Gerry in Idaho

Norvic - Yes even some of the Aussies are realizing the importance of proper ergonomics and the performance is even better than I had expected for the majority of gold we have left. Like you, my 7000 is not for sale yet, but it has become a dust collector in the corner. She probably is a little mad that I don't take her out for a spin on occasion. Joe D. - Those around me know, I get excited with a detecting find pretty easily. Heck to be honest, I also get excited if it's not a detector find. Finding a cool arrow head, a nice old bottle or spotting a bull elk, it all gets me going. nvchris - You bring up a great point many of us are missing. The ability to cover ground quickly with the 17" coil to find a patch and then slow down and methodically work said area. Have you sold your 7 yet or keeping it for those deepest of deep nuggets? Also if you don't mind, I love the pic of your partner (dog) and the truck. I also see the cooler, with electrical plug and the cooler is covered with some kind of insulating blanket? It would be nice if you could start a post of the cooler and what you have went from to this and the experiences both good and bad. That would be a fantastic help for some of us who are wanting to solo in the back of our truck. It's becoming quite popular in the US now. Thanks for giving input. GotAU? - Sounds as if you have lived a pretty entertaining life being around a lot of people in the outdoors. Seeing and feeling the weight of gold is something some of us never forget. Gold Catcher - Your perspective of Success is TOPS in my book as well. Yes I sometimes use the term Success in the amount of gold recovered, but the reality of it for me....is the ability to be out there in gods country (may it be mountains or desert) and absorbing what is around me and the beauty provided. YES as well, LOCATION is key. A special thank for taking the time to let us know your preferred setup and settings on the GPX-6000. Reg Wilson - I'd love to see your dance when finding a multi ounce nugget, or hear yours inner thoughts and comments when finding that tip off nugget that is about to bring you a new 20+ ounce patch. Funny how you call .4 gram nuggets (bits) and almost of a (yea down the road when I get to it). 120 bits to the ounce = .4 gram on average for each nugget. In the US, most of us will work that (yawner, whenever) patch out in a heartbeat. I'd so much love to sit around a campfire one night and just absorb some of your true stories of hunts/gold finds. I was honored to last winter to sit around a camp fire in AZ one night and hear of gold stories and recoveries by Pieter Heydelaar. On a side note, I see your profile showing "Gear Used" does not mention the GPZ-7000 any more but shows the new GPX-6000. Do you have any regrets? Thanks for your input.

Yes, very good question Dan and it is worthy of its own post, so I won't give my input yet.

Very well said Steve and gobs of fantastic info mentioned. I want those who are new to the game and or those who play a few times each year to pay attention to these four paragraphs above and his words of field knowledge/testing. If you are thinking of purchasing a new detector, or trading, upgrading detectors, he is telling you the findings he's experienced so far in the area he's been detecting. I posted it on here before the GPZ-6000's came out and some folks had issues with it (which is fine to question a detector not yet in our hands), that I have been with Minelab for near 25 yrs and a pretty good nugget chaser with their different gold detector products. Minelab makes very few mistakes or steps backwards when a new technology machine comes out. I said in the US, the GPX-6000 would be the desired high end detector. It would be the most talked about and posted finds of gold with the GPX-6000 than any other gold detector and that is pretty much what we are seeing. Yes the SDC-2300, GPX-5000 and GPZ-7000 can do a select certain thing or 2 better than the GPX-6000, but overall and for the majority of people who desire a high end gold detector and for the gold we are finding in the US, the 6000 wins EASILY. Thanks again Steve for taking the time to share your knowledge with us as that was quite a write up.

Valens, You never know about me, sometimes I just need to take a trip and as always, detector is priority and goes with me before extra clothing.

Has to be something there for me to want to swing. SD and gold? I watched a series on teli once called DEADWOOD and not sure if it's the real deal. SWEGIN....

