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I noticed a used GPX-4500 available locally. Includes 4 coils, 3 extra stems, 3 battery packs, harness and headphones. It looks like it is used little. I know the 4500 was discontinued in 2020. I have never used a Minelab but I've seen them find Au twice during group outings. Currently I'm running an XP Deus which I've run for hundreds of hours without finding Au. I've found everything else, right down to many tiny fragments of bullets. I'm keen on nugget-shooting in remote areas. Would the 4500 be a good choice at this point in time for a nugget shooting upgrade? Approximate cost is $2400 for the package, which is a lot of kroner for a hobbyist who has not yet found any Au. Any suggestions and comments are welcome. Ed, Tucson, Az.

Just thought that I would share my experience with what Minelab has called "GPX 6000 Speaker Audio feedback". As Steve pointed out in an earlier post, Minelab has recently documented this problem on their website: https://www.minelab.com/usa/metal-detectors/gpx-6000 then select "Updates" on the bottom of the first page. As most of you know the symptoms of this problem is very erratic threshold audio when using the internal speaker. Like any other speaker, the internal one creates an electro magnetic field, when in use, and it appears that the high gain/sensitivity of the the GPX6000 detects and responds to this very localized EMI and feeds it back. What you end up with is this out of control feedback loop that tends to oscillate and create a very erratic threshold. When the wireless headphones are used instead then a typical more stable threshold is achieved. Like many of you, I pretty much always use blue tooth headphones and have never used the internal speaker when prospecting but I decided that I wanted to have this repaired just so it was completed within the warrantee period. I also didn't use the internal speaker because it was not practical and after it is repaired/updated at least that becomes an option. On the Minelab website there are instructions for sending in your detector to the USA repair center for this "hardware update" if you choose to do. I sent an email to the repair center including the serial number on the bottom of the control box and they replied that my detector was still under warrantee and qualified for this repair/update. I chose to use USPS for shipping and I elected to insure it for $2000 at a total cost of $53 from Southern NV to repair center in PA. To insure or not to insure is a personal choice but one benefit is the the unit has to be signed for by a person at the repair center receiving department. I only sent the detector control box since my 11 inch stock mono coil works normally and the ears are fine with no visible cracks. Inside the shipping box I placed the following printed information: "To Repair Center regarding Repair Ticket #xxxxx: The problem I have with this GPX 6000 detector is the unstable threshold due to audio feedback when the internal speaker is used instead of the wired or wireless head phones. This is a known problem and is detailed on the Minelab website under GPX-6000/Updates and titled "GPX 6000 Speaker Audio. Please perform the "hardware update" that is mentioned in that article, "Minelab have produced a hardware update that removes this effect." I did this because I wanted it to be clear that this is the only thing that I wanted them to repair and not spend any time trying to trouble shoot or replicate other problems that don't exist with my detector. After I sent the unit I received update emails from the repair center regarding progress through their system. The total turn around time from the day I mailed the unit to the day I received it back was 10 days. The repair center pays for the return shipping and it did need to be signed for by me upon receiving it. I recently tested the detector, about 5 miles from my house, in a place with no known nearby EMI sources and also having mineralized ground. My smallest test target is a piece of #8 lead bird shot that weighs around 0.06 grams. In the past, when I have prospecting in various gold fields, I have found many small pieces of lead bird shot at around 1 to 1.5 inches deep. I buried the #8 bird shot test target 1 inch deep in mineralized soil and the audio response was the same using the internal speaker or the wireless head phones. I tried manual sensitivity setting of 1 through 10 and also Auto1 and Auto2 as well as normal and difficult, all settings produced a detectable audio tone response to the #8 bird shot target although the higher gains settings were slightly louder. I personally don't believe that the detector is any less sensitive after the hardware update. I would say it is the same and possibly slightly better but that is hard to quantify for my. The fact that the threshold appears to be more stable might account for a relative improvement in sensitivity vs an actual improvement just because you can hear the target response more clearly over the threshold. I do recommend having this update performed on your machine but in the end it is your decision. Regards, Ceril

