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I bought a used Gpx 4500 with a 14x9 NuggetFinder coil. I was able to take it out gold hunting yesterday. I was unable to find gold, but was able to find lead at surprising depths. I also found an fragment of paper thin metal about the size of a marker tip @4”. The detector worked really well until the end of the day. It seemed that I was unable to ground balance in fixed mode and or tracking mode. I reset all the settings to FP and retuned. I still felt that the detector wouldn’t ground balance. Is the green ‘ground balance’ track button a simple’ switch that can be tested with a volt meter? Or is there a way to test the button?

The reintroduction of the Minelab GPX 4500 with two coils for only $2699 has in my opinion shook up the price/performance question. Up to now I would have considered the GPX 5000 to be the default "safe choice" for anyone wanting to get into serious nugget detecting with a proven machine. However, there is not a lot of difference between a GPX 4500 and GPX 5000. It really boils down to the Fine Gold timing which the GPX 5000 has and the GPX 4500 lacks. That timing is very good at handling certain very hot ground and extreme hot rocks while still getting a majority of the gold. However, the timing is not perfect and it does miss nuggets or exhibit "holes" in its ability to find nuggets and therefore should only be used in ground that requires its special ability to ignore hot rocks. Too many people rely on it as an "everywhere, all the time" mode. Most ground in the United States does not require the Fine Gold timing. With the GPX 5000 at $5795 with 11" round DD and 11" round mono and the GPX 4500 currently at $2699 with 11" round DD and 15" x 12" mono coils I am hard pressed to say the GPX 5000 is worth $3000 more just to get the Fine Gold timing. Yes, there are other subtle differences but seriously that is what it sorts out as from a practical standpoint. That being said I have added the GPX 4500 to my equipment roster at Minelab GPX 4500 Gold Nugget Detector and updated my Nugget Detector Review to reflect my opinion that at this time the Minelab GPX 4500 represents the best value for somebody new to high power pulse induction nugget detecting and wanting to get in on it without mortgaging the farm. Now, this is based on MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) versus MAP price for each detector. Package deals can be had and may sway the equation somewhat back towards the GPX 5000 for overall value. But no matter what if buying new you are going to lay out a lot more money for a GPX 5000 than the GPX 4500 and it mostly comes down to how much you think that Fine Gold timing is worth to you. Minelab GPX 4500 Color Brochure

Anybody had modifications done to GPX 4500 by "Detector Mods"? reviews appreciated, wondering if it's worth the $2200.00.

Hi everyone , I am new here , I joined this forum hoping to find some tips and guidance on gold hunting because I am really confused , frustrated with so many information and resource on the net , and I dont know from where to start on how can i be a really a gold hunter . Background : My Journey with gold hunting started in 2010 , when I heard from a close friend of mine that there are gold in sudan ( I am from Yemen by the way ) so I decided to give a try , so I bought GPX 4500 at that time it was famous gold detector device + I bought the big circle coil to give me more detecting depth . Why I went for this trip : 1st : Get Rich , 2nd to having fun and go on an adventure . 6 months past , we were expecting to find 1 kg gold at least to cover at least our expenses on this trip , but we found 180 Grams in total , it seemed like we were out of luck may be because we just rushed things up without guard our self with knowledge about gold prospect , we just used the experience of people who went on this trip before and good guy who program the device for us . And that is how round 1 ends in 2010 . What kind of advice I am seeking from you guys , I am looking for that advice which comes from experience : I am going back for round 2 in 2018 , I have my old GPX-4500 device unsold and before going to Sudan again I need to start fresh this time I needed to gain some knowledge on areas such as: 1- What book / blogs should I read to start my gold hunting education ? 2- Should I sell my old device and buy another one ? 3-How to tell if the device find gold from the the sound it produce how to tell the differences ( talking about GPX 4500 ) , this question is connected to Q Number 2 ... I hared that low sound means gold , high means steel .. I have experienced this myself before , but I think it is just 60% true , I am not sure though , need your input on this . 4-How to tell if one area has gold ( with 10 - 20 % chance at least ) and it is worth the time to spend on searching , geologically before going for search ? Do I really need the help of Google earth to scan the place ? 5-Is it true that only places where people find gold is the best place to find gold , what about exploring new area ( this question connected to question number 4 ) . 6-Is it true that long range gold detector are fake ? Please see this link for more information : http://raregoldnuggets.com/?p=5095 7-When gold detector will fail to find gold ? 8-Do advice me to try looking for gold in the Nile ? Thank you for reading my post and I am looking forward to hear from you . Khaled