It's funny how I get so excited over a find and sometimes it's not near the biggest I have recovered. I guess because I set a goal for a trip to go and dig a nicer piece of gold than what I and most others in the US have been finding. Then if it happens, the emotions release. I'll tell you guys this about me and a select few who I hunt with. Patience is tough for most detectorists and the average Joe (no pun intended) can't hang. Let me rephrase that, the average Joe has not learned the patience game yet. When I go to hunt bigger gold, I usually end up with nothing for 3 full days straight. Heck, I've went 6 days, average 7 hr swing time = 40+hours and not 1 nugget to show for. Then the next trip I could find 2 in the 1st day, but not often. Your turn will come Rob as I know your skill and patience are proven. Thanks for the kudos guys.

Yes I finally did get a chance to hunt for larger gold with the GPX-6000. This video has some quirks and I am sorry. Shooting video is not my expertise as you can tell. Error #1 and many of us do it. Keep the phone Horizontal (left to right) to get full size viewing. Error #2, be sure to have someone else shooting the video while holding camera Horizontal and not shaking as much. Now for the bit of info that many of you may have missed in this video. I won't reply with answer yet, but will give a hint "sound". So yes a get a little excited and yes I mumble and stumble for words. Heck I sometimes freeze up and slowly look around to make sure nobody sees it or me. I have heard other do that as well, why? What would you do?

Flakmagnet - Yes the GPZ-7000 has served me well. I still love the performance but hate the weight/ergonomics. Reminds me of an old girlfriend I had, she knew how to keep a smile on my face, but afterwards my back was worthless for a few days. What's that saying, "hurts so good". Well the truth is starting to show with the performance of the 6000 and the amount of happy customers going home with gold in so called worked out patches, is hard to ignore. We also know the majority of bigger gold in the areas we frequent in US has already been picked. So moving over to the 6000 is just logical for many. To be honest, I actually still own a GPZ-7000. Not sure how long I'll drag it around in the truck as a Back Up though. I think the longer we wait, the less value it will have. The other aspect (I doubt it though, is if Minelab releases a new GPZ-8000) next year or just leaks of onw, then the 7000 prices will really drop. As for upgrading, your call buddy and I have no hard feelings either way. Honestly, as long as you are having fun with what you have and don't feel your have more fun with the new, then keep the old girl. Rick - You have been there this summer since the GPX-6000 has come out more than I, so for those of you who think I say what I do just to make sales, you don't know me that well. Rick don't work for me, he's just another gold digger that does really well and is not afraid to try the new. Your words in the 6000 for RP is golden. Geof_junk - That aussie gold sure looks so nice and wish just the right amount of shine added. Your lady digger Carol must have had surgery swinging that pounder. That picture will go down with you two to your graves and well earned. Would love to hear the true story behind it and the hunt that took place to find it. Thanks for inspiration and a blast from the past. Gold Hound - Amazing pic taken there. Is the handful of Au a season or a trip? Yes I too feel the need for a 14 - 16" round MONO will add some depth to the GPX-6000. Jonathan did mention he felt the GPX-6000 was on par for depth of the GPX-5000, so if that is true, that's perfect and fine with me. You Aussie mates still have untouched ground and also proven ground that has had little pressure with big gold detectors. Yes we have a few in the US, but out patches so small when compared to what I have seen in Oz land. Again, beautiful pic of Au and lets hope CoilTek is getting their ducks in a row real soon. Klunker - I have seen both ends of the spectrum. When I was taking groups to Ganes Creek Alaska, I witnessed a guy get so pissed off he wanted flown out immediately, because he was not finding gold and most others were. . I've witnessed guys wrap a $5000 detector around a tree and have seen a few detectors get air-born across the hillside. Not the kind of folks I prefer to be around, but they do provide a little bit of entertainment. As for just digging up a major find and then doing something stupid, buddy I have to disagree on that part. I once dug a 10 ounce rock (my 1st big honker) and literally dove head first into the pond next to the tailing piles. it wasn't until 10 minutes later I realized my wallet was still in my pocket. The pics of the nugget below is the one that I freaked out. In the 90's while on a detecting trip to England I was detecting with well known TH'er Jimmy Sierra Normandi (a detector legend) started jumping up/down running in circles and thanking god. He and a couple others run over to me and asked to see the gold coin. Heck it was my 1st Roman coin and worth about $2, I didn't care. Then when I did find my 1st gold coin, it was in the US. After I gathered my emotions, I drove to the nearest high point to get a cell signal and called my dad (the same guy who put a detector in my hand in 1972) and started crying like I kid. I was so overwhelmed to finally be the 1st in our family to find a gold coin. pic below. So I do get a little excited and probably do and say stupid shit when something special happens. But I also get very excited when one of my own friends or clients digs a special find. Guess I just like to act silly sometimes. I look forward to hearing your report and the pros/cons of the GPX-6000.