I’m taking the plunge on one of these new detectors as the old body needs something lightweight. When the SDC came out and again the GPZ, I went over old patches and pulled out ounces of nuggets that were invisible or had to be within an inch of the coil on the previous GPX 5000 and before. That spongy and wiry stuff. The Axiom is much more in line with what I want as I sometimes detect old tailings and like the option for iron disc. Plus the price is better. But, I want to be sure the Axiom hears the “invisible” stuff as well as the 6000. Can anyone of you knowledgeable and generous folks share your experience with this before I take put down the cash?

Got my machine back on the dirt today after having the audio mod done. Using the speaker only, it certainly shows a major difference. With the factory BT headphones, there was zero difference, at least to my ears. Coz I got a 'good one' from the start, I think the mod on my 6000 didn't add any benefit to me. I use the factory BT headphones every time. The real benefit from the mod is for videoing your finds and having the speaker do the work lol. The Y axis coil-tilt was still the same, noisy as hell. Hopefully the NF 12x7 mono that I'm supposed to receive tomorrow will add some ACTUAL benefit.

Last night after dinner I went for a quick gold hunt, the day was hot but it cooled a bit by evening. I just went to a hillside a few minutes from where my caravan was parked and fired up the 6000. I didn’t bother with the GPZ for such a little hunt and the 6000 is more like a quick easy VLF especially now I can use its speaker, which I exclusively do now unless somewhere noisy as it’s not a loud speaker. the GPX behaved well, so much better with the EMI fix done, I quite like it now. There is lots of quartz around, it goes in a line like a vein up the hill. My first nugget for 2023 a nice flat one, very shallow easy target and of course sounded different to the pellets I’d been digging. Near a surface target. I got another straight away, the pick is the first nuggets hole, coil the second. Another flat bit. I called it quits now as I had to walk down the hill to my car before dark. The photo probably doesn’t show it but it’s steep, at least down is easier than going up. My junk, not bad for 2 bits of gold. I put 3 hot rocks in the photo but I must have dug 30 of them, the 6000 loved them and I couldn’t balance them out, normal, difficult, low sensitivity, nothing helped. They sounded just like gold too especially when buried. I will go back tonight after dinner when it cools down and try again, maybe with different equipment, might try the DD.

I've been doing a little comparison testing lately between the new Garrett Axiom and the Minelab GPX 6000. My focus was on sensitivity to small gold, as most areas I hunt still have plenty of tiny nuggets left; if there are any large, deep pieces left, they’ll still be there for the next generation GPZ to unearth. This comparison is not scientific by any means, and was done just for my curiosity, but I've decided to share my methods and observations for anyone here that may be curious as well. So first up was comparing the Ax fitted with its 11”x7” mono coil to the GPX 6k with its stock 11” mono coil. Settings for the Ax were Fine Mode, Tone at 77 (which is the same pitch as the fixed threshold tone that the GPX 6k runs at), Audio 01, MS-3 wireless headphones wirelessly connected, Speed set to Slow, Volume 25, Threshold 15, Sensitivity 8 and Ground Track Off. And the 6k sensitivity set at Manual 10 (I typically always run on Auto+, but since there were high voltage power lines near this location, I didn't want the Auto sensitivity reducing itself to compensate), Volume at 1 bar and the Avantree Torus neck speakers wirelessly connected via the 6k's inbuilt bluetooth, and Normal selected for the ground type. For this test, I selected a small area that had been raked and detected in the past, most likely during the late 80's to early 90's era, with the VLF detectors of that time. My comparison method was simple: I slowly and carefully gridded the raked area with the 6k until it hit a target, then switched off, fired up the Ax and gridded the same area in the same direction that I just did with the 6k, until I reached the same target. After digging the target, the gridding would continue, this time with the Ax, until another target was encountered, then switched off, fired up the 6k and re gridded that same area, etc. The idea was to see if either machine would see (or not see) targets that the other could (or could not) see. After gridding the entire raked area in this manner, all targets found were detected by each machine, and there were no targets found by either that the other could not detect. All targets save one were small gold nuggets, the only exception being a weak magnetite hot rock. The only thing I wasn’t liking about the Axiom at this point was the sound quality of the signal through the MS-3 headphones; it was no where near as clean and crisp as the target signal from the 6k and Avantree Torus speakers. It was a little cleaner using the Ax's inbuilt speaker, but it was still not to my liking, so I sent for a small Bluetooth transmitter from Amazon that I could plug into the Ax's headphone port and receive the signal with the Avantree Torus Speaker (you’ll see it attached to the Ax in the photo below), and that did the trick. A friend generously sent me his Axiom 11”x7” DD coil to test on small gold, and this time I pitted it against the 6k outfitted with Coiltek's hot little 5”x10” Goldhawk coil: Same settings on each machine, except nowhere near power lines, so was able to run the 6k on Auto+ sensitivity. This time, I selected as the testing area a small dry wash gully that had some old dry-blow heaps (dry-washer piles to us yanks) up on the banks. Small nuggets can always be found by following the dry-washers, especially in their fine tailing piles. Though many targets were found, only one turned out to be the color we all look for; the rest were small bits of wire brush bristles, aluminum foil and some small pieces of bullet jacket shrapnel. As far as the comparison goes, it was the same story - each detector heard all targets, and none were missed by either. As I noted at the beginning of the post, the comparison between the two machines wasn’t scientific, in fact I didn't bother measuring target depths or weights of the nuggets found; it was mainly to see if the Ax can keep pace with the 6k on sensitivity to small gold, and it appears to me that it certainly can.

