "nobody wants to buy a discontinued detector" is your personal perception. You might want to look at some of the detectors that sell on E-Bay that have been discontinued for years and still bring far more than you would think. As a matter of fact, I just bought a Tesoro that I have been looking for to replace one I loaned out for a specific reason that was discontinued in 1987 (21 years ago) and paid close to $200 for it . . . and it only sold for $375 new.

Personally I do not think that what you could get for your year-old Quattro today is much different than what you could have gotten for it last month. If the unit is clean, it will sell . . . . . . but I am still not clear why you feel the need to throw it out the window since there is a new model on the block and now you feel yours is obsolete in terms of performance. Your Quattro is not going to work any less effectively now that the Safari is on the street.

I am not trying to defend Minelab or justify their marketing philosophy. Having been into this hobby for more than 45 years now I have used a lot of detectors from a lot of companies and can honestly say that I am not brand loyal as those that know me can attest. I have detectors from virtually every manufacturer out there and from some that are not out there any more. I use what works for a specific application or need hence the more than 20 units hanging on the wall. I have and still use my Quattro as have several people I introduced to the hobby . . . . used it for that purpose two weekends ago. The guy that used it with a short lesson found a number of coins and one silver charm at a site that has been pounded by some experienced hunters before us.

If the Quattro still works for you, use it and be satisfied with the results you receive. If you now feel you have "tainted goods", by all means sell it, take the same loss you wold have had you sold it two weeks ago before the Safari came out and get the detector you feel will meet your needs. I have taken trade-in's from hunters over the years that were in the same situation as you find yourself . . . I'll make you an offer for your Quattro if you want the Safari.

As far as wading through the BS, not sure what BS you are talking about . . . a new model came out, Minelab had so many slots in their line and the Safari replaced the Quattro period. How about the people that bought an Explorer SE and a week later the Explorer SE Pro came out? I can probably give you a dozen examples from other metal detector companies that the same thing occurred. Heck, I bought my son a Whites Beach Hunter ID less than a month before the new Beach Hunter ID 300 was released . . . . . so the Quattro -> Safari replacement is not unique.

You have a good detector but if you feel you don't, your results will suffer.

Just one person's opinion

Andy Sabisch

 

[diggetdawg]

explorer SE explorer SE pro ............. whites beach hunter ID beach hunter ID 300 they sound kind of like a line of detectors that are improving ( notice the names) Thats what an improvement sounds like . Quattro & safari sounds like the end of a detector that had a very short life span that got a bad rap & that no one wants to improve on.

its quite funny how u keep trying to put words in my mouth . I'm not selling it, I'm finding with it, I'm not throwing out the window.. I may sell it to someone that would spend 200 dollars on a 21 year old tesoro that cost 375 new, maybe they would give me 700 or 800 but untill then I'm keeping it. I will try to put it in different words (thought i did but maybe not) I liked (like) the quattro' think it's a great detector yes slow on recovery, deep hell if I wanted deeper I would have to get a PI unit. dont know why u want to fight me on this but IMO they should have improved it & kept the name it is the same damn unit. improved. yes I would feel better having an older model quattro to a discontinued minelab unit that had a short life span. for that reason alone it will allways be a black sheep no matter how good it is. maybe its because I have pride, maybe a little ego in what i purchase. an explorer is a great line, beach hunter is a line, quattro is a ?????
BLACK SHEEP prototype for the safari.

 

[nick hunter]

Hello diggetdawg

Well, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm wondering if you want a metal detector to have fun with or if you're looking for a social status. Remember, your hunting buddy may know about the safari while he sees you sweeping a quattro, but buried treasure doesn't know and, most important, doesn't care.

I personally still wonder why so many searchers, especially European ones, highly prizing their explorers one month before the release of the e trac rushed to buy the same E trac. To show they can afford it? To improve their finds rates? Not at all : to be seen with an e trac and to talk about it, endlessly wondering if the settings they dialled in are right for the ground they search. Bah !

BBs and FBS detectors are great units for beaches; I might be prone to think they work great on land to hunt for milled coins and ring-shaped jewelry, but I still doubt they are the best choice for their dam hammered coins and other tiny relics.

I am quite sure that experienced detectorists with a simple TR detector would easily learn them a lesson in their own so many times searched fields.