Tom, I'm really big on making/sharing memories with a metal detector. Yes those trips are worth more than the gold itself.

Sometimes the video and or pics give up to much info. I don't mind sharing pics on occasion but locations would get me left down a big deep mining pit. You can imagine how hard it is to find locations that still produce big gold. It take time, long built friendship and trust. Sorry but I won't jeopardize a relationship with friends over gold. It's fun, exhilarating, I get a natural high and love every minute of it. The reality is for me, I don't need gold to survive, but I know of those who do, so I've learned to walk around them cautiously. Yes I would want to know as well. So YES the video is coming. As far of where it was found. I hunt the NW states pretty regularly.

If you just purchased a gold detector are you most interested in the finding of any size of gold? Does the size of the gold have any effect on you or does it matter most if you go home with a few nuggets, no matter the size? Is it most important to be driving home from your prospecting trip and you have a few clinkers in your nugget holder? Or would you mind knowing you missed a few small pickers just to find a 1 grammer (a nugget). My asking this question comes to mind as of the last month and a half, I have seen more of my customers showing/sharing pics of Success with their GPX-6000 and many from Rye Patch and surrounding areas. Heck I have a few customers that are already over 100+ count. Nothing big, but they seem to be happy and to me that is what counts most. What's most amazing to this long time 25+ yr detectorist of Rye Patch is the new PI technology of the GPX-6000 and how it's changing my mind and how I sell detectors. You see, I used to say if I wanted to find 10+ pieces of gold a day, I could easily do it with a VLF and small coil. Heck, I used to have many 25 to 30 and an occasional 40 piece day with said VLF. When I would run a PI, the last 10 yrs there at RP, a 10 nugget day is extremely rare, but I've done it. The SDC-2300 really opened some old patches and 10+ days came back. Then those went away and the GPZ-7000 came out. It certainly opened up the old patches again, but even 10 a day was really tough, but I did it more times than most can imagine. Now today, a 10 nugget day at RP with a SD/GP/GPX-5000 is almost failure. In fact I would not even try it. Even with a VLF at RP today, I think a 10 piece day is tough and I doubt but only a few can do it. Here is the catch though. If I did run a VLF to find 10 pickers, I'd have maybe a gram of gold at most = approx $50. Now here is what I'm seeing. The folks who go out there with the new technology PI GPX-6000 is literally tearing it up. Many customers are having their best Success in numbers that they have ever had at Rye Patch. Quite a few of them have had 10+ nugget days, but they never had a 10+ day with their GPZ-7000? No they are not finding the 1 or 2 gram nuggets of old, but they are certainly finding $100 and some even more each day. Heck I'm even getting customers who have yet to take my training going down and finding a few pieces with their GPX-6000 and that was unheard of in times past. The GPX-6000 right now is the #1 producer for gold at Rye Patch and all other previous patches. The GPX-6000 will be doing the same thing this winter is Arizona at all the worked patches and there will be many happy customers. Will there be GPZ-7000's out there in the field, most certainly, but their numbers will not be up even close to what the 6000's will be. Can I find gold at RP right now with a GPZ-7000, YES and I have done it for the last 7 yrs. Each fall I go down and find an ounce of nuggets with a 7. Each year it has gotten harder and harder and last Fall it actually took a couple extra days, but I hit my 1 ounce mark. There lies the problem, it has been out for 7 yrs and for 7 years all the old patches have been covered again and again with a GPZ-7000. From Rye Patch to AZ all the known nugget producing areas have been flogged and if you want to have Success, you better step over to new technology if you want best chance of Success or you can keep swinging the 7 and possibly get lucky for a 1 grammer or 2. As a dealer who sells detectors, I feel Success no matter the size of nuggets is best for my customers, especially the new ones just getting involved. BTW, If anyone is interested, I know of a couple used GPZ-7000s at nice prices (less than the cost of a GPX-6000), just email me for details. So I ask you again. Going home with any nuggets possible to show Success or 1 nugget of a gram or don't care as you got to go prospecting and the gold is just a bonus? There's a twist. Looking to hear your answers and I know Australia will be different perspective, which is totally acceptable.

