dig4gold

Minelab should have done the right thing in the first place instead of being totally money hungry & greedily mining the miners & crippling detectors & customers for want of a few more coil options. Thank god for X coils. Hopefully Minelab have finally shoot themselves in the foot with their chip BS, over priced products & total lack of customer communications involvement. I wish this new kid on the block all the success they deserve. They are real people who have listened to the customers wants & needs & are delivering. Customer communication isn't rocket science. Give them what they want & in a friendly manner & not over priced can only be a winner. The bottom line though is going to be how the detector really performs. Small gold won't tick the box for every one & hopefully the GPX 6000 has left some behind. The 6000 is a vacuum cleaner on small gold. D4G

The GP 3000 replaced the GP Extreme. D4G

The modded 5000 is a no brainer, I reckon, if you want to specialise in big deep gold. The proof is right there. Hands down the best hit rate. Many would have that 18" NF too. So put it to use. No real surprise that the 6000 struggled. Yes, X coil CC's on the 7000 would have to be his next demo. That would be very interesting. D4G

When you say gold master are you meaning the Whites Goldmaster or did you mean to say Gold Monster? D4G

Good yarn. Happy New Year D4G

That is sad news. His fight is now over. RIP Nev. D4G

And Minelab mining the miners. Even more in the new year. D4G

You need to slow down & learn/practise precise coil control & not bash the coil around & as Phrunt has said, maybe dial back the sensitivity. It is a grand little machine for the smallest of gold. A bedrock detector that sniffs it out as long as the tiny stuff is close to the coil. That is what it excels at. Not a depth machine. D4G

You are on a roll with this story now. D4G

Not a truer word spoken Steve. The gold just isn't there of any great value like it used to be. The big attainable bits are all but gone with what technology has already given us. The fight now is for the small crumbs left but at greater depth. That equals a lot more work, effort & digging for crumbs. If looking for gold matters in dollar terms then those days are over in reality. Minelab has well & truly squeezed the blood out of that turnip over the years. Starting with each small "progressive" step from the SD through to the GP & GPX series of detectors. The 6000 should not have been called a GPX. Minelab squeezed the blood further by limiting the coils on the GPZ 7000 with their chip technology & thank God for X coils in that department. Despite the fall out from all that it benefitted the end consumer who just wanted what they considered their best options for advancement in their detectors ability. X coils at least gave them an option if they chose that path. A path Minelab was trying to protect to keep more dollars in their pocket. D4G

Respect to that GhostMiner. That is the honest truth right there. Dreams sink many a boat. Have a good Xmas D4G

Why not just get the longer shaft & cut it down until you are happy with the length. You can then just glue a sleeve at the point you cut it to hold it together. Problem solved & you have a custom fit. Personally I prefer the Minelab Pro swing harness. I don't like the hip stick. It amuses me when people go on about being trunked up like a Christmas turkey when they wear the harness. It is a tool to do a job or multiple jobs & supposedly make things easier & more convenient & comfortable. Works well for me. The Pro Swing developed from the early days of the ML PI detectors with the lead acid battery in the pouch in the small of your back & then the bungy taking weight off the detector by clipping to the "D" eyelet up by the shoulder strap. That had its own issues. The Pro Swing then incorporated the "hip stick" into the harness to direct the weight to your hip. I have just got so use to wearing the harness from those early days that it is just like putting on another bit of clothing & I don't even notice it. Also good for clipping external speakers & signal boosters too. The waist strap is handy to for slipping your pick into. I can't see the issue people have with it. But we are all different. Bit like people not liking to wear head phones. Head phones save battery life in a days detecting & not to mention better to hear the signals on a windy day plus keep you ears warmer on cold days. D4G

Not all people are equipped or have the ability to do that. Guess that is why we go buy stuff from shops. D4G

Be interesting to see how these price rises pan out for Minelab with gold getting harder to find by the day & gold found getting smaller & way smaller in weight. D4G

Yes, mining the miners. Or maybe they are recouping costs of all the failed coils replaced under warranty & the EMI issue & possibly shaft cam locks. The 6000 certainly had its issues. With its release back in April 2021 there are still 4 months of warranty to go on the first release models & likely many more months/years on later purchases. D4G

That depends if I knew about the old price was & what I got for that price compared to what this new price & offering is going to be. Ignorance is bliss. If you didn't know, then you didn't know. Most things go up in price as time & inflation move forward. Probably costing Minelab more to make, market & release their detectors these days. Bit like going to the super market & knowing it costs you more almost every time you go there. But you still buy, or don't & go hungry. As to the Nox 800 compared to the GM, it really was a bang for the buck detector. Still is but you have to buy the 6" coil as an extra. Even with the standard 11" coil it still hit pretty small gold. With the release of the 900 I don't suppose they are still making the 800 but just selling off what they have left in stock. D4G

I agree. The GPX 6000 should never have been called a GPX. No similarities at all to the earlier run of GPX's. Minelab certainly have their weird moments. D4G

I prefer the 5" as well here in New Zealand. Nothing to do with mineralised ground but just a nice sensitive small coil for tight areas. Haven't used the 10x5 since trying it a few times but favoring the 5". An extra battery I would gladly swap out for the 10x5 coil knowing now that I will never be using the 10x5. D4G

I like your Gold Story. Thanks for sharing. D4G

I have a Nox 800 with 6" coil & the 10x5 coiltek. I still really like my GM 1000 with 5" coil. D4G

That makes for an expensive book end. What is at the other end, A GPZ 7000? That's an even more expensive book end. As much as you poke fun at the 6000 & its short falls. It does well at finding gold. D4G

Maybe they are hoping for a buying spree before the price increases take hold. Wouldn't then be surprised if they back peddle on said price hike, or make it quite a bit less than stated. Seems to me like suicide as gold is getting harder to find day by day & getting a lot smaller when found. So needing to find a lot more to get some weight in your poke. Pretty sure we have had the best of detecting for gold. Down hill from now on, has been for a while. Sad but true. D4G

They haven't worked that out yet. Hi Phrunt. If they haven't worked out the pricing yet how have you managed to be getting one sent to you. Are you being given it, & if so, why? D4G

Hi Phrunt. Don't you have a 15"CC X coil for your GPZ 7000. Have you not tried that at this spot you speak of? From what I have read I would think the 7000 with 15"CC would be better than a 15"CC on the 5000. The bonus of this coil for the GPX's is that no adapter is required. Plug & play. D4G

I think you will find that most gold detectorists finds have changed over the years. Especially in over all weight. May be finding more individual pieces but way smaller. That equals more work & effort for less reward money wise. Not to mention the cost of new high end gold detectors & accessories. D4G