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I wouldn't up the ante too much too soon.. KISS for now (keep it simple stupid).. As has been suggested, take a good look around first.. Where would you bury gold bars? Are there any obvious markers like trees or stones? If the whole lot has been covered with topsoil it's still best to start with a metal detector first before bringing out the big guns, like sonar etc.. As mentioned above, I'd also recommend you get a hold of a GPX 4500 / 5000 with as large a coil as possible.. Then grid the whole show.. Take your time walking the grid and dig everything.. It'll take some doing but by the sounds of the tale so far it's well worth having a go.. I wish I was hunting for gold bars, it'd beat digging never-ending crap for very elusive gold rings.. 😗

Process of elimination then, try a GPZ with a large coil, or a GPX 4500/5000 with a large mono. If that fails you might need the brute force approach of a with an excavator, if there was really a bunch of gold bars there no one would care about digging up some grass to recover them.

Hello my friends. Can you tell me to if this is a fake modell of GPX? Can this be?Link dwn here: https://www.shpock.com/de-de/i/XAKkV0-tXx_ZDS2M/metaldetector-minelab-gpx-4500 Thank for your answers. Greetings

All good 🙂 Yea, the SDC for those in the right ground seems a killer machine, hot rocks and difficult ground are it's specialties and I guess you could say prickly specimen type gold where the GPX 4500 lacks the SDC excels, with my milder soils the GPX 4500 seemed like the better choice at the time I was deciding between the two, crank its settings right up with a small coil and off it goes. It's true JW doesn't like the SDC, based upon him comparing it to the 4500 at the time he was using them he found the 4500 performed better in our ground finding the small gold. He still has his SDC though, just doesn't get used, it'd make a fantastic creek detector I think and a few guys in NZ use it for that purpose. Reliability and quality and as you point out just being a little annoying to use are the 6000's flaws and hopefully that looks like being resolved at the moment. The SDC has remained elusive to my collection though, and it's certainly not because I don't like it, it's more I don't need it. I certainly understand your love for the thing though, sounds your perfect detector and you do very well with it. Hopefully my and others whinging is what prompted Minelab to fix the GPX EMI problem, if we just complained about it once or for the timid just kept it to ourselves and shutup forever after they'd be far less inclined to do anything about it, pressure from disgruntled customers sometimes can force their hand. The Axiom to me looks to have huge potential, runs nice and quiet too. A small good spiral coil on that thing and it should be great. Garrett being open to aftermarket coils with no chipping hopefully encourages manufacturers of coils to go nuts on it making a good range of coils. It was often said the older GPX series were the last of the detectors with a massive range of coils and all the benefits that brings, well, Garrett could be that next detector to take that role on with Minelab preventing and restricting it and Garrett allowing it there is big potential there. Hopefully the Garrett sells well enough for the coil makers to think it's viable.

Thanks for the video, both the SDC and Axiom did pretty poorly I think on the small gold he was testing with, I didn't realize that the SDC was that bad on small gold as I've never used one. I can hit gold smaller than that with my 4500 and 5000 going down to 0.05 of a gram or less although certainly not with the stock coils they come with. With a good coil on them 0.05 of a gram isn't out of the question and even less is possible and that 0.07 would be pretty easy of a target. Obviously my 6000 and 7000 (with the right coil) go below those sizes down to about 0.03 of a gram or slightly less. What's not known though is if those particular bits of gold are difficult ones for a PI to pick up, I have some bits .1 of a gram that the GPX 4500/5000 struggles to pick up when it will pick up another bit that is 0.05 of a gram fine. That's where I think the Axiom will benefit greatly though, a smallish size spiral coil like I use on my legacy GPX detectors with the 10" spiral would make a good difference on smaller gold with it. Hopefully aftermarket manufacturers take note of the Axiom and produce coils for it, looks to have really great potential and I'm sure the right coil on it would improve those results significantly. As someone that chases small gold if I saw that same video when the 4500 came out with him going over those nuggets with the 11" Commander mono I'd be saying the same thing about it, wow, that 4500 did poorly on the small nuggets. Hot rocks were interesting, I guess the SDC was always going to be the winner there, it's touted as the best for that. Axiom did pretty well though and I do wonder if he had tried to ground balance the ground and do the L shape trick of balancing the ground and sweeping over the hot rock with the balance button still held in would have made that hot rock signal much less or disappear. All I saw him do was balance the ground and then start testing sweeping over the hot rocks which isn't ideal on any detector unless tracking, but he was in a fixed mode.