Herkese merhaba. Şu anda minelab gpx 5000 kullanıyorum, ancak gpz 7000e'yi değiştirmek istiyorum ama nugget Hayır.Biz şimdi sadece sana sormak istediğim Bizans ve Roma parası var gpz 7000 Doğru seçim miydi? "Hello to everyone. I am using minelab gpx 5000, but I want to change gpz 7000e, but nugget no. We just want to ask you now have Byzantine and Roman money gpz 7000 Was it the right choice?"

Hello anyone know of any type foldable shaft for a gpx. I back pack in alot of spots, it would be great if I had a easier way to carry my gpx. Thanks

Taking the misses away caravaning again and seeing that the last two trips were too gold-bearing spots I decided to take her to the coast instead. I've never detected beaches before and until I get the new equinox will have to settle on the 4500. I'm assuming the gpx will work on sand. Would I use the salt timings? And what about ground balancing? would you turn that off? The other question is coil choice. Go with a DD and use discrimination or don't bother and dig everything. Only got 2 DD's. the standard 11" and a coiltek 24" Would a mono coil work? I've got a 13"x17" nugget finder that's waterproof. The place where staying at isn't popular so I don't think the rubbish levels will be like most beaches. Of course, ill try and keep sand and moisture out of the gpx box.

Hello, This was posted in the Find's forum as well but no answer yet. So I am planning on getting a 18 or 15" DD coil for my GPX 5000 for relic hunting. I am looking at ML and Detech coils. I am unsure if I should go ahead and get the ML 18" DD or rather the Detech one, or maybe even the 15" Spiral DD by Detech. Which one gives more depth on relics? Which one is more quiet? Any suggestions? Thanks FschJg

What is a GPX 4000 in good shape with 3 coils and other extras worth (no warrantee)?

Over ten years ago I was pushing pretty hard on the idea that high power pulse induction detectors would eventually find use for more than just nugget detecting. Relic hunters in bad ground seemed a particularly obvious situation where PI detectors could pick up where the VLFs left off. Daniel TN just made a great post over at Dankowski’s about the shift from VLF to PI, and how the PI use progressed up the power ladder from Garrett Infinium to White’s TDI to Minelab GPX. I ended up calling this Steve’s Law Of Target Depletion. The basic premise is that if high value targets exist, people will start with discriminating VLF detectors and dig the easy targets. However, knowing good finds remain, over time more trash is dug and more powerful detectors used. As long as any chance of a good find remains, this progression will ultimately deplete a good location of all targets, good and bad. Prospectors see this all the time. A location will start with trash and gold. VLFs cherry pick out the easy stuff. Then the “dig it all” troops go to work. Sooner or later you get to where just finding a target, any target, gets to be a challenge. Yet as long as a single target remains, good finds still might happen. If nothing else the trash can hide good targets lurking below, and so even trash remaining can be a good sign. You can never call a place detected out until no targets at all remain in the ground that can be found. And even then, a newer, more powerful detector may make the place come to life again, at least for a time.

Hi guys new to the forum from down under. I can see there is a wealth of info on here and looking forward to taking it all in. I recently hired a Gpz7000 and its an amazing machine however out of my budget (for now). While on that trip I was having major problems keep the machine quite. So I was advise of looking up Lunks settings for the Z. WOW this turn the trip around and picked up half a dozen bits of yella. However I have now come into GPX4500 and I am wondering if there are Lunks settings similar to that for the 4500. I have had a search but cant see anything as yet. Hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Thanks MATE!!!!