Hi Steven, Thank you for being very informative in providing such a great video. I do have a question: with iron check what if there is a gold nugget as well as a iron nail? IDK what will be that sound like. Also I am based in Australia and will be go prospecting in WA again next year. I am sort of wondering which should I have, a GPX 6000 (dad already has one) or Axiom? ( I have seen your reviews on different detectors however I still wonder if you have some personal opinion? Many Thanks, Ethan

Have had a minelab gpx 5000 went to a zed 7000 loved it but was to heavy when the 6000 came out traded and it is perfect for me found more gold on one trip its great. I have two 800 nox.

The chart shows current GPX-6000 coil sizes, weights, and areas. I hope this chart can help you find out which coil to bye in the future. Phrunt- the 6 X 8.5 specifics have been added to the chart.

I finally got around to putting on a carbon fiber shaft that steveg designed for my GPX 5000. Sorry for the long delay Steve 😶. I put it on the backup GPX and finally tried it out. The shaft breaks down in the center for easier travel. The 3rd section is a short shaft around 8" that connects to the coil. I wanted to have short shafts on various coils so they would backpack easier when traveling deeper into the woods. We were worried about a clamp that would have to be located right next to the coil, and if that would interfere with the coil. It does not and it still pulled silver at 15+" at a beach site it was tried at. So no worries there. Design and weight of the shaft is top notch. Those of you considering this for a GPX, just remember the main 2 pieces have to be designed for your height, as there is no way to adjust them. The adjustment comes from the 8" coil shaft. So you will only have about 4-5" of usable adjustment. This is necessary to keep the shaft assembly strong. The stock Minelab handle moved slightly for me since, I'm chicken little with it due to breakage. I've cracked too many of them, and I was over cautious of tightening it fully. I will do so in the future. Even though I under tightened the handle it did not move much for the whole hunt. I'm pretty confident the handle fits on it when tightened. Thanks Steve for the great job!