That's were I'm at when it comes to the Axiom. I've owned a GP 3500, GPX 4000, 4500 and 5000 and after getting the 6000 I'm not going back to the being tied to a battery and headphones. I've swung Steve's Axiom and I don't care if it's not quite as good at some things the GPX 4500 might be good at. It's just not worth going back to any of the GPX models except the 6000 which I have no intention of getting rid of at this time. The Axiom is well balanced and can be swung all day long, fun to use too. At some point I will get one, but for now I'm happy with the 6000.

The Chinese manufacturers are not only doing clones they're doing mash ups combining features of one model in the look of another. This one is pretty interesting, it looks like a GPZ, combined with a CTX 3030, combined with a normal VLF for functionality and coil design, and includes a full colour touch screen. I like the GPX 4500/5000 arm cuff on a GPZ body. 🙂 It truly is a shame they don't use their talents to make their own detectors, you would think with the clones they can pop out and the skills that they must have to do them they could sit down and build a detector of their own and start a genuine manufacturing company for detectors rather than using other companies ideas. One thing they did do right that Minelab could learn from is getting rid of the weak CTX coil ears and using the GPZ 7000 coil mounting ears on a CTX shaft.

Yeah, I have been thinking more about this, and it would be pretty hard for me to go back to a GPX 4500 or GPX 5000 after using the Axiom. It easily hits smaller gold, and is certainly far more ergonomic. The only area where the GPX models have an edge are coils, and so a GPX 5000 with a round 18" mono coil is going to punch deeper on a 5 ounce nugget. The GPX 5000 Fine Gold mode does handle most hot rocks real well. But no, I would not want to go back to battery on backpack, no speaker, etc. From a more practical perspective there are also way more small nuggets to be found these days, than 5 ounce nuggets. But really, it's this.... and this....

They certainly do record it all, it doesn't seem it's there for us to see. When I was buying my first 4500 second hand I wanted to verify the thing was genuine, because it was an old Aussie one it didn't have the fancy hologram thing it just went by serial number. To prove it was genuine they wanted to know the name of the person it was registered to along with the serial number. They said both the name and serial matched their records so yes its genuine. They then changed that original name over to my name for me in their database. They said for people to contact them with their GPX 6000 serial number and they'll tell them if their serial number is an affected detector so they know the range of serial numbers involved. A bit like the older GPX 4500 recall, they listed the range of serial numbers that had the problem. The serial number range was 00000 - 01200 so 1200 detectors and Minelab made contact with the registered owners to say they had an issue with their detector. It seems this time they're just going to let it fly and if people contact them with an affected number they'll fix it, possibly hoping most people won't contact them.

The best detector is the one you use the most and the one you enjoy using (within reason). Put the time and effort in it really doesn't matter all that much. GPX 4500, GPX 5000, GPX 6000, Axiom, GPZ 7000, I'm betting the person using it the most in the right places with the skills and understanding of their detector finds the most gold, not which detector they're using. Of course some detectors will do better than others, but miles on the ground means so much more than the reasonably small differences between models. The same goes with coins and jewellery. I'm not saying new models are not better, just a bulk of finds would be made with any reasonably competitive product. In my view, yes some new detectors find more, some are more sensitive, some separate better, some are deeper and the list goes on but a bulk of the finds can be found with any competitive detector. Think back to the majority of your finds, do you think it was the detector that found it and nothing else would, would your lessor detectors have found it? Most likely. I love new technology, I love enhancements and advances in detectors but I'm also realistic, gains are small and not as big as manufacturers peddling their wares would like us to believe. You know what makes me smile? The person with the Ace 300 that shows the CTX 3030 guy the best find of the day! It's not all about the detector, not even remotely. So, which is my backup detector? the one that makes you annoyed the most I use it as my primary and not my backup 🙂

