sand shark vs Sov gt question?

[machineman]

I am looking at getting a beach machine. I dont live near the beach but go a few times a year and want a good detector for those times. I want to hunt the wet sand and surf area on central Ca beaches. I dont plan on diving. I already have a Gold bug pro for dry sand work. If I can get a used Sov GT for about the same price as a new 10.5" sand shark. What should I get? These are basically the 2 detectors I am looking at. I dont like the tones on the Garretts (had and INfinium that I didnt like). The Dual field would be ok as well, but mostly wondering about the 2. My price range is $500-$600.

 

[ROBOCOP]

Sovereign with a SEF 10x12 coil. Waterproof the control box and/or use a high chest mount.

I use a Sov, Detector Pro HHPI, and Excals. If I could only have ONE it would be the above.

ROBOCOP

 

[Dertnc]

Both will work well . The Sov. Is a multi-frequency machine and the Sand Shark is a pulse machine , the Sov. You can use on land and beach it's a good machine I've owned a few of them the only problem with it is they are not good on small gold or gold chains , the Sand Shark on the other hand does well on small gold and gold "but" you will dig everything ! It has No discrimination at all . Hope this helps .

( oh yea , the Tesoro has a lifetime warranty to the original owner )

 

[machineman]

Thanks

 

[WIN12MAN]

'' Minelab'' Soverign G.T. = best allround ... Owned and used one for years .. >> real Gold bug ..


Win

 

[fwcrawford]

I have both and used the Sovereign on my first few trips and it works flawlessly in the wet sand along the surf, but I almost got it dunked the last time and am worried about
the salt air getting into the electronics, so I bought a Sand Shark and use that now.
As others stated, you have to dig everything with it.
I also use the Sand Shark in some local freshwater lakes around where I live and have no complaints about it being a PI machine.
That little machine has located some very nice gold rings for me and I don't mind having to dig everything while water hunting... it's easy
with a nice scoop.
At the saltwater beaches, I usually search the wet sand and surfline, but at the freshwater lakes, I wade out as far as I can.
Surprisingly, most of my nice finds have been in only 3-4 feet deep in the water.
You can't go wrong with either machine.. they are both very capable of finding the goodies for you.
Good luck in your decision

 

[machineman]

I found a sov elite on feebay. Hope it works out. I plan to put it in a woterproof box. Thanks.

 

[Rob in (Ca)]

you need to invest in some good hunt time with a PI, just a couple times a year won't be worth it.

 

[lovee-1]

I have used both and still own a Sovereign GT..I have a Whites Dual Field PI for super depth and also a Minelab Excalibur..If your not diving I would go for the Sovereign GT,,it's a great machine,,it has Disc or you can hunt in All Metal plus it goes deep...You can also buy a ton of different coils,,you'll be happy with the Sovereign GT once you get used to it...Good Luck...
John.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

With a PI machine you will find every BB, piece of lead shot, hair pin, needle, rivet, etc. The Sovereign is not perfect as it is not good on small gold (especially gold chains) but it certainly works well on everything else.

Until I purchased my Excalibur II I used the Sovereign GT on the Beach with very good results and at times you will wonder just how much deeper that target may be as you can no longer maintain contact with the detector. Usually it is still another scoop or two in the sand.

If you go with the Sovereign, run Disc at a minimum and DiG Everything. Gold rings show up all over the tonal spectrum of the Sovereign. You will dig some trash but nothing to compare with what you will dig with a PI machine.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

george and dertnc are spot-on: The downsides of the pulse sand-shark, will be lack of ability to reject iron. The upside will be good ability in nasty minerals (although that's not often a "need" in your "central CA"), and better ability on tinsel fine chains. As far as depth on normal coin-sized objects, the Sov may actually be deeper than the sand shark. ESPECIALLY if you're using larger coils like the WOT. You can get up to 1.5 ft. depth on a quarter with that setup (although it's extremely "fishy" to use, and takes some getting used to). With a standard 10.5" coil on the Sov, you can expect up to almost a foot on coins in disc. mode, and perhaps ~13 " inch when switching over to all-metal. As you can see, that gives a "run for the money" on depth, when compared to some beach pulse machines. But it depends on which pulse is being compared to which discriminator. In the old days it was just a "given" that pulse went deeper than any discriminator. But that is no longer so cut & dried these days.

What beaches in "central CA" are you near ? I'm on the Monterey Bay area.

 

[machineman]

im in fresno, so any beach along montery and sometimes down to Pismo area. I will be camping in the Capitola area in 2 weeks. I would love to hook up with some fellow MDers, especially someone who can show me the ropes with the Sov.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

im in fresno, so any beach along montery and sometimes down to Pismo area. I will be camping in the Capitola area in 2 weeks. I would love to hook up with some fellow MDers, especially someone who can show me the ropes with the Sov.

Send me a PM of the dates you will be in Capitola. There's a $200 reward out for a long men's white gold wedding band, on a beach not too far from there. Let's join up and go find that puppy. I've got all the play-by-play of where the man was on the day he was at the beach. Just gotta make time to go hunt it. But it's going to depend on the days you're slated to be here, as to whether the tides would be right on those days (as we'd need one of the day of low tides nearer to 0.0 low -ish).