Gerry in Idaho

1 hour ago, Hobo said:

The panel tilts out as needed and is removable to place in the sun while I park in the shade, utilizing a 30 ft. extension cord.

Good to see you on here Darrell.  I know guys like you are hard to come across and especially ones (you) that has been detecting friends with Pieter for so many years.  Would love to see you post on here a little more and or at least share some of your experiences throughout the 50 yrs you have been swinging detectors.

If anyone needs the best Camp Fire Master, Darrell is the best.  He always made sure there was plenty of wood, flame and heat to go around.

Thanks for allowing us to hear a couple of your stories/experiences Darrell and I look forward to more in the future.

2 hours ago, Jim McCulloch said:

Gerry, glad to learn that Pieter is alive and still chasing gold. Seeing him brought back fond memories of the old "Treasure" magazine gang, Pieter, Ken Doe, Jim Williams, George Mrzkowski, Jimmy Sierra, Woody Woodworth...

 

You bring up some utmost outstanding MD'erists names.  Some are legends swinging high above and a couple are walking legends still here with us.  I detected England with a few of those heavyweights and they were dang good.

You know Jim, your name should just as easily be part of this group.  But I'll make sure it's the part still walking among us.  Thanks for the flashback down memory lane.

The picture is Jimmy Sierra and I in England over 20 yrs ago.

12 hours ago, mn90403 said:

Gerry,

I'll take a book.  

I've had occasion to email with Pieter a few times but we never met.

Mitchel

Call my office when you get a chance and I'll run the card.

I hope you do get to meet him some day.

1 hour ago, Ridge Runner said:

so many dealers are sitting there with a number of 5000.

 All the hype about the new toy coming out sooner than soon . Minelab just may have to lower the price on the 5000 for the dealers to move them.

 I said something to my wife about buying 6000 and she told me to go ahead that I had the money. When she’s in a generous mood like that again I’m going to find out where.

 Chuck 

Chuck,  If dealers are sitting on a number of 5000's, I feel that is their lack of knowing.  At the Worldwide Conference summer of 19 we were informed of new detectors in the makes. But only about 15% of the US dealers took the time to go.  Heck we have dealer conferences in the US and can't even get a 50% turn out.  

No we were not told when new detectors were coming, but I expected summer or Christmas of 20 and it did not happen.

Then in Aug of 2020 the mention and trademark of name "GPX-6000" was posted on here (the #1 prospecting forum in the whole USA).  Why do I remember it so well?  When I asked Minelab USA about it, they had no clue, which would be expected considering we are in USA and Minelab is Australia.  

Now when I see a trademark for a GPX name, I know something is real but I just don't know when.  

This late Fall I placed a good sized order of detectors and I asked Minelab USA questions.  I specifically asked if anything on my order was going to conflict with anything coming out for Christmas, as the order was to start stalking for the holidays.  I was told NO and I have no worries through the rest of 2020.  

Now, as a stalking dealer and year end, most businesses try to get the inventory as low as possible, which I did and have been for many years.  

So why would dealers be sitting on a bunch of 5000's now or even Jan for that matter?

I realize not all dealers are the same, but those of us who have been around a while have wizened up...at least I thought so.

If a dealer is complaining about sitting on 5000 inventory, I can only assume they are not paying attention.

Another point I'd like to make.  The GPX-6000 at a price point of $6000 is not going to compete with the GPX-5000 at $4000, in my opinion.  My reasoning besides $2000, is the fact that a big part of the GPX-5000 sales are Relic Hunters in the Eastern States and now that we are getting details of the 6000's capabilities, the 5000's are still going to be the preferred CW Relic Hunter's PI detector.  I could be wrong?

Either way...You are missing a major point, my friend Chuck.  Your wife said "go ahead".

Looking forward to hearing how you like the GPX-6000 and hoping to see you at our 3 Days Training in April, at Rye Patch, NV.

Half the fun is meeting people.

I’ve been fortunate in my metal detecting career to find some Gems, both in gold and in Gents.   This industry has been in my family for 40+ years and 25 of it, me being a dealer of detectors.  Yes in that many years of digging lead, I screw up on occasion and find a nugget or two.  But on a really rare 2 moons shining, I cross paths with a Gem of a detectorist or two.  (Pic below is Darrell on the left, Pieter in the middle and I holding his book)

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to meet two outstanding detectorists, Gems of friends (Darrell & his detecting buddy Pieter).  Heck we hunted meteorites and gold, shared a couple beers & told a story or two around a camp fire.  It’s not often I find someone, let alone 2 guys who’ve been swing a detector longer than I.   But….the fun and highlight of the trip was yet to come and even more precious than the gold/meteorites I dug. 

