Snagged a Diablo MicroMax!

[pyledriver]

After years of telling myself I'd buy the first Diablo uMax I got a crack at, I actually let one slip through my fingers last October! Well, lightning struck a second time and I got another opportunity! Neat little detector and after a checkup at Tesoro I'm hoping to actually get to the goldfields this year. Y'all be watchin' for me! I'll be the one doing the Walter Huston dance when I find that first nugget!

 

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[woof!]

Congratulations!

In my career, I've done everything from the BH Junior to machines like the CZ's and F75's. And in the process I've worked for several different companies. Of the stuff I've designed, some I've been proud of and others not so proud. My own personal preferences haven't always matched what happened in the sales department.

Working for Tesoro during the late 1990's, I designed two products that made it to market-- the Diablo uMax, and the LoboST. My personal fondness in products is a good compromise between performance, simplicity, and price tag. As it turned out, the LoboST was a market success, it's still a popular machine, and as far as I know it's the same thing that was shipping 15 years ago. The Diablo uMax fell through the cracks (I'll spare everyone here my opinions how that happened) but of the two products, it was the Diablo uMax I was most proud of.

Several years ago, I mentioned in a forum post my fondness for the Diablo uMax. And how after I left Tesoro I'd passed up a chance to buy a used one for a reasonable price because I was having to pinch pennies at that time, it was an opportunity I'd kissed goodbye but actually could have afforded it with a bit of personal frugality elsewhere, it's not like I'd been starving.

Jim Straight, bless his heart, read my post and took pity on himself who was getting too rickety to do much gold prospecting any more, and on me whom he knew personally, sort of. He shipped me his personal very beat up (this is Jim Straight we're talking about!) Diablo uMax as a gift.

As ugly as it is, it's among my most treasured possessions. When I need a "reality check" machine against which to compare something we've got under development here in El Paso, that machine is often the one I pull out of the stack first. It still works as well as the day it was born.

Steve Herschbach (whose reputation is sufficiently greater than mine that I don't need to explain who he is) said recently in a forum post somewhere, that the Diablo uMax would be a viable product today. They are almost impossible to find used: nobody who has one will let go of the damn thing. I can get away with saying this because I don't think there's much chance that Tesoro would find it profitable to resurrect the Diablo uMax, and because here in El Paso we are working on entirely different stuff.

There won't be any more Diablo uMaxes. As always, them what gots 'em ain't gonna sell 'em except through estate sales or because they see the grim reaper stalking and are trying to lighten the backpack.

Congratulations again, pyledriver, and Happy New Year! And use some good beeper headphones: for reasons beyond my control, the Diablo uMax is a bit of a porch dog on speaker unless your hearing is really good.

--Dave J.

PS: even though it's a Tesoro, go to the Fisher or Teknetics website and track down my online book "Gold Prospecting with a VLF Metal Detector". (If you have a local dealer, they may have the print copy in stock.) Since you're a gold prospecting newbie, there's gobs of stuff in that book you need to know in order to connect the dots between you and the gold. Wishing you the best, and hope you'll PM me when you find that first nugget!

 

[Oakview2]

Same one? Tesoro lobo umax | eBay

 

[pyledriver]

Wow Dave-thanks for the well wishes and although I haven't used it yet, I tip my hat to you for it's design! The cult status of this machine is a tribute to you. Honestly, I have dug through every thread on every forum for years to research this unit. One thing that always came up was 'if you find one, buy it'. That's a hell of an endorsement!

I grinned a little when you talked about passing one up for financial reasons because I was in the exact same spot-I could have afforded it but was literally on a cache hunting adventure and was concerned about money and my wife changing all the locks before I got back if I bought ANOTHER 'toy'! Hehe.. When I let it pass, I resigned myself to never owning one. So maybe it was meant to be! I just hope I can make good use of it. I'm already in the planning stages of an Arizona trip! I know it will take lots of work and lots of luck, but I'm confident that the machine is up to it, or will be after a checkup by Tesoro!

Oakview, that link didnt bring up anything, but yes, I did get this one on eBay. I've watched eBay and other sites for quite some time. I did miss a few here and there due to timing! I have heard that some detector shops in Az have these with somewhat regular frequency but I live in Texas...so if I couldn't find it online I would never get one!

 

[Lanny in AB]

Same one? Tesoro lobo umax | eBay

Your link works now, and it does appear to be the same one--new, and in the box.

Pyledriver--congratulations on your find, and keep us posted on what you discover with your machine in 2014.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[pyledriver]

The link doesn't bring up any auction for me but based on Lanny's description, that's not the one. Mine has been used but in great shape.

It's this one:

http://bit.ly/19GjteI

 

[Oakview2]

Quite a honor to be given one of Jim Straights detectors. He is a peach of a person, and one of our sports greatest living resources.

 

[Hoser John]

Amen to those sentiments on Jim,our bonified good ol'boy diplomat. I have all his books signed with personal messages, with personal letter too. He was kind enough to praise my PESCO drywashers in his book Sucessful Drywashing too,a honor in my world. I wrote the product review in the annual Tesoro information booklet for the original Diablo II when I set up comparitive testing. They utilized it for a couple of years 93-94 or so,sooo long ago.Don't know what difference there is between a Umax except smaller circuitry ?,as a dedicated TLST/GB2 fan and never ran a comparison of the 2 Diablos. As the engineer was there any "REAL" difference in performance Dave?? Anyhow just another of those oft time overlooked less expensive units. John

 

[woof!]

The Diablo uMax was the immediate predecessor to the Lobo Supertraq. No connection to the older Diablos other than the trademark.

--Dave J.

 

[Hoser John]

If memory serves this ol'noggn' right there was first a straight LOBO prior to the TLST or just rebranded Diablo I've forgotten to ask Rusty a couple a times as other more pressing matters had me call him and slipped my mind at the time. Any info on that'n??thanx for clarifications-John

 

[pyledriver]

I sent my Diablo to Tesoro for a tune-up and it's a good thing I did! The soil switch was bad and the coil was far enough out of phase (?) that they're going to replace it. I can't wait to get it back! My original trip looks a little spotty so I'll be working on a plan B to get this little beauty out and over some gold!

 

[Lanny in AB]

All the best, and I hope you find some mighty sassy gold,

Lanny

 

[Hoser John]

All right Lanny LOL, after all these years ya came up with one that baffles me--WHAT IS SASSY GOLD PLEASE KIND SIR??

 

[dashriprock]

Great find on the Diablo umax! I got mine when they first came out and have never looked back. Works in tough mineralized ground and finds the gold.

 

[tabu]

In 2007 I buried a 4-liter paint can filled with shop leftovers (discarded assortment of nails, bolts, screws, washers, cut-off rebars and angle bars, etc.) at an arm's length depth or approximately 70 cm. Over the years and from time to time I've been using the spot to check the Diablo uMax's response and so far it has not failed me. My latest visit was in the last quarter of 2013. Swinging the elliptical DD coil over the spot always elicits a clear and loud audio response and I get the impression that it's even louder and crispier now than ever. I suspect the progressive decomposition (rusting) of the metallic (iron) objects within the container as well as the container itself and the resulting significant increase in ferrous mineralization in the immediate surrounding (rust halo) contributed greatly to a much better response from this particular MD. Perhaps using it to scan the sides and floor at various depths of ongoing excavations in the course of Yamashita treasure search here in the Philippines is questionable and lacks real scientific merit. But oh boy! you should look at the faces of the sweaty, smelly and clueless diggers as one slowly swings the old Diablo uMax around the hole!