So again, if the detector gives you great or satisfactory results, buried treasure doesn't know about a new quattro being named safari.

Nick

 

[backslyder]

Andy, I'm so thrilled to see you responding to and defending this issue on the Quatro, which you actually "did write the book on". To me it's an honor to have you here on the forum, and I couldn't agree with you more on your post. I love the fact that your sticking to your guns on what you say about the Quatro still having great depth and usability, even though "The New Kid in Town", the Safari just came out. I've had my Quatro for at least two years, and I still can't say enough about the depth, the sensitivity, the notch-ability, the accuracy and the durability. Even though it doesn't have the two number readout for conductivity and ferrous like the Explorer, I think it gives out a lot of information, and as you state in your book, when you use the different audios modes, depending on the situation, I'd say, there's still a lot of bang for the buck here, and as far as it's value on the "market" going, down, like you say, it's no different than when a new hard drive or new computer or new car comes out, but to me, if I'm gonna get another detector, I think I'll just keep the Quatro for a spare anyway, or possibly for certain types of terrain. Thank you again for responding to diggitdawg's post, and I hope you write a book for the Safari too. Sincerely, Marc Trainor.

 

[backslyder]

Amen, and Amen, Andy!!!!! You couldn't have said it any better!! Marc.

 

[diggetdawg]

by the way if u think having a metal detector of any kind or price is something that gives u social status is a real lol matter. ( not to be confused with pride). social status ???? hell the rest of the world thinks we are crazy they dont know sh.t from shinola as far as detectors go. but yes ur right about bah!!! my 2 detecting buddies have been detecting for 30 40 + years one still uses a bounty hunter from big 5 sporing goods and the other was making detectors from kits they sold at radio shack & recently upgraded to a garret ace 250 and he said bah! to me when i bought the Q. he couldnt believe i would spend so much on a detector...sure enough though, time showed him that i could find things walking directly behind him. ok I'm going to express my opinion one more time and I'm done. I like my quattro, a little slow but thats OK apparently so am I. I dont like the marketing that minelab did with it. I think it sucks and thats my opinion. sorry didnt want to hurt any quattro owners feelings with my opinions but I thought it was a forum to share thoughts. (sorry those are mine) I wont be buying any new coin shooters anytime soon. still have almost 3 years warranty on my Q . I've now been wanting to upgrade on the gold detectors and looking at the TDI have a eureka gold now (probably will keep it good to have a vlf on hand) so life goes on. sorry nick sorry andy sorry all quattro owners the proud the few.

 

[Android]

a little slow but thats OK apparently so am I.

 

[backslyder]

You know what Nick!!?.. I think that's a very intuitive response to diggitdawg's post. This whole darn issue he started has been really bothering me, because I keep asking myself--- Is there something I'm missing here, in what he's trying to say about the Quatro being a "black sheep" and "why didn't they keep the Quatro name going" and all that, but the way I see it, your absolutely right that even though a lot of us are fond of and even "proud" to be Quatro owners, the dog gone coins we dig up don't give a rip what brand name detector finds them. The way I look at it is, for whatever reason Minelab decided to discontinue the Quatro, and bring out a very similar, but apparently improved version called the Safari, comes under the category of: "That's just the way it is". I find it hard to believe that they figured there's something "wrong" with the Quatro, so we'll just bury it and bring out a new one called the Safari. I think if anything, it might be just plain business strategy. If I were a manufacturer and I brought out a new model that was extremely similar to last years model but we'd improved on it, I would kind of figure that last years model (i.e. the Quatro), being close to the same price, might not sell as well as the new improved one. I might decide to drop the old model and give the new one a new name also, but whether that's even close to the reason this all happened or not, I still believe the Quatro still stands on it's own as a great detector, one that's extremely durable, extremely quiet in mineralized sand and salt water, almost as deep seeking as the Explorer, and extremely accurate and usable with the notch-ability that it has for discrimination. I truly think it will stand as one of the great, innovative detectors of all time right next to the Explorer. That's just my feeling on it, and I own and use a Quatro, so I know I'm not just blowing smoke. Sincerely, Marc Trainor.