Last week I went to Culpeper, VA to attend Diggin In Virginia 52 & 53. This is where 100,000 US troops spent the Winter or 1863-64 and the Battle of Brandy Station took place. This area is know for some of the worst dirt in the USA. Bury a nickel 5" deep and most VLF machines can't see it. On the other hand take a PI and you'll be digging targets the size of bullets 16-18" deep and larger items such as shell fragments and belt plates over 2 feet deep. To top it all off these farms have been pounded over the years so finds can be slim. That being said it's still fun for me to attend and catch up with the many friends I've made over the years and meet some new ones. Now on to the particulars of the GPX 6000 as a relic machine. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I will never go back the GPX 5000 for gold or relics. The 6000 IMO is that good. Water resistant, interchangeable rechargeable battery, wireless headphones, light weight and compact. Everything the GPX 5000 isn't. The only thing the 5000 has the 6000 doesn't is iron reject and I can honestly say I don't miss it. I started beach and relic hunting with the Whites TDI that also lacked iron reject, so I had to learn what iron sounded like on a PI and this knowledge has transferred over to the 6000. Not saying I didn't dig any iron, but I don't fell like I dug any more than anyone using a 5000. Not only that ther are plenty of iron targets I want to find like horseshoes, artillery shells and fragments. I was a little concerned that EMI might be an issue with all the other GPX's present at this hunt. Things can get crowded in good producing areas. However, I found the 6000 to handle the EMI very well, as long as I was at least 30 feet from another machine or not under power lines. EMI for the most part was rock solid with no waiver most of the time. Now obviously I was wearing headphones with all those people around so I can't say if that would be different or not without them. I used the 11" mono the entire time, ran the machine in difficult, sensitivity all the way down, threshold on. That's it! simple settings without having to worry about whether or not I had it setup right. Setup this way, the machine is plenty deep. In fact I had one of my buddies check a deep target I found with his 5000 wearing an 18" coil and he said he could barely hear it. On the 6000 it was a clear signal. Just think how deep you could go using normal timing with sensitivity all the way up. But there's a reason I run difficult timing and you can read my post here if you want to know why. So below is a video and pictures of my finds. I found a lot more than shown like fired bullets and case shot that I just won't display. Also found about 6 artillery frags and only one is shown. I didn't find anything spectacular this time, but did have a great time and dug plenty of targets. Top is an artillery frag and an iron ball used in canister shot, next picture shows what canister shot is. Round balls are case shot which is similar to canister shot. Eagle I cuff, Bullet is a confederate Gardner and finally the display I made.

Part 1 My first attempt of a video, please excuse the sound on part 2, not sure why its cutting out. These examples are for the hottest ground. The Equinox works great at target separation in low mineralized ground.

And other free stuff with some other Minelab metal detectors. It’s not often you see a buy a detector, get another detector free deal. Like in all my years in this business, about never. Anyway, check out the Forum Classifieds or contact your favorite Minelab dealer for details.

As we all know the GPX 6000 coil ears have cracking problems, quite a number of people after hearing of it and inspecting their coils found they had cracks they didn't even know about. It's been said they revised the plastic they use to make the coils to prevent the cracking, but has anyone been able to find out the date this took place? Is it very recent I wonder or did they do it some time ago? Much like the speaker EMI problem every coil before a certain date is going to have the dodgy plastic formula. I've had my coil replaced recently under warranty for being noisy but it wasn't replaced with a new date code coil, in fact the coil I got it replaced with is likely older than my 6000 as I only bought my 6000 in May of this year and I was provided a replacement coil from 2021 by the looks of the writing on the coils package. If anyone finds out the date of the plastic change that'd be appreciated although I guess Minelab likes to keep this stuff secret to stop people wanting their stuff fixed/replaced.