Your posts of hard earned finds are part of what this fine forum is about. Keep the Au pics coming my friend.

Video on it's way soon, I promise.

Nice solid nuggets and great read. Need to quit working so hard and start playing hard. Although with winter there in AK, you might need to head south.

Now that is a stunner of a nugget. Just love the formation with the staining. As mentioned, great pendant piece.

I'm usually detecting in warm weather areas for gold nuggets. With the EQ-800 I use the external speaker most of the time. when I need to be quiet detecting urban areas (schools, parks, yards), I'll use the wireless headphones ML80's. I have yet to use the WM-08 with the EQ-800 and in fact many of my customers do not either. I wish Minelab would remove it from the stock package to keep the price lower. I feel the lag time is not that much of an issue if you swing at the correct speed. I also think there are many who swing to fast. Just because I don't use the ML-80's that often, does not mean I don't like them, I actually really do and think they are quite comfortable. I also enjoy having true wireless as the CTX-3030/GPZ-7000 were not. My time on the GPX-6000 was in warm weather areas with others and the clear loud signal response is amazing coming from the external speaker. When I get into areas where I'll be scrubbing the coil for the faintest of signals, then I'll use the ML-100's as I hate hearing outside noise. Also sometimes in the Fall/Spring on really cold days I need something to keep the ears warm and the wireless headphones are perfect. Back to the Equinox. When I detect in water the Minelab Waterproof headphones for the Equinox need to be better quality built and also would like them to be louder signal response. Sometimes wave action makes it so I can hardly hear the tones.

You are making the rest of us look bad in a very good way. Keep it up as you are correct, the days are really limited now, possibly down to hours. Well earned.

Buddy that is an open end question and you have some great answers. 1st of all, as a dealer who knows gold detectors and also knows gold, I'd like to ask a few questions before I give advice as your answers will direct us to the right unit. . Where do you plan on doing the majority of your gold hunting? Desert virgin ground needing best depth or dredge tailing piles where good discrimination and lighter/faster detector is most important. If you are wanting to go PI, learn it's weaknesses as well so you don't spend the time searching the wrong kind of gold (many people do and even I did for a number of years, to many years). You mentioned already owning a GB-2, so if you have not had success with it, could mean the manual GB is not suited for you and if you only go a few times, maybe a detector that is most User Friendly, like the Minelab Gold Monster 1000 or if you want to grow into it, a Garrett 24K or Minelab Equinox 800. As for $2000 and if you want a PI, yes a used GP-3000 or above can be had. The GPX series 4000/4500 can be picked up at that price, but their learning curve is not as easy as the older 3000/3500. I have a used 3000 and a used 5000 if you want to chat more, just call me. Not knowing your preferred areas to detect, the kind of gold are are after and or how much time you plan on devoting to this Prospecting hobby really does make it hard for me to give a 1 detector answer. Good luck either way and if you want to chat in detail, just ring me (Gerry's Detectors) as I'm a slow typer.

You are correct in what you said above. I know some dealers don't like it, but the facts are facts. You and many others who have been to my demonstrations have seen it in person. The others and even dealers who deny? Don't worry about them Aerospaceguy, as they'll probably never learn it by now. As for the AZ Dealer (glad you didn't mention names), they are correct that the GPX-5000 is a proven detector (on the gold it has found), But NOT on the gold it can't find, which is plenty. Folks, when you detect your own area for most of your careers and don't branch out, you eventually get tunnel vision with your equipment and the gold you are finding. No worries and I am happy if you are happy with your results, it just means more gold for those of us who do branch out and have learned the ropes on a variety of detectors, technologies and all the various kinds of gold. But to be fair to a GPX-5000, yes it was the #1 PI detector in it's day. Enough on this, I have gold to find and still learning detectors.

