text: The most common type of mass spectrometer (MS) associated with a gas chromatograph (GC) is the quadrupole mass spectrometer, sometimes referred to by the Hewlett-Packard (now Agilent) trade name "Mass Selective Detector" (MSD). Another relatively common detector is the ion trap mass spectrometer. Additionally one may find a magnetic sector mass spectrometer, however these particular instruments are expensive and bulky and not typically found in high-throughput service laboratories.  Other detectors may be encountered such as time of flight (TOF), tandem quadrupoles (MS-MS) (see below), or in the case of an ion trap MS where n indicates the number mass spectrometry stages.