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Tesoro Cibola

Price: $450
Avg. Score: 5 stars! 4.73
Based on 81 reviews

Avg. Durability: 5 stars!5.00
Avg. Ease of use: 5 stars!5.00
Maximum detection depth
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Cibola is a deal for under $400

May 14, 2011
Just want to comment on the cibola. For the money I don't think that you can purchase a better value. Last years total? 15 Gold Rings, 16 Silver Rings, 2 Gold Medallions, 4 Silver Chains and $560.00 in Cdn Clad. Oldest coins 1858, and 1833 Tokens.

It's an incredibly stable and sensitive detector that is wicked on both clad and gold. This year I've already found 4 Silver Rings and 4 Gold rings (the smallest being .9 grams).

Love Tesoro products,Simple to operate, inexpensive, durable and a lifetime guarantee!

What could you ask for more!

Overall Rating 4 stars

160

Simply the best!

May 12, 2011
I am having trouble understanding the negative reviews about this metal detector. I have used this detector for a long while now and it works just as it did the day I have bought it. Mine will bench test 11 and 3/4 inches on a dime supertuned with discrimination just above the iron setting.

I have had my entire arm buried in the ground trying to dig a civil war cantine out. It could be possible the detector itself is faulty in the previous reviews. Tesoro will gladly repair any detector of theirs with the lifetime warranty.

Also wanted to point out that if you use wireless headphones the signal transmitted on some will interfere with the detector's frequency and drop the depth dramatically. Had that happen to me once and had to switch to headphones with a cord and it worked fine. Make sure there are no cb radio or ham radio towers nearby as it might possibly interfere with the detectors depth. Not saying that is what it is but it is the only thing I can think of. I have 2 cibolas now and they work flawlessly.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

220

Very Disappointed!

April 29, 2011
I am afraid I have to agree with Steve's review. I have used a lot of metal detectors, BH Quick Draw, Garrett Ace 250, Garrett GTAx 400, Garrett 2500, BH EX, and Fisher F2. I had heard a lot of good things about Tesoro Detectors and was excited to get a good deal on a Tesoro Cibola. I thought it would be fun to try something new.

I bench tested it and it did not bench test very well. I read on this forum that sometimes they don't bench test well, so I didn't worry. I checked out U Tube videos for tips and used the settings people had suggested that worked best for them. I field tested it for 3 hours and it was awful. No matter how it was set-up it always performed the same.

The signals on most items were erratic and most times almost not detectable. If I did get a good steady signal it was a very shallow item. The best depth I got out of everything I dug was about 3-4 inches.

In all honesty this is the worst detector I have ever used except maybe a 50.00 detector at Radio Shack. Even that detector had better depth. The only thing that was even a positive on this machine that the target was fairly easy to pinpoint.

Give me an Ace 250 with a Sunray probe and it is 100 times better than this machine will ever be. (Maybe 50 times better without the probe and almost half the price.)
I am sure this review won't be popular but it is totally honest.

Overall Rating 1 star

1982

Best Field metal detector

April 07, 2011
I have Cibola with 10x12"DD Tesoro coil. What I can say: Best in field.
My friends have 2x-3x expensive metal detectors with screens, bells and I follow them and digging silver coins :)

My search setting:
threshold max,
discrimination min,
sensitivy end of red area.

Depth test with hammered silver coin is unbelievable, what is strange with 10x12 coil air test is not too good when land test, in land more deeper!
In the beginning I dug all, very hard to learn one beep signal, at moment only aluminium is problem.

In trashy area, like old houses not good with big coil.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

220

Cibola loves gold

March 21, 2011
I really like this detector! At this price range, you get great depth and discrimination not to mention Tesoro quality. With a few adjustments (check out some Tesoro forums on setting this up) you can get added depth. This detector is great at rejecting iron, it gets good depth on coins and loves gold jewelry. Even if you have one of those high end detectors, the Cibola is a great back up detector for your arsenal.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

160

Great Detector

March 21, 2011
I read the review below and was shocked, It seemed like everything he said about the Cibola was the the exact opposite as I felt.

1. Not as deep as everyone says ?
1a. Its deeper then a garrett ace 250/350 for sure, deeper then a Fisher F2/F4,Deeper then a Whites coin Master/Coinmaster Pro. It will find coins deeper then 5" I know I have dug them.

2.Loves Iron?
2a. Yes you will dig BIG Iron, like horse shoes and tools just like with any other metal detector, you will not ever dig small iron like nails and stuff if the disc is set above iron/foil

3.No ground Balance
3a.Then buy a Tesoro Vaquero it has ground balance, none of the ace 250/350 or Fisher F2 or Teknetics Delta or Whites coin Master's have ground balance. The Cibola doesn't need ground balance unless your detecting on wet salty beaches, if you are then turn the sensitivity down to 5-6 and the Disc above foil and you will find pull tabs and rings at 6" with good signals,

4.Discrimanation, Most screw tops "glass bottle screw tops" on most detectors will sound off like a coin, some older pull tabs the square ones will sound off like a penny, this is the same as any detector....Nothing new here. broken pull tabs or beaver tails will sound off like a nickel, just like any other detector. FOIL is FOIL,

If you have a small object that is very shallow it will sound off very hard...IE Foil...soyou dig your plug and check the hole and you get no sound and check the bottom of your plug and there is no sound, then you have a small piece of metal or foil in the roots of the grass or stuck in the grass, If you use a hand held pin pointer you will be able to figure this out before you dig. This machine is very sensitive to low conductive metals...It loves gold....It goes deep on gold I know I have found deep gold 8" on a small pendant at a park.