The last night and after Darrell had left (I wish he would have stayed).  I was able sit down and listen/hear/dream of Pieter Heydelaar and his memories shared of the early gold hunts in Australia with his wife and the pounds of patches they recovered with early day VLF detectors.

Pic below is Lunk and Darrell.  Check out that fine 2 room camp tent.

Having Darrell and Pieter in the same camp as I, around the fire, and in the field swinging side by side was just amazing. Boy I sure found a couple true treasures and well worth more than all the gold & space rocks I found.  I have to give credit where credit due, so Thank you Mr. Lunk for putting this special hunt together and a few days in the field with some fine Gems & Gents. 

For those who are interested in prospecting Southern California and Arizona, I was able to purchase a dozen of Pieter’s book “Successful Nugget Hunting”, Volume #1.  What I like about this book is the pretty detailed map and directions to some of his gold producing sites, which he describes and shares.  The book is $17, but I only have 10 left.

A special thanks goes out to Chef Rusty as well.  His outstand chauffeur service, accommodating lodging and fine dining were top notch again.  After all, what are friends for.  (Pic below is Lunk on left, Pieter in the middle and Rusty on right who's mad as I ate the last slice of pie.)

One thing is for sure.  Even though Darrell & Pieter are 20 yrs (wiser) than I, they are hard hunters...so this young lad got schooled.

That's perfectly fine with me...they earned it.  (pic below is Pieter & Lunk at a meteorite site & the limo.

How many of you out there know Pieter and some of his accomplishments in meteorite and gold nugget hunting?  How about some of you Aussies who have been chasing gold down under for many years, I bet some of your stories are just as Golden.

38 minutes ago, Ridge Runner said:

Keep hashing what you think you should pay for the 6000 and what was paid for the 7000 while I’m waiting for Minelab to drop the price on the 5000 . Who knows we may see the 5000 at a great price the 4500 is now.

 Chuck 

The GPX-5000 used to be around $5700 and now is $4000.  I don't see any price drop on the GPX for quite some time.  USA does not have any more GPX-4500's to sell.

The $4000 price point for the GPX-5000 is pretty spot on covering their bases (Minelab) and since so many Relic Hunters back East use the GPX-5000, it's still a good seller.  Heck, Minelab USA ran out of them at Christmas.

The Auto Smoothing video...I noticed on his flat nugget the signal was reversed so I too was expecting it to be bigger.

As a dealer for Minelab, I can assure you that we are not allowed to ship outside of the country.  But I do know of ways you can get one, but it will still cost more than the US price.

When I did a prospecting trip to Australia years ago, after the hunt, I sold one of my detectors to a well known nugget hunter.  I always take 2 on a trip in case one goes down.  Yes you would have expected the luggage on the way back to be the same weight, but since I have all the gold in the suitcase, it equaled out.

The other things I have done to help my customers outside of the country in years past.  You come to USA on a vacation to go gold prospecting or meteorite hunting with a cheap used detector, then when its time to go home, take the new GPX-6000 out of the box, toss some cow dung on it and most inspectors won't even tough it.

Last, is to have one of your friends/relatives coming to the USA and have them get one and either ship it to you, or take it back themselves.  But dealers can not ship new units outside of US.  Now used ones, most certainly we can.

I just thought of this one.  I used to take groups to Colchester, England on metal detecting tours and I imagine, if you paid them a few bucks, they would take one over for you.

Either way, I wish you luck in your hunts.  That was one of my favorite detecting trips for a few years.

So far, a couple of my Pre Order customers are new and feel the benefits of the GPX-6000 and cost savings is worth it.  2 other Pre Order folks are repeat customers who have been using Minelabs for many years and see the importance of getting the newer technology.  They both are really big on the lighter weight, better ergonomics and no wearing a harness.  As for me, I really don't care if the 6000 is better at small gold.  It is better on my back, my body and my wallet.  No headphone cord, no harness.  The extra sensitivity and depth on small gold is just a bonus to me.

Value for the buck between the 3 detectors you mentioned Steve?  I will have to go back to the lighter weight and ergonomics, no harness, no headphone, less body fatigue.  That's the value to me personally.  Heck, we spend all kinds of money on our sore aching body.