 

[backslyder]

Boy, has this ever been a hot debate on this new Safari issue!!!!!!!, but you know what, diggerdawg, you're absolutly right about one thing, in my eyes. You do have a right to your opinion, and this IS a forum where we're allowed to discuss or even "argue" over different things, and all things being said about all this, you certaily have a right to your opinion. I know we've all had our hackels up pretty much on this one, including me, but I'm sure we'll all calm down, and go on with our lives and metal detectors, some way, some how. I had to grin a little when you talked about your buddy with the Bounty Hunter from Big 5. That was the first detector I ever owned, was a bounty hunter, and back in it's day it was ok. It wasn't one of the top of the line models, but it "got the job done" as far as I was concerned back then. Kind of wish I still had it just for a keeps sake, or even as Andy was talking about, using the different detectors for different sites and such. At any rate, I still love my Quatro, and I think I'll probably hang on to it, even if I buy a bigger better model some day, but that's just me. I think it's just "each to his own" on all this stuff. Marc

 

[diggetdawg]

hi marc, thanks & i am moving on before i get linched over this topic lol. but on a lighter note regarding the Q & its depth capabilities (& my luck) went out to the beach at low tide sun. eve. 15 min and some clad later i get a stong 27-28 that i dont see very often so i start digging with my small shovel .& dig. & dig. hard to tell how deep hole kept filling with water & sand but I"m going to guess when i ran into this item it was 20- 24" by how far my shovel was burried. anyway i was ready to give up had it said 37- 38 i would have (can) but because of the 27 28 ikept at it finally i bring out what looks like a goldish disk ? i put the coil back over the hole, same reading i stick the shovel back in the soup and pry up a goldish looking planter/bowl but after shaking the sand out there is no top or bottom but it has a molded in dragon with ruby eyes on one side & asian letters or writing on the other side, i picked up the disk part and it fit on 1 end of the bowl (2 maybe 3 fine threads) bout now i'm saying to myself What a weird find. I set it down and start beeping again & about 3 feet away same reading. i start digging, about the same depth i come up with an identical bowl but in 1 piece
o.k. so now i have 2 of these weird finds, set it next to the first start beeping & i get some jumping #s 2- 10- 30- 4 at this point i'm going to dig all i figure bout 16 18" i hit something (cant believe i didnt break it) i pull out a hexagon black bottle (metal cap) it had been painted black and where some of the paint came off i could see inside, it looked like dry sand & something white like paper i could tell by shaking it that everything in the bottle was dry. (now i was thinking cool.... message in a bottle) getting dark so i decided to look at it at home. (bad idea) i opened the bottle, peered in it & my first words were oh no & crap. there was a picture of an asian woman looking at me, dirt (earth) a paper cross, & a wood cross with really sharp thin thorns sticking out of it..... I put the lid back on & mon. eve at low tide my son & I went to the beach & put her back & assured her that it was an honest mistake...... there is my quattro story. (believe it when I tell U mark i did not make up this story) almost wanted to give up detecting lol

 

[mpostma]

Ok, let me throw my two wheaties worth in here.
First, I have a Q, and I love it. It does a great job for me. I can understand why Minelab came out with the Safari. The Q has never sold like it could have. It took some black eyes from people that didn't take the time to learn it, and from those that just give their opinions without ever taking the time to find out the truth. The Q has always done exactly what it was supposed to do, at the price point it sold for. It isn't an Explorer. Minelab is in business to sell detectors. If they determine that making a few changes, including the name, will help sell detectors in that price point, more power to them. We all gain from a stronger company if we use their products.

Second, I am happy to see Andy on this thread. Love the book. Have about worn mine out. As I gain more experience with my Q I read the book again, and find a better understanding of how to use it.
I agree with him on this issue too. I have bought computers and other products days and weeks before the new and improved models come out. Sometimes the names are the same, sometimes they aren't.
I don't think it makes much difference on how much the resale value changes.

I have found more silver coins, Indian Head Pennies, a 1886 V nickel, with my Q this year than I would ever have found with my other machine. I bought a 5" coil, which is an awesome tool on the Q.
And I have ordered a procoil and another lower shaft. The Q is a tool to me. It is a great tool.

Great Book Andy!

Just my two wheaties on the rest.

Mark

 

[diggetdawg]

PS the bowls/planters are solid brass bout 41/2" tall same wide real heavy.