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Get A Gold Bug Pro But Even Better - Fisher F19 On Sale


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First Texas is the company that owns the Bounty Hunter, Fisher, and Teknetics metal detector brands. KInd of like Chevy and GM putting out similar models under different brands you can often find similar Fisher and Teknetic models.

My choice for an affordable high performance all around VLF detector with an emphasis on gold prospecting has been and continues to be the Fisher Gold Bug Pro. Lightweight, inexpensive, hot on gold, and good and dealing with dense ferrous trash. Great for nugget detecting, plus relics, coins, jewelry, etc. Right now the Fisher Gold Bug Pro with 5" round DD coil sells for $649 online.

fisher-gold-bug-pro-5-inch-coil.jpg

The main problem with the Gold Bug Pro is it comes with the 5" round coil, which is a great little coil for sniping small areas, but no good for covering large areas. You can also buy the Gold Bug Pro with an 11" x 7" DD coil - it is the exact same detector but they call it the Gold Bug DP to indicate it comes with the larger coil. It also tacks $50 onto the price and so you see it online at $699.

fisher-gold-bug-dp-11-inch-coil.jpg

The problem even then is I think perhaps the best coil for all around nugget detecting with the Gold Bug Pro is the 10" x 5" elliptical. Great all around sensitivity, covers ground well, and pokes around in nooks and crannies without getting hung up like an open design coil. The problem? Fisher does not sell the Gold Bug Pro with just the 10" x 5" coil as stock. The only way to get it is as part of a dual coil package. That's fine but guess what - the price goes up another $50 and so you see the dual coil package advertised at $749 online.

fisher-gold-bug-pro-dual-coil-package.jpg

You can find more information on various Gold Bug versions past and present at this thread.

It turns out the Gold Bug Pro is a great relic detector (Best Ever Made! according to Fisher) but the name was a problem. Overseas especially Gold Bug Pro is an odd name due to the "Bug" part not translating well, but it also says the machine is a gold prospecting detector and not a relic detector. Fisher sidestepped this initially by coming out with the Teknetics G2. This is the exact same detector as the Gold Bug DP above but with a different rod and grip assembly.

teknetics-g2-metal-detector-11-coil.jpg

OK, long lead in! Fisher took the 19 khz Gold Bug Pro and added a few features and called it the Fisher F19. This machine is marketed as a relic detector, but it is still the same 19 khz Gold Bug Pro under the hood. Extra features include:

  • Adjustable volume, both master volume and ferrous volume. The Gold Bug Pro runs at max volume at all times. No volume control built in. The F19 adds a normal 1 - 10 volume control. It also adds a secondary 1 -10 control that only affects the ferrous 0 - 39 region of the id scale. So you can have gold nugget make a loud beep but a nail make a very soft ground. This is great when working in lots of ferrous trash as it lowers the barrages of ferrous signals. The Gold Bug Pro has a very loud external speaker, and the ability to lower the volume when working without headphones is welcome.
  • Red meter backlight. The meter can be lit for low light conditions, with the red tone chosen to not affect your eyes low light capturing ability (same as in aircraft cockpits). The backlight is adjustable and can be turned off.
  • Notch discriminate. A discriminate "window" can be created of variable size, and set to either "notch out" or "notch in" any certain segment of the target id scale. For instance a certain pesky pulltab reading can be individually blacked out. The Gold Bug Pro lacks this ability.
  • But here is the big one - the F19 comes standard with the desired 10" x 5" elliptical DD coil!

The catch is that the Fisher F19 normally sells for $799 though it has seen recent price reductions in some versions to $699. Still, at that price I still have in the past recommended the F19 as an option to the Gold Bug Pro due to the stock coil and extra features.

Fisher Gold Bug Pro Owners Manual

Fisher F19 Owners Manual

First Texas just went ahead and made this all a real no-brainer. Until the end of November or until stocks run out you can now get the F19 for only $449. That is less than a Gold Bug Pro or even basic Gold Bug model sells for. For anyone interested in a Gold Bug Pro, this is a real bargain and an opportunity to pick up the extra features of the F19 at an actual savings over a Gold Bug Pro.

fisher-f19-sale-flyer.jpg

Finally, the Teknetics G2+, which is exactly the same machine as the F19 but with a different rod assembly and coil (11" x 7" DD), can also be had now for only $449.

teknetics-g2-plus-sale-flyer.jpg

 

 

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2 hours ago, rehupuntti said:

Vihaan kulta-bug-sävyjä .. ja syvä kolikko hunting.deus on paras europa relic.coin ja ehkä joskus kullanhuippu .. Lappi.sorry my off topic..?

Ever try Google Translate ? I use it often...google it.:biggrin:

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My fault - it was in English but he used the quote button. That copies my entire post into his, really making the page over-long. I deleted the quote part and weirdly enough the translation flipped back to Finnish. Must have been code in there that referenced Google Translate. Fixed now.

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The GB Pro is a good, all around, basic nugget detecting VLF - but that price for the F19 (an equivalent to the GB Pro with a few improvements) is a very good one. Less than $500 for such a very capable detector is impressive and very hard to beat. I remember the first F19 I saw was in pink Cammo - and I guess they still offer that option.

Also Steve, it doesn't seem like you are shrinking your detector collection very fast....:biggrin::wink:

Hope all is going well...

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Hi Chris,

All is well here and hope the same for you and yours!

You might be assuming I am getting the F19 but so far I am resisting pulling the trigger even at that price. I actually just sold the White's DFX and the Deus - the Tek G2 is for sale right now. The Impact found a new home with another test person. CTX 3030 probably up next - collection shrinking fast.

If it was any other situation I would just jump on this, but with the Minelab Equinox waiting in the wings it seems I have finally found a general purpose detector that hits more items on my desired feature list than any other before it. I just keep thinking, if I have the Equinox, would I ever use the F19? If the answer is no, which is probably the case, then even at this price I am just not sure. Must resist...........

Sure is a smoking deal though..... :cool:

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I couldn't resist that deal.   I ordered a G2+LTD green camo model.    Don't forget the $449 is MAP price.  Your favorite dealer will likely give you a little more off that.

I like the G2 handle better than the S-rod setup of the F19.   Whats really cool is I already have all the accessory coils for it since I can use my F5/8500 coils on it.

HH
Mike

 

 

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I like the G2+ handle in my hand, but the F19 S-rod configuration stuffs in a rucksack better. For those that care about such things. Big choice for people will just boil down to the coil options - and there are the  camo options. :smile:

No matter what can’t get hurt at these prices. There is a decent chance you can buy one of these and sell in a year or two and get about what you paid for it.

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7 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

If it was any other situation I would just jump on this, but with the Minelab Equinox waiting in the wings it seems I have finally found a general purpose detector that hits more items on my desired feature list than any other before it. I just keep thinking, if I have the Equinox, would I ever use the F19? If the answer is no, which is probably the case, then even at this price I am just not sure. Must resist...........

Sure is a smoking deal though..... :cool:

This is my dilemma too.  I have a GB Pro already but would really love to jump on this deal.  My GB Pro is awesome, and the extra features of the F19 would be nice.  Problem is I also have an Equinox 800 on preorder.  I keep wondering though if the GB Pro (and the new F19) might not still be better for nuggets or tiny gold jewelry because it's a single frequency detector right in the sweet spot at 19 kHz.  Wouldn't a single frequency detector be optimized for that frequency, especially the coil, where the multi freq detector would be a compromise and probably not inherently run as well when set in single freq mode?  

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