Dense Clay - please advise

Welcome to the forum!

Go with a pinpointer. Targets won't be as deep in solid clay like soil...so pretty much any detector in your price range will do the job for you. Get something you will enjoy using and stick with it and learn it. You will have people suggest machines based on their opinion of what they have or have used or in some cases what hey have read. Don't get caught up in that. ..since you have done a ton of research already. ..go with your instincts and just enjoy the hobby and have fun....and again ...Welcome to the forum!

LittleJohn

Dense very dry clay is what our athletic fields have & the athletic fields are most of a park or schoolyard in many cases. But detecting around edges of park or schoolyard near sidewalks the ground is soft regular dirt, where the depth of detection nearly doubles. In clay I get 3"-4" deep coins that have likely been there for decades. About same with nearly every detector. Best wishes, George (MN)

JJ.Bourne said:

I am new to treasure hunting and need some advise on which detector to purchase. I am mostly looking for coins/jewelry in an area that is dense very dry clay in So. California. I have done a bunch of research. I have read a lot of articles of what to buy or not to buy, none seem to target my search conditions. JJ.

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$500 is an amount that tells me you are serious about getting into the hobby.
I don't think you have to wory about your clay soil as far as which detector to pick.
If money is tight I'd budget my machine to allow for a pinpointer.
You will never regret getting the pinpointer. Without it, it would be easy to get discouraged. I won't hunt without one for more than a few minutes.
As far as machines, the Garrett AT Pro is a great machine close to your price point.
Call or email sponsors here for great prices and a package deal with ProPointer.

Obviously I'm biased, but I did my research about 2 years ago and never regretted it.

I just started this hobby as well and I know how looking up and researching the machines can be cool, but money can't buy experience. If I were you I would get an Ace 250 or Fisher F2 as those seem to be the best beginner machines available. And a pinpointer would be great for helping you out when you aren't quite used to where the target is when you dig. Use it for a month, and if you think you would benefit from a better detector then sell it somewhere for like 80%+ of what you paid for it. I have a 250 that in all honesty it's tougher to use than I thought it would be. I just hope that I can justify the cost of getting new batteries before the set it came with dies.

Ace 250 is a great machine and you can get a Pro-pointer and a Lesch too for about $500 or so.
When you are ready to upgrade (think ATPRO) you will get most of your money back from selling the 250.