Tesoro Vaquero
Price: $550
Avg. Score: 
4.39
Based on 77 reviews
4.39Based on 77 reviews
Avg. Durability:
3.84
Avg. Ease of use:
4.28
Disappointment
March 18, 2012
Tried the Vaquero for a few hours before it quit. It is very cheaply made, the knobs are loose and a lot of slack in the adjustment, lettering was so smeared, it was unreadable. Got a strong reading, then it quit.
Tesoro new generation of detectors sure don't compare with the older Tesoros. I have two older Tesoros (Silver Umax and El Dorado) and they out perform the Vaquero and are well built.
Overall Rating
Jim from
California
1251
This site is usefull
January 19, 2012
I bought a Tesoro Vaquero about a month ago. Before I give it the review, I just want to respond to the previous posting.
Sure you can't believe everything on this site and what you said is somewhat true. But if you did have a machine that had some serious design problems, the reviews would show it.
Before I bought my Vaquero, I read the reviews on this site and Amazon. I formed some questions and called the manufacturer and two major resellers.
I concluded this was the best machine for me.
I metal detected heavily in the 1980's.
The machines I have owned were
Bounty Hunter Red Barron
Bounty Hunter Outlaw 290
Whites 6000 Di Pro (heavy)
Tesoro Conquistador uMAX(good but not deep in mineralized soils)
I found it works well with the 5.75 inch widescan coil. I also bought the S.E.F 15X12 inch widescan butterfly coil. I wish the vendors would give different coil options.
The 5.75 inch widescan coil goes as deep at the stock 8X9 concentric coil, but filters out the trash well.
The 15X12 Butterfly S.E.F. Widescan coil goes about 20" on a quarter doing an air test.
I chose the Vaquero over the Tejon becuase of the reviews and talking with the vendors and the manufacturer. It also left me more room to purchase more Coils.
If you had a $600 budget, I would buy the Vaquero and a S.E.F coil before would by a Tejon. I'm not knocking the Tejon, but you would have better setup for relic hunting in mineralized soil.
Overall Rating
Joe Worthington from
Canton Georgia
374
Vaquero Performance
December 25, 2011
I've used many major brands and have hunted Civil War relics for over 30
years. Last good relic just found using the Vaquero was a CS Egg Plate 16"
in a "hunted out" yard on old Shiloh-Corinth road. I asked the property
owner, who was a relic hunter, if he ever found any lead bullets in his
yard. He said, "no." Five minutes later, I was digging .69 cal. 3 ring
minies 15 feet from where he was picking up tree branches in the yard.Great machine, the Vaquero.
Overall Rating
Gerald from
Shiloh, TN
214
What a Detector!
November 23, 2011
First of all, I have owned many metal detectors in my lifetime- Whites 6000
DI series 3, Tesoro Silver Sabre, Garrett American AM-2, Garrett AT3 Beach
hunter, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Bounty Hunter Big Bud Pro, Whites 4900D and I
still own and love them for the hobby I love. I have owned a few others
also I will not name as they were a waste of my time and money. The Tesoro
Vaquero is the best Metal Detector I have ever had! No doubt about it. For
2.2 lbs and one 9 volt battery, you cannot beat it. When you super tune
this Jewel and learn to use it right, you might not need another detector
for a long time.
Overall Rating
Dell from
West coast
242
The best
July 30, 2011
I have just purchased a tesoro vaquero from the States. Having never owned
a detector before I was not sure how to operate it. Well it is so easy to
operate & super light I swung it nearly all day. Instruction book is great
easy to understand. My first day might not seem like much but a 1911
Australian penny, is such a buzz I am hooked on this machine.
Overall Rating
Rod from
Busselton western Australia
264
GREAT DETECTOR
July 13, 2011
If you want one of the best coin and relic detectors out there today this
is your detector.No confusing meters to mess with, just a simple to use deep hitting detector that will amaze you at how sensitive it is to tiny objects. This detector will find items you missed with your other detectors. There is nothing in its price range that even comes close to the performance of the Vaquero.
Overall Rating
Roger S. from
Jacksonville, Il.
303
Vaquero Rocks
June 07, 2011
I just picked up a Tesoro Vaquero and after 3 or 4 times out with the
detector all I can say is it rocks. It detects very deep. The
discrimination circuit works very well. I own a Whites DFX (which I love)
but this machine is a great backup detector to my DFX. I can see where it
surpasses the DFX in certain aspects, depth and sensitivity to small gold.
My DFX won't even whisper on a small piece of gold where the Vaquero goes
bonkers. I still need to get used to pinpointing with the Vaquero because it does behave differently than my DFX. One thing for certain, the DFX is heavy and an hour or two of swinging it starts to take its toll. The Vaquero is a featherweight and can be swung for many hours with no fatigue.
Overall Rating
Gregg from
So. California
312
Fast light deep ,
February 18, 2011
Had this detector for one month well impressed, easy ground balance works
well on all my Roman sites. One tip, try running over a target next to iron
with headphones on listen for response then do the same without headphones,
you might find you will need to change headphones.This little machine works the soil like a little terrier sniffing out targets missed by so called top end machines included my own explore 11. All in all for UK hunting tesoro have come up with a real winner, fast recovery, great depth, super discrim, best of all price.
Overall Rating
Stuart from
England
312
Reveiw for tesoro Vaquairo
December 10, 2010
I am from Williamsburg, VA. I have been relic hunting for about 20 years. I
purchased a tesoro "bandido" in 1991 which turned out to be a very wise
decision.I amassed quite a collection, it was easy to operate and light as a feather. In 2005 I finally retired it. I got a vaquaro which has turned out to be just as good, I am very pleased with its ability as an awesome relic machine.
My main intrest is civil war relics, which these tesoro machines have made happen......Buy the way, when I purchased my vaquaro in 2005 I handed my bandido down to my younger brother. To this day the old bandido still brings him much success in the field.
Overall Rating
Walter haskell from
Williamsburg,va u.s.a.
204
Amazing metal detector!
November 03, 2010
OK so my first day out with my new Vaquero was a bit of a surprise. First
I spent some time at home passing coins in front of the coil and rotating
the discrimination and identifying where they fell. I found ground
balancing a breeze, and the almost staccato like tone when swept over a
target was perfect. I have to say with every beep of the Vaquero, I found my confidence growing in what was worth digging. This little gem was right on target, and I found I knew what to dig and what not to dig very quickly after digging a few coins. I was also able to identify each coin before I dug, simply by rotating the discrimination up, until the beep stopped.
Before I dug, I compared a few targets with my Etrac and to be honest, I found I preferred the Vaquero. Don't get me wrong, the Etrac is an amazing MD, and I love it, but based on ease of use and confidence in target ID, the Vaquero gets my vote.
It became almost too easy finding coins and with each beep, and a turn of the discrimination knob. It seems, the more complicated the MD, the more difficult in what you have below the coil. I get the feeling this little gem will be with me on all my future hunts, yea, it puts a lot of fun in metal detecting!
Overall Rating
Mike from
New Jersey
421