BWT.  If anyone is wanting a used GPZ-7000, I'll be getting one in on trade.  Contact me at www.gerrysdetectors.com

19 hours ago, Joe D. said:

 🎶🎵 Swing, swing, swing your coil, gently down the road!! Merely, merely, merely, merely, find those chunks of gold!! 🎶🎵 🤣👍👍

Joe,  You have a security job in case your other falls apart.  That's some pretty good rhythm and it reminds me when I was in Alaska chasing big gold.  We used to come up with some crazy tunes and laughs while riding the famous "Gold Nugget Express" on our way out for a days hunt.  Usually on the way back, most tunes were of worn out prospectors snoring away with a little shut eye .

18 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Drag coils make sense, but this? Does he keep backing up? Going forwards, it's just going to catch and snap.

Gorgeous chunk of gold!!

I was told he'd sit in 1 spot on the ATV, turn the pivot and that coil would cover a swath of ground about 30 feet.  He'd pull forward 2 feet and do it again, pull forward 2 feet and again.

I've seen drag coils out here as well.

19 hours ago, geek4gold said:

Hi Gerry, Is that a 25" nugget finder coil on that set up?

G4G

Probably 20" round Super Lite.

17 hours ago, Northeast said:

Any idea when and where? 

Not yet as they recently cancelled the Spring one.  With enough Covid varieties, we might not make it this year at all.  Most countries are still pretty strict to foreign travelers.

Glad Dave was able to make it right with you.  Yes the before pic was stunning gorgeous and what you received was...aye....gold.

He's been around a long time, so he understands the importance of keeping customers happy.

Yes, silver wire wrap really highlights gold.

Years ago I had a wise customer who was always trying to make things better.  He spent much of his free time chasing gold nuggets at Rye Patch, NV in the 90's and early 2000's (when pickings were good).  He always wanted to cover ground and chase the big ones.  One time he calls me to order some Coiltek coil wiring (extension) as he has long dreams. I seen him out there with his new  long shaft and boy was it longer than I had expected.

Has anyone seen anything similar or just as crazy?

On a side note, this beautiful Horse Nugget of 6 ounces was found in the road at Rye Patch proper.  Seems most of us had walked over it for years thinking a beer can in the middle of the road when in fact it was the biggest piece of gold I have seen come from Rye Patch.  I know one of my Staff found a 5+ oz'er one time and Chuck/Gracie from TX showed me a 5 oz'er, but this one has character.

If anyone knows of bigger gold nuggets from actual Rye Patch proper or of a longer shaft on their Minelab, I'd love to see.

Enjoy everyone and stay out of my swing path, all 30 feet of it.

As much of the Kalgoorlie area I was in (very flat), the bus cold get around quite well.  Nice new ride and you have rooms for tourists too.

Advice from a seasoned detectorist is as good as it gets.

Now you have Karma and a couple new people who are thankful for your knowledge.

Great read and thanks for sharing.

16 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

This 1 pound Idaho Potato (as it's called) is 12.73 ozt and has 3.56 ozt of gold in it.  I found it in hand dug rock stack placer piles with the X-705 and 10" Ellip coil.

It is my largest Idaho piece to date, so yes the X-705 has a special place in my heart.

 

 

 

 

 

1st off Matt,  Welcome to the finest and most informative gold nugget detecting forum in the US...and has been for it's lifetime.

2nd, If you have a lady (your wife) who enjoys going along on such detecting adventures, hats off to you...you have what most of us don't.

X-Terra 705.  Did you make a mistake on its purchase?  Really doesn't matter, it's old business now and over with.  But how to get the most out of that detector for chasing gold.

As Chase mentioned, the most important part of coil selection is for the size of gold and what reality is of the gold you'll be finding.  Small 6" round HF coil is best for small pickers.  10" ellip HF is good for ground coverage in semi rough terrain and the 9" round HF (not the 7.5 kHz 9" round) is great depth in non mineralized soils (not very often, but some tailing piles when hunting marble size nuggets and above.  Is a 15" round HF coil the best for bigger deeper gold.  Most certainly, but also the hardest to find and most rare.

My suggestion to you.  Go do it a few times with small 6" HF coil and the 10" Ellip coil and see how much fun you enjoy digging lead.  If finding small bird shot lead gets you excited, then I know you have the patience to be a gold hunter.  

If your next go around for a detector is in the near future (within the next year), at that time step up to the Equinox 800 and you'll have a detector that can be used in salt water beaches, better than the detectors you mentioned, is a better coin/relic detector than ones mentioned and also a better nugget unit than what you mentioned.  Don't worry about that...until that time arrives though.

Lead is your friend and small #8 and #9 birdshot lead find shows your proper coil control and operating of the detector.  Keep chasing those and sooner or later the detector will mess up and you'll actually dig a piece of gold.