You're probably right, I haven't noticed any sensitivity improvement, even the depth on the smallest bits is virtually the same, so the usual things you would expect with a smaller coil are not there. I believe this is due to the stock 11" being semi spiral and the 10x5" being bundle wound so the semi spiral gives the 11" extra sensitivity over if it were bundle. The 10x5" being bundle keeps up with the 11" though while providing a more stable operation and a great size to use in difficult terrain and the extra stability and better size for that sort of area are it's true advantages and for me that is enough. Abenson in difficult salty ground reported the 10x5" worked better than the 11", this sounds about right with the bundle being less sensitive to the ground signal. The other positive to the 10x5" being bundle is it has hotter edges than the 11" so for people like me that tilt the coil to pinpoint there is an advantage there too, and for going up against rocks etc, and the fact the 10x5" doesn't mind going on angles near as much as the 11". I will add the GPX is certainly no high frequency VLF, even with the 10x5" I went over some bedrock I'd done with the 6000 and 11" and later with the 10x5" Goldhawk then with my Garrett 24k and 6" Concentric coil and I recovered 14 small lead pellets in a small area where according to the GPX there was no targets at all left behind. If you think about the older GPX 4500/5000 coils, the 14x9" EVO which was fully spiral I felt was able to keep up with or exceed the little bundle wound 8x6" Sadie mono on small gold, we are seeing the same thing here with this 10x5" vs 11" where the larger coil is matching sensitivity to a smaller coil. For someone hoping to get a bit more sensitivity and depth on small gold I would suggest waiting on the Nugget Finder Xceed 8.5x6" and see how that goes, if the 10x5" seems equal to the 11" the 8.5x6" might have an edge. I've got one on order so I'll find out soon enough.

I have been using a VLF for years and recently have been reading about PI detectors. I am wondering about the positive aspects of the Minelab over the VLF. I know about the greater depth, but for the expense, I can afford. If others can direct me or chip in..Do you still dig up the same amount of trash? I have buckets of bullets and pennies...I have found gold with my VLF but I know I must be missing a lot more... Thanks John

You get what you pay for. A lot of compromises with the TDI, but great ergonomics (compared to GPX and ATX) and you can get the goods if know how to exploit its strengths. However, for relic hunting, it has definite drawbacks compared to the GPX 4500/4800/5000. I think if Nokta shoots for a budget but capable version of the forthcoming Garrett Axiom (similar to what they delivered in the Legend vs. the Equinox), they might find a good niche with relic hunters, beach hunters, and nugget chasers. But the question is when will it see the light of day and how many prospective buyers will not wait and jump on the Axiom bandwagon in the mean time.

Yea, I don't think I've ever used tracking on the 4500, but in saying that I'm the person least likely to need to use it, I was always on fixed and manual is my go-to on the 7000. The more detector manufacturers can improve ground balance the better depth the users will get, I think people in hotter soils would get a surprise the depth difference between having any ground balance and ground balance disabled. For example, the GPX 5000 with GB completely turned off, not fixed, off completely gives so much more depth than the same detector with Ground balance enabled and balanced in mild soils where the detector gets no reaction from the soil with it either on or off. The QED was the same, in any mode other than Mode 11 (GB Disabled) in mild soils even with a perfectly balanced detector the depth is killed just by enabling the ground balance circuit. I guess in a way Geosense is working towards this, I would still like a way to disable it on the 6000 just to see how it works for me. In some of my prospecting areas I can run both the QED and GPX 4500/5000 with ground balance completely disabled and they remained perfectly balanced, no reaction from the ground at all, the down side is by disabling it the hot rocks really come alive so the area has to be selected carefully to take advantage of it. The better manufacturers can improve the detectors ground balance the better the depth will be and if they can use some sort of AI technology to do this or just faster processing or whatever it will be the next big improvement in PI's. I always thought that if I used ground balance and balanced the detector I'd get the same depth as if I had ground balance turned off entirely in very mild soil, and this is simply not correct. My mild soils are the perfect example of this as even though I can run with no ground balance at all, just by enabling it I am hindering depth.

So I've recently started using my GPX 5000 as a coin and jewellery detector, I've been using the Coiltek 11" Anti Interference coil on it, this coil is fantastic for the job, the most stable threshold you'll ever hear on a GPX, although sadly the coil is now discontinued, Detech make a similar coil though but I know nothing about their version and if it works as well. At the moment I'm considering an Axiom as I'm sure quite a few others are too, the main focus so far on the detector has been prospecting so it's time to find out how it goes as a coin and jewellery detector, and of course relics for those lucky enough to live in a place that has relics. With my coin and jewellery spots there is always a lot of EMI around as obviously where you hunt these things are places with heavy human occupation. The other places I'd use it are at beaches which around here especially popular beaches where the finds could be made generally have houses all around them so many sources of EMI. An example of how good the Coiltek AI is on my GPX under some high voltage power lines And another video showing the Coiltek AI coil being used inside my house, a crazy high EMI environment showing just how well it handles EMI This is the question, how well is the Axiom going to compete with this? Is it naturally good with EMI with a DD coil? Being a detector with no protective chips to prevent aftermarket coils perhaps manufacturers would be able to make AI coils for it too? I would think Detech would be one of the first to take on coils for the Axiom and seeing they make AI coils already it might end up possible. These videos were filmed using my old Aussie made ratty GPX 4500, my GPX 5000 is much more stable although I can't really complain how well the 4500 works with the AI coil, the 5000 is even better. I didn't own the 5000 when I took the video. I guess for the answers to my questions it's going to take time for people to have the Axiom in their hands but with a few on order already from people giving up their GPX 6000 due to it's EMI problems as they hunt in high EMI environments I'm sure it won't be long and a few friendly helpful users will give me the advice I'm chasing 🙂