Editors Note: This topic was split from the following thread - http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/3923-semi-auto-gpz-ground-balance/ I believe there is a lot of reasons of trying to turn GPX into a GPZ. They wont be never the same thing since they are in different technology . But anyone would like to walk around with an more affordable machine that could pack a punch of the " GREATEST". Im someone who started metal detecting and someday looking to upgrade to a heavier and more powerful machine. So after reading the pro and cons of each one i would pick a GPX over GPZ even if i found a Pound of Gold. -Lightest machine? GPX wins even with a larger coil. -Coils price and more coil options? GPX takes that. -immune to the hottest of ground? GPX i guess wins this since is a PI. Dont know where that ground exist but i know is out there. Okay so i have seen running a GPX with one of the newer coils could match the performace on depth on sub-gram nuggets and up. Now the GPZ would clearly stand out on tiny, spongy and specimen gold. But wouldnt you have enough money left to even buy a SDC 2300? I just dont see the reason of boasting a machine for ability to pick up super tiny gold when you need to pay so much for it. That headline for me fits more a GM1000 since its a way less expensive machine.

Sorry about the title, I couldn't help myself with all the monster talk . This video is a bit of detector vs big coil comparison on a decent sized bit of trash (unfortunately).

I had my first experience with caliche recently...I was wondering if anyone has advice on which coils work well on caliche covered nuggets. I plan to buy a 9x14 evolution soon, but don't know if that will be better in this regard. I was swinging an advantage 12" RM and managed to get one, but thought there could have been some I may not have heard. I use a goldscreamer and it blasts on the tiniest of targets so I think there may be something special about nuggets with caliche. Any experience you can share is appreciated.

There appears to be a new genuine by Minelab smaller battery option available for the GPX series. Oddly enough it is not on the Minelab site and no reference to it anywhere except one Australian dealer http://www.minersden.com.au/minelab-gpx-small-lightweight-battery/ Part number 3011-0332 and less than half the weight, 18.6 wH good for around three hours.

Does anyone know the part number and or the manufacturer of the connectors on the end of the Minelab gpx battery cable ? It looks like a common 5 pin mic cable. I make my own cables have so since the sd's. Thank you Kenny

Post any tips when switching coils or "going from mild to hot ground "or" Big coil 18 plus size" detector settings that need switching? Or any thing else" that comes to mind?When operating the Minelab Gpx-4500/5000's... The Guy's w/ the Zed's are the 1%.and deserve a $10g machine! I watched some "Aussies" $$$Payoff their Zedz in 90days! upon it first debut ..Im sure there's a "Bunch" of newbies' like"Me" out there/on here...that got into p/i/ during the last 24months. Because we could finally $$$ afford to! And at $2600 for a gpx45! Thanks Minelab and Rob'sDetector's! I "appreciate" all posts/responses I've Read thruout the "forum" archived&current and take heart of "Everything" I can on these Great Machines! And Feel Blessed" to be Carrying one! Just like my "Mates Down Under" Thanks! Cheers, Ig Hot Ground Balance below;

Doing a bit of testing on the new Evolution coil. Some may recall I was skeptical of the newer generations of coils and I said I would post a testing video when I got one of them to test. Results were not entirely surprising for those who don't like watching videos, but overall I am satisfied with the Evo. See below video for summary. GPZ is definitely king of the dinks, but superior overall on all targets too. If I had some crystalline or highly disseminated specimens to test it wouldn't even be a contest. These tests pretty much replicate my experience in the field - on medium sized stuff I am generally getting 1-3 inches deeper with the GPZ which may be like 10% improvements, but on smaller stuff I am seeing more like 40% depth improvements. Evo is definitely more sensitive and deeper than the 17x11 on every piece of gold I tested. Question is whether it's more sensitive then it's direct size equivalent which would be a 15" round mono. I think it would be, I'm guessing it's probably closer to a 16" round or maybe even a little better when it comes to the small stuff which is (like the GPZ) where I think the biggest gains are at since a 16" round mono would probably not pick up the last nugget I tested at all, or if so only right on the edge where the winding is at. What I'd like to test is whether or not it has greatly increased sensitivity to the crystalline/disseminated stuff but I sold all of it that I found this spring. After the last few generations of newer coils, this one seems like the first to make a noticeable change to me, but don't expect miracles. In other words, it's easily noticeable to me, but slight...but in a game of inches that can be everything. I have now made the Evo my default coil on my 4500 and put the 17x11 on the shelf for the first time in 5 years. For long exploratory trips where I spend all day weedwacking nonstop I'll still use the 17x11 because its much lighter.