All pictures are some of my X-Terra 70 and 705 gold finds.  I used the HF - 18.75kHz coils of different sizes for all kills.

We look forward to hearing of your adventures and seeing success when it happens.

2 hours ago, Norvic said:

Gerry, send us a 6000 pronto and you`ve a deal...........😉 I`ll be out there somewhere for you to collect.................

When Minelab had their Worldwide Conference (last yrs was cancelled, someone coughed), I was scheduled to go for 3 weeks.  I'm actually planning on doing 4 weeks this trip as I want to spend a couple weeks in the bush again.  I love roo-jerkey, big scrambled eggs and chasing Au of all types.  I'll also do a week of beach/water hunting and hope to meet up with the lady water hunter Jean.

I hope some of you DP members can all come over and show us Yanks how to run a metal detector.  My last trip to Kalgoorlie was only good for about 3 ounces with half of it being a nice speci.

The 1st pic - I learned what fly specs were.

You did better than most Jason, but I know you worked for it.

Don't be so hard on the new GPX-6000 this time, like you did in the 7000.  What I like about you, even though you were not happy at 1st, you came back around and purchased another one, realizing the 7000 is a serious gold detector.  Yes I too enjoy the old GP's, but for the majority of my hunts in non trash areas the 7000 is king...(but might be dethroned soon) - GPX-6000.

We'll see you this next coming winter on here, unless you get a 6000 and need a quick fix.

6 minutes ago, VicR said:

Hi Gerry & Steve - i kept the Vanquish 340 box (see attached) - clearly states that the skid plate is a optional extra. I double checked with Miners Den here in Adelaide and they also confirmed that the 340 does not come with a skid plate - you have to buy it as an extra. To their knowledge this is the only detector Minelab has released that does not come standard with a skid plate. The other Vanquish models come as standard with skid plates. This maybe different for other markets.

 

You had me wondering Vicr so I just opened my box of Vanquish 540's and all coils have covers attached.  I do not have the 340 in stock to check.  

Now that I think of it, possibly the early Go Finds may not have had coil covers either.

Thanks for educating us and I guess I owe you $5.

I so much enjoy seeing other prospectors rigs and you guys in Australia take some serious thoughts into it.  That is one fine looking home on wheels and I can see you took some serious time to think out each detail.

Best of luck with it this year.

Thanks for sharing...

PS.  I'll trade you a few GPX-6000's.

44 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

GPZ coils... all Minelab coils... come with skid plates. But on GPZ people were wearing them completely out before you could get a spare. In a nutshell, 100% of production goes to building units. Minelab is not in the business of selling anything but detectors, so accessory coils, and even the most basic accessories, are often in very short supply for the first year. Unless something has changed, I expect the same thing again.

On my Meteorite Hunt to AZ 2 weeks ago (yes I'll post about it later) I put a new coil cover on my GPZ-7000.  That trip put me in the field chasing meteorites for 2 days and gold nuggets for 2 days.  When the trip was complete, I removed the 4 day old GPZ and the stinking $50 cover had 2 holes already in it.  

The X-Terra stock 9" round coils, the FBS series detectors, the Gold Monster Coils and the GPZ coils are all a softer plastic that easily wears out.  The previous SD/GP and GPX detectors have the covers made of a harder plastic and it slides across the ground easier and last longer.

I'm most certain the GPX-6000 will have coil covers on the coils when purchased.

Heck for many years in the USA, Minelab was the only company that provided coil covers already on the coils.  To be fair though, their detectors were 2 and 3X the price of American units.

2 hours ago, alaska detector said:

I’ve liked everything I’ve seen for the 6000, light weight, powerful, easy to use, water resistant. My main concern is the option for coils, I’m patch hunting with the potential for deep, big nuggets and have a bigger coil would be great. Not that not having it would stop me from purchasing, since this detector checks like 80% of my boxes, it’d just be nice to have.

I see you like to chase big deep gold and if that's the case I think a GPX-5000 with the 30+ coils options out there might give you more diversity and at a lower price.  

Now if you are like me and prefer lighter weight and better ergonomics and as a bonus, the GPX-6000 is said to perform better on smaller gold (the majority out there), then the 6000 is the way to go.

You have a dealer in Anchorage that might be able to help you out.  If for some reason he does not have the inventory when you are ready to purchase, or you'd like to get from a dealer who offers Field Training, just look me up.  But give him 1st offer as he is in your area.

I see you swing a 24K, how you like it?  It was one of my favorite VLF gold only detectors.