I can't but help notice how poor quality metal detectors have become, for such expensive electronic devices the quality is frankly pitiful. I like everybody buy a lot of stuff, from TV's to Vehicles and everything in between and the products I have the most trouble with are metal detectors. Most things I buy last fine, I never really cared about warranty and rarely kept receipts until I started detecting, I'd never needed to use it. Almost everything other than detecting gear I've bought in the last 20 years has lasted well beyond it's warranty period trouble free and most things I've bought in that time I've still got now are working fine or I got rid of them while still in a working state because they were simply replaced with newer stuff. I have a LCD TV that's 15 years old and never had a glitch, it's now just used by my daughter as I couldn't bring myself to throw it out, I had a very large rear projection TV from about 10 years before that and it still works fine but I gave it away and the people are still using it, . I have an original Atari game console from 1983 that I had as a kid that still works, and my original Sega Master System from 1986 still works like it was new yet a lot of the detectors I buy screw up in the first year or two and it's not just me, I see it happening to lots of people. I still have my first ever metal detector from when I was about 8 years of age and the thing still works! I've only been detecting a few years so wasn't overly aware of the history of detectors and their failures but looking around seeing people using old whites metal box machines and people still using Gold Bug 2's from the 90's gave me the impression detectors were built to last. I thought the poor reliability was just a Minelab problem with recent machines like the known build quality issues with the Nox and now the GPX 6000 but if I look back the CTX had it's share of issues too and I would guess other models. The GPX 6000 is dismal, worst quality detector I've seen in my time with a crazy failure rate although some are in denial of this until theirs joins the long line of failures at some point. Nokta come out fighting saying their detectors are far superior build quality than the Nox indicating their Legend would be built tough and reliable and it's turned out anything but, with countless people complaining of problems with some examples being the speaker failing which seems to happen all too often, faulty PCB's, updating issues and an abnormal number of faulty coils, to me from what I've seen their failures are just as bad as any Nox ones, if not more so as they've happened so close to the release date and the problems extending into a range of parts on the detector where as the Nox was mostly leaking which may or may not be a valid warranty as who knows if anyone with a leak used it within it's limits. Yes I know the Nox had other issues like wobbly shafts and I'm certainly not saying the Nox was good build quality, neither of the two are. Fisher came out with the Impulse which was a shambles and had endless faults, although at least it was a beta detector, albeit one people paid for the privilege of testing for them. XP have had their share of problems with the Deus 2. It seems no brand is immune to making rubbish, I haven't had any problems with Garrett personally but their Apex certainly had its issues. I have an original early model Gold Bug 2, my antique and it works a treat, solid as a rock! I have an early Aussie Built GPX 4500 and it purrs along like the day it left the factory, in AUSTRALIA. Whatever happened to detecting companies building good quality products, they used to be able to do it.