Update 9/30/22 I wrote the post that started this thread over a month ago. I questioned why anyone would be selling GPX 6000 metal detectors they owned, to place an order for an Axiom, when the product was still under development. Nobody has any independent evidence in hand about how the final shipping version of the Axiom will compare to the GPX 6000, and I have been frank in saying that I should be considered a biased source. My main concern, however, were that people were taking my selling my own GPX 6000 as meaning perhaps more than it does. So in the post I stated straight up I thought it was premature for anyone to be selling a GPX 6000 to order an Axiom. Since then, nothing has changed per se as regards that recommendation. I do know, however, that feedback from myself and others means the Axiom is undergoing significant upgrades in capability still, and that this process will continue until Garrett feels they have a product they are satisfied with. That means it is simply too early to decide exactly how these detectors compare. I know I really like what this detector has to offer, and I am certainly finding gold with it. There are, however, things I felt could be improved. The latest developments as of today have left me feeling more optimistic than ever that the Axiom will be a worthy competitor when it finally reaches the market. That being the case, I decided to update my previous post with this simple statement. And that is to note that it is not over until it is over, and people should withhold judgment until the final Axiom is out, and various independent people have a chance to compare it to existing detectors. I'll recuse myself from that process, as I have been to involved with the prototype testing, and do not want anyone looking to me as being anything but biased on the subject. Frankly, that just gets me off the hot plate, an easy out. I'll end with my stock recommendation. The wisest course of action with any new metal detector models is always to wait. Wait until it is out, and if you can, wait until others you know and trust have had to to evaluate the detector, and report on it. Let them be the guinea pigs. There is almost never any reason to be giving money to dealers based on pre-release information, unless you are just dying to be the first kid on the block with a new toy. With that said, let the wait continue. Trying to rush Garrett at this juncture helps nobody. What is needed is patience with a capital P, so that all the time possible is given the engineers to tweak and tune, and deliver the absolute best product possible. 10/13/22 - Latest Commentary Here

Recently acquired a 6000 and have to say so far I am very impressed! The non existent weight makes it a pleasure to swing for hours on end without the need for a harness and bungy. Throw on the 17” mono and it’s an excellent step it out raw prospecting tool. Being accustomed to large coils, using the little 11” mono took some getting used to, but I can’t deny its ability to sniff out the tiny bits from old patches which l’ve hammered with everything including chaining with an SDC. Being in an area where although bigger bits are often found, 90% of your gold is still sub gram and I have dozens of old patches to revisit and I am positive I will be rewarded as I was on the last spot with 30+ pieces. While it‘s no 7000 and certainly wont replace mine, it’s an excellent companion to the 7000 and plugs another hole where gold is missed. The only down side I can see so far is I have to remind myself to pick up and swing my 7000 occasionally also.

Hey all, still have a gpx 4000 I bought from AK M&D. Guess it's time for an upgrade. My Question is does the 4500 have enough improvements to justify the upgrade

After reading about the axiom I started thinking about selling my 4500. I like the features and the weight of the axiom. I wonder if it would handle hot rocks better than my 4500. I run into a lot of basalt hot rocks in the El Paso mountains by Randsburg Ca.

I made a quick overnight trip to Rye Patch to do some more testing with the GPZ and 17" Concentric Coil. My main goal is to familiarize myself with the Z combination for an upcoming trip to Australia. This testing was merely for my own edification, not to prove any point about this Machine/Coil vs that Machine/Coil. I dug the first 2 nuggets last night and it was getting dark so I didn't have time to do any cross checking. This morning I marked 3 undug targets with the GPZ and 17" XCoil Concentric. I then went over them with the GPZ XCoil 17x12 Spiral Wound. That combination picked up 2 of the 3 targets. I then went over all three with the GPX 6000, 14x9 Coiltek combination. The 6000 heard 1 of the 3, but while detecting back to the truck it picked up 2 more targets. I started over with the Z 17"CC and it picked up the 2 new targets no problem. I then ran the Z 17x12 over the new targets. It picked them up no problem, but on the way back to the truck the 17x12 picked up a faint noise in an old drywash hole. I dug down to bedrock and found bits of charcoal and just general noise so I gave up on it. The 17" CC relocated the 1 missed target and I dug down a few inches thinking to use the 6000 as a pinpointer. It still couldn't pick up the target. I finally dug it out, a tiny piece of steel down about 6 inches. I then dug up the 4 targets which included the 2 remaining targets the 17"CC found and the 2 the 6000 found. 2 were bits of steel and 2 were small round nuggets. Coincidently, the 2 gold targets were the ones found by the 6000, but verified by both coils on the Z. By then it was approaching 10:00 AM, and the NV desert still gets hot this time of year. But, before I left I went back to the 17" CC combination and went over the drywash hole. A clear tone somewhere in the bottom of that hole. The unfortunate thing about the Concentric coil is the receive winding is about 8" round dead center. You're waving 17" of coil with the equivalent of an 8" round receiver. Nearly impossible to pinpoint in a foot deep hole. I dug the hole out some more and tried the 6000 over it. Very noisy, but a faint low tone in the sidewall of the hole. I dug it out some more and finally got a booming target in the spoils. Heartbreak, 1.5 inch piece of rusted steel. My random thoughts on this little experiment are this: 1. The XCoil 17" Concentric will not miss much, "IF" you have fairly flat ground and can consistently overlap your swings to insure you get that 8" receive winding over the targets. 2. The XCoil 17x12 Spiral Wound coil is nearly as good and will ultimately cover more ground with a whole lot less effort. 3. The 6000 with 14x9 Coiltek is no slouch and could save the day if you're old and tired like me. I would be hard pressed to swing the 17"CC all day. The deepest nugget the 6000 found was down about 5 inches, very respectable for a sub/sub gram nugget. All this is very unscientific. I'm at mercy of time and weather in the NV desert this time of year. I did what I could with the equipment I had with me. Rye Patch is a tough hunt in the best of circumstances, so finding 4 nuggets in about 6 hours of detecting is beating the odds. I've had more than a few skunk days out there.