Bing Bong
6. Volume Most detectors like the Ace-F2-Coinmaster-and many others even the Garrett At Pro do not have Volume knob or button....Use head phones that have a volume.

All in all the Cibola hands down is about the best detector you can buy for the money, Who needs a screen when you and the detector become one with your senses.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

402

Not as good as all the hype.

February 10, 2011
I bought this detector about a month ago based on all the wonderful reviews here. I have been using it all most everyday for a month. For me, a seasoned veteran detectorist this detector did not live up to the hype.

The cons far outway the positives.
Here they are.
Cons:
1. Not as deep as they all say.
5 inches max on coins.
If you supertune it, it just chatters like crazy and you can't differentiate the difference between a good signal and the chatter.

2. Loves big chunks of iron.
Forget about working a playground near swings, slides or anything metal, it will sound off on the metal swings before you get out of your car and you can't lower the sensitivity to all that big iron. It still sounds off. My cheap Aquavision underwater detector outshined it in the parks(found more rings and old coins with it in one day then a whole month with the cibola)at least with it, it sounds loud and clear on a good target like a coin.

3. No ground balance control means your gonna be digging 2 feet in the ground at invisible targets And black sand kills this detector dead!!

4. The discriminator is worthless!!
You will dig everything even on the higher discrimination levels. And that means bottle tops, pull tabs and slabs of iron, rusty nails, and tiny all most microscopic pieces of foil that take you a week to remove from your scoop because they keep falling through. And since the knob is right there near your finger, the whole day your going to be accidently turning the discriminator all the way up and cancelling out the good stuff. One day I didn't even realise till the end of the day, and I wasted a whole day detecting.

5. The lack of an lcd telling you the type of items and the depth will be noticed. The whole time I wish I had my garret so I could decide to dig a target or not.

6. No volume control means you will go deaf!!


Pros:
the only one I noticed was when the coins got about 2 inches away from the coil they gave a nice belltone.
I would not recommend this detector for someone
who works any area that has trash, black sand or highly mineralised ground.

Overall Rating 1 star

1779

745 teams love the Ci-Bo-La

November 14, 2010
Time do go by fast when your enjoying the days of retirement and keeping BUSY with our days on the sand and parks, etc.. and NO still NO Big Diamond rings to Brag about.. but our individual share of all the coins we found will be a plus for kids Xmas this year!!
Good thing is when you place them in the coin counter and you press charity there is NO 8% ((percent)) change fee at least at the Kroger ( Ralphs ) store around here.. so we get to make sure the cash goes to charity.

Now beach parking is a Money pain, so IF your 62 and over there are in some counties and state run beaches Senior Citizen Parking Passes, so take advantage of them.. save a few bucks for a cold one and a cigar or for the gas.. well all have a Great Turkey and Xmas.. season.. my little Cibola got me a couple small 14kt rings and a lot of coin, another watch in the sand, note it do play heck on park bushes...trees in parks well wind, lightning, rot etc take their toll at times the tree small or large is cut down and maybe replaced by a new small planter tree.
L@@K around that new base of the tree close to 15 feet around and you may get lucky like I did finding 2 little silver rings and change.. the yuk pennies.. well what can we tell you.. they fall apart even in the tumbler.. all keep finding those lost goodies.. were lucky out this way as the weather do stay mild certain days.

Congrats to the two gentlemen below this review have a good upcoming year.
bill rene, brad gary

Overall Rating 5 stars!

206

Nice Machine....Can't go wrong with the Cibola

November 01, 2010
I bought this detector new in Feb 2010, so I have had a solid 8 months of heavy treasure hunting with this machine, And I have been out alot this year.
Yes its light, runs on one 9v battery that gives you alot of hunting time on one battery. Its easy to use, crank the threshold all the way, turn up the sensitiviy past 10 and your ready to dig coins and relics just as deep as $800 or more detectors. Its a well made machine that is rugged, I have used it hard and still works great.
I'm mostly hunt old cellar holes and foundations. It can snag a large cent at 8"+ and small thin silver ring hitting hard at 6"+
It is very sensitive to gold jewelery, I have found 5 gold pieces this year, 2 rings and 3 pendants. 4 of the gold pieces were at parks and 1 was on dry sand at a ocean beach. I set my disc knob just above iron and dig everything, that is why I have been so sucessful this year, alot of gold is in the foil range on the disc knob. I have dug many buttons from a couple of inches to 8" some were from the US Revolution. How cool is that.
It nails silver too....I have over 25 silver coins from 1855 to 1964, even a 1857 half dime out of an old field. Deep small silver can sound a little funky, but I dig just about everything thats above iron.
Yes you will dig some big iron like horse shoes,ox shoes and iron tools, but hey there relics and cool. If I could think of cons on the cibola I guess it would be......None really I mean for $340 dollars you get a simple machine that goes deep. I have dug over a $1000 worth of goodies in a 8 month period in New Hampshires parks and woods having the time of my life with this great little detector.
I have used only the stock coil, I would like the 5" coil for very trashy spots right around the old foundations and the larger coil, I think this winter I will try to snag them. Good luck

Overall Rating 5 stars!

310

Cibola finds gold 2000 yr old coin

September 27, 2010
Bought my machine from new after reading how good it was. This machine loves big iron. Hard to get away from but great depth and sensitivity on very small targets. So far 50 or so roman, one iron age tiny gold coin and a dozen silver hammered coins. I've got it running at 18khz now due to a mod at pentechnic. Super sensitive and deep. I love this but love my lobo more. Use both and I am always digging.

Overall Rating 3 stars

106

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