Lots of people are selling their older model detectors for the newer models coming out. I guess it’s like having packrat syndrome, must have the shiny and new. This opens up a good opportunity to get some good detector prices for people on a budget. As a dealer and trainer I get asked a very good question by a lot of customers on what prospecting detector would be best for them. My answer is usually what is your price range and how mineralized is the area you planning on prospecting. If they are new to prospecting and not sure where to even go, I recommend them doing some research on the mining districts closest to them. This is best done by using the online USGS publications site or state geology sites and then by using the MLRS site to see if there is any non-claimed federal ground open to them for prospecting (U.S.A. specific). My usual recommendation for their best chance of finding nuggets is to get a PI detector when in medium to heavy mineralized ground or a VLF with a very good target VDI for low mineralized ground in rubbish littered areas. Usually the PI detectors exceeds there price limit. There are options for used PI detectors at VLF pricing, but this comes with risk by not having any warranty. I recommend only keeping a detector that’s under warranty due to the high price of repairs, but do understand there are some really good prices on used detectors also, such as the GPX-5000. The following list is just a recommendation from my experience using a majority of these detectors on what will work for nugget hunting. I am not saying price always determines the best performance due to many variables in metal detecting. This is not a debate on detector performances as it is more about what price to expect to pay to get into this hobby. All the VLF’s listed here can or should pass the bic pen sensitivity test. There are many more comparable models out there, but these were probably some of the best priced prospecting detectors I have found for the money. Detectors for light mineralization where a VLF can work well: $279,00 Minelab Vanquish 440 w 7 x 10 inch coil Multi Freq. 3 year warranty. lacks ground balance and threshold options. I recommend nugget hunting in Jewelry mode for best sensitivity. Also a multi-purpose detector. $375.00 Fisher Gold Bug newer Digital w 5 inch coil 19Khz. 5 year warranty. $449.00 Fisher F19 w 6 x 10 inch coil package. 19Khz 5 year warranty. $635.00 Nokta/Makro Legend w 6 inch coil package Multi Freq. 3 year warranty. Also a multi-purpose detector. $636.00 Nokta/Makro Gold Kruzer w 4 x 7.5 and 5.5 x 10 inch coil package 61Khz. 3 year warranty. $679 Garrett 24K w 6 x 10 inch coil 48Khz. 2 year warranty. $749.00 Fisher Gold Bug 2 analog or digital w 3 x 6.5 inch coil 71Khz. 5 year warranty. This detector is probably a specialty detector with the most sensitivity for cleaning up the smallest leftover nuggets. If you need more sensitivity then the GB2 then probably recommend the Gold Falcon MD20 pin-pointer 300Khz. $1,078.00 Minelab Equinox 800 w 6 inch coil Multi Freq. 3 year warranty. Also a multi-purpose detector. Very versatile. Many other used VLF models can come in well under $500.00, but with no warranty probably better to buy a new model for the price difference. For medium to heavy mineralization, a PI is really necessary to have the best success: Weight is usually the downside to PI detectors until the last few new releases. So weight is included on the PI list. $2,379.00 Garrett ATX w 11 x 13 inch mono coil Pulse. 2 year warranty. Great price. Weight 5.5 Lbs. $3,399.00 Minelab SDC 2300 w 8 inch mono coil Pulse. 3 year warranty. Weight 5.1 Lbs. The timings with the small 8” coil seems to handle mineralization pretty well. Very small gold capabilities. Has slight warble in threshold. $3,995.00 Garrett Axiom w 7 x 11 inch mono and 11 x 13 inch DD coils Pulse. 2 year warranty. Lowest Weight w 11 inch mono 4.25 Lbs. Great price. Waiting to hear more on the possible heavy mineralization capabilities being talked about. Very small gold capabilities. $3,999.00 Minelab GPX 5000 w 11 inch DD & 12 x 15 inch mono coils Pulse. 3 year warranty. Weight on arm minus battery pack 5.3 Lbs. with 11” coil. To be wireless you need Docs Gold Screamer pack adding some more weight. Good price. Lots to offer for coil sizes & coil configurations. $5,999.00 Minelab GPX 6000 w 11 inch mono & 14 inch DD coils Pulse. 3 year warranty. Weight 4.52 Lbs. w 11 inch mono. Very small gold capabilities. Has unstable warble in threshold using 11 inch mono coils. Headphones do help this situation. Used older Whites and Fisher PI detectors seem to hold a high value, so I usually stay away from paying a premium for them. A used GP 3500 can be found for less than $1,400, ATX for less than $1,500, GPX 4500 for less than $1,700, and GPX 5000 for less than $2,000. Most likely non warranty, but these older PI’s were built pretty solid. Heavy mineralization: $8,499.00 Minelab GPZ 7000 w 14 inch DOD coil ZVT. 3 year warranty. Weight 7.3 Lbs. NF 12 inch coil is preferred or if not worried about losing warranty then x-coils. Very small gold capabilities. Maybe Phrunt, JP, or others can describe the best options in NZ & AUS.

Lately, I've been experiencing the coil overload problem. Its hard to say whats causing it but it happens often. Probably not the best thing to do but I tend to slightly lean on the detector as I'm digging a target with the coil firmly against the ground. I've done this for a while with no problems before. It only shows the overload signal or shuts down when the coil is pressed against the ground. I've noticed it happens when using different coils as well. The only thing that has changed recently is the settings I use. I often have the rx gain flat out at 15 (gpx 4500) and other setting quite high also. Is it possible that the more extreme settings (when the coil is in contact with the ground) are the cause or is likely a problem with the machine?