Every gold detector has it's strong and weak points and knowing what your machine is best at is great. Knowing what kind of gold your detector is not good at finding is just as important. Bottom line. No gold detector from the major manufactures is worthless and not one of them (no matter the price) is the best at all kinds of gold in variety of soils. Me personally for the areas I like to hunt and the kinds of gold I find, I still feel an Equinox 800 is TOPS. Now when I want to hunt more solid nuggets that are out of reach of the VLF detectors and deeper, I need a bigger detector and will usually grab a GPX-6000. If I go back a few years before we had a GPZ-7000 or the new GPX-6000, then yes I would grab a GPX-5000. Pics are of my customers and success they had back in the day with a GPX-5000. I'll never tell anyone their GPX-5000 is not a good gold detector. I'll inform them and may even show, different kinds of gold it's not good at finding though, so they realize not 1 is best for all.

Cords on headphones seem to be the weak point. I too use the Minelab WP phones on my NOX and have had issues with the cord. I recommend everyone going on a trip to tape a roll of duct tape and some zip ties. I know this does not fix the issue, but at least you can get through the trip. I've yet to try any other "aftermarket" headphones that are 100% waterproof yet so if anyone else has used them and how they like? After returning from trip contact Minelab to get the headphones replaced. I don't use a handles scoop so hopefully others chime in. Yes the waves can cause problems when trying to retrieve targets.

I'm on the Minelab website and ran across something quite interesting. Seems you folks can now get training from Minelab. Well I personally know everyone that works at Minelab USA and there's nobody who knows all their gold detectors that well, in my opinion. Debbie has an idea of the recent models and that's about it. Heck, I feel Minelab needs to worry about training their dealers before they start worrying about customers. Who knows, maybe I'm missing the boat. https://www.minelab.com/usa/support/knowledge-base/gold-mining-training Also, Is Gold Mining Training is that different than gold detector training?

Very good question - jewelry gold vs natural gold. I'm more fortune than most since I enjoy both styles of detecting. Being a dealer (tax write off for educational purposes) allows me the opportunity to take crazy vacations to warm water climates during the winter months of Idaho (my home state) and chase gold jewelry. As a Western states Gold Belt region detectorist, the majority of my gold recovered is natural Au and all with a metal detector. No panning, sluicing, dredging...just swinging a detector and YES my recovery is usually 3 to 5X the weight of gold jewelry. Now, I have also been fortunate enough to be at a great producing beach immediately after a storm. I must say, those very rare occurrences can be extremely rewarding as well. A buddy and I did a week hunt one winter and came back with over 7 oz of gold and platinum. We don't even count the sterling stuff, but it does look nice. I feel if you are after gold of any kind, then look around and take advantage of your location. If you don't live close to natural gold bearing areas we have out West, then gold jewelry should be your focus. Get a good quality VLF detector with great discriminator that has selectable notch discrimination and preferred adjustable tone ID, then learn it, study it, test it and learn it more. Yes there is still plenty to find, but Steve did bring up a great point. My recently trips down south has me finding more Tungsten and Steel than Gold. This is just the change of times and not looking good for future beach hunts..but I need a tax write off anyway, so you know I'll go.

I detected the beach with Gary Drayton before he became famous on Oak Island. A funny guy he is. His collection of rings off beaches is certainly 1 pound nugget category. Yes that ring qualifies as "Major major Discover".

Depends on what you call a major discovery? Is a 1 ounce nugget a major discovery? Maybe your 1st gold nugget? How about your 1st gold band or is a $5K gold ring considered a major discovery. Each of of have our definition of a major discovery. For me "a major discovery" would be something of value $5K or more. I can tell you for a fact, I have friends who feel anything of $1000 or more is a major discovery. Who thinks this 14K gold medallion with diamonds is a major discover and who feels it is not? No right or wrong answer, but I know salty swingers (like you and I) will have different perspectives than most around us.