Just recently we were detecting (all experienced detectorist) in the grasslands of California, with two GPZ's, one had the stock 14" coil and the other had the 19" coil and two GPX's one had the 17x13 Evo and the other had the Minelab 12x15. Towards the end of the day, we decided to perform a test. We buried about a 9mm slug 14" deep. I went over the target with my GPZ, HY, Normal, Sen 15, Smoothing Off, and barely heard the target. Same settings with the 19" but much better results. Heard the target about three inches above the ground. Next, the GPX with the Evo coil in Sharp, General, don't remember the gain but a smooth threshold with the gold screamer, and no signal. The next detector is the one that is really giving me heart burn, the GPX with the 12x15 commander in Sensitive Extra, General, don't remember the gain but a smooth threshold with the stock battery. It gave an obvious signal about 5 inches above the ground. I could not believe how loud of a target response this stock GPX gave. After hearing the results from the GPX, I increased my Sensitiviy to 20, but there was too much ground noise to hear a target. I also tried different ground and gold modes with the GPZ, but nothing compared to that GPX. I wish we had more time to really investigate, but we were all tired, and the sun had already set behind the mountain. Is this just one of those scenarios that we must except and move on, or is there some credibility here??? Has anyone done similar tests or can give some suggestions? Still scratching my head, Brian.

when useing a DD coil on GPX 4500 do i need to flip toggle to DD?

Xp deus shaft docs gold screamer and a few different wireless options! Finally got all the peices. Of course I got a bum connector peices for the aptx blue tooth so that will have to wait. I did test it but I had to keep my fingers on the connection while I used it. I must say sounded perfect, there was no lag as far as I could tell. Ready to stuff it in the pack and go find some gold!

Hi all, I'm ready to buy my first detector and have narrowed the choice down to two. Mainly based on price but some advice could help point me in the right direction. My choices are the GPX 4500 & SDC 2300, within $100 of each other. Most of my hunting will be in the Golden Triangle of central Victoria, Australia. The GPX seems to be more versatile but the SDC appears to be easier to master. It appears both will find gold in the right hands so I suppose my quandary revolves around which one will give me the broadest chance to find gold in quantity and size. Cheers in advance, Benny.

I have a ML GPX 4500 and want to buy a control box cover that has a battery pocket. So, I need a shorter power cord...any idea where to get one (and ensure it meets specs)?? And, any suggestions on the best headphones? ...Killer Bee Wasp?

As a total newbie, the more I read the more confused I become. I was leaning towards a 2300 as a first machine to use when I move back to AZ. But I was looking at the 4500 and 5000 as the price where I am are all within 100 bucks of each other. Makes for a tough choice........BUT then I keep reading about the GPZ and the size and depth increases it affords and I think that is the machine I will ultimately want anyway. I am new to the detecting(read zero experience since the 80's), but not to prospecting. Would I be getting over my head going straight to the GPZ? I am not talking about the price as much as I want to know if as a first piece of equipment is it too much? Do I need to work my way up the ranks before I get the big dog? I do not want to buy and then sell a 2300 or a 5000 or both only to arrive at the 7000 as an end game machine anyway. So if I bite the bullet and skip the retirement watch..... I defer to the experts.