I had something strange happen, today. I had my GPX 6000 battery fully charged and fresh off the charger. It had completed its charge cycle and then trickle charged overnight. I popped it in the detector and started detecting. Within five minutes the battery meter dropped from three bars to two bars. If I turned off the detector and let it sit for a 5-10 minutes and then turned it back on, it would go back up to three bars for a short period of time before then going back to two bars. Has anyone else noticed this with theirs?

There has been a bit of debate about how widespread GPX 6000 faults are, so what better way than to do a poll and see. I didn't bother including accessory faults like headphones into the mix as they don't really matter as much but would likely increase the number of people with issues. It would be interesting to see how widespread the problems are so a poll seems the best way to work it out. Please be honest with your answers or there is no point to the poll. If you haven't had a fault don't say you have just because you're disappointed about the build quality overall. If your shaft twists but it doesn't bother you you should say yes it twists, this sort of thing helps Minelab be aware problems that they may offer us a solution for, so why hide it? They replaced everyone's Equinox shaft when they had wobbly ones. I've changed the poll to anonymous as some people prefer that they don't reveal who they are in this case.

Well it’s been an amazing year here in the gold fields of the good ol USA. This month (June) is the 1 year Anniversary of the GPX-6000 getting into customers hands and into the gold fields. Wonder what your feelings are and if you feel it’s taken over as the new KING? As a well known Minelab Dealer who’s sold more GPX-6000 than most dealers and my Field Staff/I keeps in contact with many of the customers, I can assure you it’s earned the status of “KING” in the US. Is there still a few who think the GPZ-7000 wears the crown? Most certainly, but the reality is the FINDS & FACTS. No Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard dirt slinging coil swinging soap opera here…JUST THE FACTS. GPX-6000 SUCCESS - Finds more pieces of gold vs a GPZ-7000. I’ve had more customers finding more gold nuggets, even those who traded in their 7000 back to me for the GPX-6000. Just ask on here and most who have owned both will tell you 5 to 1, or 7 to 1 and maybe 10 to 1 ration. GPX-6000 DUMMY PROOF. More User Friendly. Yes the GPZ is leaps/bounds easier than a GPX-5000. Any we now know the 6000 is easier than a 7000. GPX-6000 ERGONOMICS. is easier to swing. This alone was my main reason for getting a 6000. Finding the extra nuggets is a bonus. So many of my customers felt the same way. GPX-6000 VALUE - is $2500 less money (at least today anyway). Now watch Minelab change the price and add another $500, like they did on the GPZ-7000. After all, the one year is now up so the introductory price is suspect to market change bla bla bla. If you have been thinking of getting a GPX-6000, best to move sooner than later or you just might be paying more. GPX-6000 SIZING is more compact and easier to store in RV, easier to hike or ride a motorcycle/bike and just around overall better design. GPX-6000 RESPONSE responds to a variety of different styles of gold better than a 7000 (if you don’t find it, you don’t know what you missing). GPX-6000 VOLUME is best, almost too good. Those little nuggets really POP…even to the weakest of ears. GPX-6000 ACCESSORIES. Minelab coils, coil covers, lower shafts and batteries are priced way better than those for a GPZ-7000. GPX-6000 FUN FACTOR – Just ask the folks who own them. I get emails and calls