Hey Steve and All, Exciting news for sure, glad Garrett finally did it. I have always been a supporter of Garrett, but they always seemed a bit behind the big guys. That being said, I think the MAP will be touching $4k is what I'm guessing, several thousand cheaper than a GPX 6000. I was hoping the new Garrett would be around $2500 - $3000, as the Minelab GPX 4500 at $2499 before it was discontinued was flying off the shelf. Either way, great to see Garrett in game and Thank God they finally agreed on a Military Discount. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos Steve. Rob

Well, I fell asleep waiting, either way I had full confidence Garrett was going to bring something worthwhile to market, and they exceeded my expectations, what a pleasant surprise to wake to to see the tide has turned! Thank you Garrett, what a fantastic jump into the current PI market and now I'm questioning why I have an order in for 3 6000 aftermarket coils for a detector I don't even like when I should put the money towards this puppy instead. As my order is a special order with my dealer who is bringing them in specifically for me I'll keep my order but I really think I've blown that money as I'd rather use this Garrett. It ticks a lot of boxes for me and the aftermarket will go nuts for it, why wouldn't they, no restrictions preventing them from doing it, Garrett if anything encourage it, and if they can bring even more performance to the table for it even better! X-coils could make a great range of coils for it in the sizes I'd want. People had their doubts about Garrett and ground balance after the ATX, well.... it appears it does very well there. People assumed it might have bump sensitive coils as a decade old detector they released did... I don't understand why people just assume a company can't improve a product, unless they're Minelab, which in some ways go backwards with their new products, not always forwards. Garrett has done a brilliant job by the looks it of it and I can see it having a very good market share in very short order. Maybe Minelab will re-re-release the GPX 4500 to try fight back a bit in it's price range, I know which I'd rather be swinging. And I know you must of had a good amount of involvement at least encouraging Garrett to do this Steve and guiding them towards what people would like, so thank you also. Now reading about Gerry's involvement, a big thank you to Gerry too! Good work! I also think it will be a very good seller in Africa 🙂 A happy day for prospectors. Now to have a coffee so my brain wakes up to absorb all this great news.

As a hot dirt relic/treasure hunter where the PI rules over any VLF (except in thick iron), I felt ML abandoned us with the GPX 6000. If ML would have basically delivered a GPX 4500/5000 stuffed into the GPX 6000 form factor with wireless audio (while eliminating some of the arcane GPX 4.5/5K user adjustments that really never get touched but not going full auto like the GPX 6000) with the same GPX 5K timing options and ferrous blanking circuit, EMI performance, and compatibility with GPX coils and I would have been a happy camper (I might even have been able to stomach the GPX 6000 asking price, but would have been hopeful they could have lowered it a couple K). But instead, I would gladly take an ATX in an APEX-like package (but weatherproofed) with the ATX controls/features (including ferrous grunt but would really like the ML GPX ferrous blanking circuit) intact but translated to a decent UI, use of a powerful but light LiPolymer stack that can deliver the required V-A needed for the PI pulse and a variety of DD solid coils (and monos for the gold prospectors) in the 11 to 14" range. I like the GPX threshold and GPX target tone instead of the ATX doorbell bing/bong bong/bing but I could live with that if need be. Just really need it to be light and wireless compatible with decent EMI immunity. Curious if any TDI DNA ends up in this new Garrett if it does turn out to be a PI. But would rather Garrett lean toward the ATX vs. the TDI.

Yes I was only in sensitive extra, it was blowing a gale the day I did the testing and it was freezing cold so I went home as quick as possible, I just wanted to do that experiment for myself really. I've been meaning to go back and do it properly trying different timings and and see if I can change the results as it would be useful for me to know this information. I'd actually forgotten how good the earlier GPX series is on small gold but I was also seeing why the 6000 pulls gold on so called flogged ground that looks like anyone should have found it previously with their other detectors, it hits these weird bits the 5000 struggles on perfectly fine, as does the 7000. If in flogged ground everyone was using a GPX 4500 or 5000 and all in the same timing as it was the go to timing for the area then I can now understand how they left gold behind and the 6000 users can go in and find all the missed stuff so this demonstration was good for me just to get a better understanding of it all. I really like the 5000, yes it has its limitations with particular types of gold but in many ways it's a fantastic detector and as you pointed out handles the most difficult ground and hot rocks extremely well, and I just love the Equinox, which is why I think it was crazy to get rid of the 5000 over this one little issue with it because a 5000 and an Equinox is a truly awesome combination of detectors for prospecting.

Can anyone give me some feedback on a comparison between a GPX 4500 and GPX 5000....