from my customers so much more often now...vs a GPZ-7000. Our 3 days Field Training is more fun and there are more golden smiles being shared. More happy drives on the way home and more happy wives to know their hubbies had success. GPX-6000 COILS – With the new CoilTek & Nugget Finder coils coming real soon, the options are even better. We all like options. GPX-6000 NEWEST TECHNOLOGY – Who wants to use a 7 yr old cell phone (GPZ-7000). Now all you Amber Heard fans can challenge the above facts, but you know the outcome already…. Anyway, I’m all ears. On a side note. Lets give some more FACTS that we have had happened to us, or observed. GPX-6000 has more background noise and EMI issues when compared to the GPZ-7000. I’m looking forward to seeing either a software upgrade (if possible) or a new improved model in a couple years. Doubt they will come out with a new model GPX-6000 for at least 3 yrs. GPX-6000 out of the box issues. Yes it’s not what we had expected from Minelab but at least they have taken care of every customer that I am aware of. After all, some of the original complaints was new to Minelab PI’s customers. Bottom line, Minelab let some of us down when compared to previous new releases. GPX-6000 timings on a rare occasion have issues with a certain hot rock or soil. I give the GPZ-7000 the edge for those rare occasions. GPX-6000 on Deepest nuggets of size. Yes the GPZ-7000 has a little more depth on those few rarest of nuggets. I recently witnessed a nice piece found at depth with a GPZ-7000 and know the GPX-6000 would be short a few inches. I did find more gold that weekend though than the GPZ-7000. GPX-6000 coils from Minelab seem to not hold up as well as GPZ-7000 coils. But Minelab does make sure customer gets taken care of. Yes there has been a lot of hashing and bashing (Jonny vs Amber) of the GPX-6000, but the bottom line is, not one customer has never been taken care of, that I know. Heck I have a brand new truck with less than a 1000 miles and it’s had 2 recalls already. Am I ready to walk away? Not as long as the manufacture takes care of me. I realize not every person across the world hunts the same kind of ground most of us hunt in the US, so on a rare occasion a 7 might do you right. I also know of a select few guys who are more focused on the biggest of deep gold at no matter what the expense. You are the rare occasion and not the majority of folks who hunt gold. I also know some of you have had such great success and still do, you are content trying to be Arnold Schwarzenegger. It’s all good either way you swing a GPX or GPZ. As long as you are getting outdoors, having fun and finding a little gold. That’s life my friend. No rocking chairs for us. Attached are a few pics of customers GPX-6000 Success. Please don't take it wrong if I didn't share your pic since I have many happy customers

I just ran an indoor test of my GPX 6000. Using the supplied Bluetooth connected headphones with max volume. With room lights including one fluorescent light ON and nearby computer ON the EMI noise with the 11” Mono coil is almost unusable at any settings. With the 14” Double D coil; Max Sensitivity without Threshold ON it is almost silent; With Threshold ON it has a normal level of EMI noise (similar to the 11” Mono EMI level in open country). It detected a sub-gram nugget a few inches from the coil with no problem. My Galaxy A10e phone which I carry with me when detecting (Turned ON) causes no problems when rubbed against the Control Head or the Detector Housing. It is detected as a target when moved over the coil. It appears that the electronics shielding in my GPX 6000 and the 14” coil cable are working quite well. Have a good day, Chet

GPX 6000 coil makers information Nugget Finder Xceed 6000 series Nugget Finder has now announced there will be 3 Minelab approved coils in the Xceed 6000 range at this stage. It looks like there will be Mono coils in 8x6", 12x7" and 16x10" sizes, which represent some great options for bushy or tight spots! If you would like to be kept in the loop regarding pricing and release date, visit our website here and click on the size or sizes you are interested in and hit the 'Notify me' button to receive news as it comes in! Coiltek Goldhawk Gpx6000 Series Coils Will be available in 3 sizes - 10x5", 9" and 14x9" Mono configuration Precision pinpointing and great manoeuvrability Fully approved by Minelab Visit our website here and click on the size or sizes you are interested in and hit the 'Notify Me' button to receive info on pricing and release date as it comes to hand. Once we have firm intel from Coiltek we will begin taking pre-orders!

Had the opportunity to meet up with Steve Herschbach and Steve (Condor) over the weekend and do some gold nugget hunting and testing of the new Garrett Axiom. I took along a few machines with some new updates and coils to try out on this trip and just wanted to give a few thoughts on what I experienced as well as share a video I did of the trip. Unfortunately I missed out on the detector comparison and recovery of the big nugget Condor found. But was involved in the reburial of the nugget and testing of multiple machines and coils over it. You can read Condor's story below. The clear winner was the 7000 with the 17" concentric coil. Close behind at about and inch (maybe more) less depth was the 6000 running either the 11" or 13x17 mono coil seemed to make no difference. Axiom in this scenario was in third running either the 7x11 or 11x13 coils. While I was there Steve let me use the Axiom for about 15 or 20 minutes. Now obviously that's not enough time to become an expert by any means. But it did allow me to experience the Axiom first hand. I just used the settings Steve had loaded at the time and I'm not even sure what timing was being used. Garrett did a good job with the Axiom. It is very well balanced and one can easily swing it all day long with the 7x11 coil. Menu seems very straight forward and easy to navigate. The machine is well built and folds down to a very compact size for easy transport. Having used many PI's in the passed, I feel I could make an easy transition to the Axiom and do well with it. Two things I noticed in my limited time with the Axiom are, first, the threshold is very similar to the 6000 and has a little wavier in it. A good running 6000 has a small wavier in the threshold, unlike the 5000 which can have a rock solid threshold. Second, target response on the Axiom seemed to be a little sharper than either the 5000 or 6000. Not saying either is good or bad, it's just some observations I took away with me. Overall I'm excited to get one when they become available. Hopefully by the first week of November so I can take it relic hunting in Virginia. XP Deus 2 running the 9" coil with the latest update allowing disc notch has greatly improved the machine in trash and hot rock strewn areas. I ran the D2 through a very trashy area with disc notched out up to 25 as most of your smaller shallow gold will ID in the 30's. I was able to pull a .40 gram nugget from the mess and was happy with it's performance in that scenario. Finally, the new GoldHawk 5x10 mono coil is a really great coil IMO. It makes the threshold on the 6000 even smoother than it was before and handles bad ground well. In this particular area there is a lot of salt and red clay. With the 11" and bigger coils the 6000 moans and groans over this ground in areas. With the 5x10 there are very few places it has any trouble at all. I think this will allow a person to hear smaller and possibly deeper nuggets with the added stability. Sensitivity to small gold is also amazing. We buried a .10 gram nugget next to the big nugget Condor found and ran various coils over it on the 6000 and Axiom. I think it was about 1.5 inches deep and Steve commented that I was being a little optimistic about being able to detect it. The 5x10 GoldHawk coil picked it no problem and was easily the winner in this case. The next day I took it to an area I had pulled a few nuggets from in the past with the 11" mono on the 6000 and had gridded the area at least 2 times before. I was able to pull 7 nuggets from this same patch which really was amazing. Ended up with 2.4 grams for the trip. Video is below if any of you are interested in watching.