Garrett Goldmaster 24K In Alaska

[Steve Herschbach]

I'm just back from a trip to Alaska, and was lucky enough to have a new Garrett Goldmaster 24K along on the trip, courtesy of Garrett Metal Detectors. For those that may be unaware, the Goldmaster 24K was developed by White's Electronics, and was acquired by Garrett when they purchased White's. The model was White's last new production model, and I am very familiar with the detector, having written a very detailed review of the White's version in 2018. See the link for lots of good information still applicable to the Garrett version.

The newly released Garrett Goldmaster 24K is nearly identical, with the largest change being a switch from a tan to an all black color scheme. I liked that Garrett left the White's logo on the 24K while adding their own, acknowledging the heritage of the detector. I wish Garrett had been able to add their excellent high speed Z-Lynk wireless to the 24K, but I think that would have taken a FCC certification that would have added a lot of cost and time delay at this point in the process, where getting the model back on the market quickly is a priority. Luckily, the Z-Lynk can be added easily with Garrett's universal kit that will work on nearly all detectors made.

Garrett has effectively lowered the price of the detector. It has an M.S.R.P of $799.95 but allows for discounting down to $679.95. Garrett is also including a rechargeable AA battery system and headphones, adding extra value to the package. The only thing lacking at this time are accessory coils, as Garrett reviews and revamps the coil selection. However, existing White's 24K and GMX coils are compatible with the detector. I expect not only more coils from Garrett, but good aftermarket support, as has always been the case with Garrett detectors. In any case, all the gold found in this report was found with the supplied 6”x10” DD coil.

Items included with new Garrett Goldmaster 24K

I used the Garrett 24K in a range of conditions in Alaska, staying almost exclusively in the all metal mode, and digging all targets. The location has some trash, but not enough to keep me from digging everything. The Garrett 24K does have excellent discrimination, but any discrimination can be foiled by tiny gold and ground minerals, so whenever possible I dig everything. I do admit I got into some places though where I used the probability meter to work though a couple high trash areas, but that was only for a couple hours at most.

I normally use the 24K with the ground balance locked, leaving it unlocked just long enough to get a proper ground balance before tapping the lock button. However, for areas where I was running high sensitivity in mixed rocks, the ground tracking was very effective at smoothing out responses from hot rocks, eliminating them almost entirely after just a single repeat swing. Most of my use was in more homogenous conditions however, and so for me locked was the way to go.

My biggest tip for Garrett 24K operators is to not overdrive the sensitivity. This is a very high gain detector, and trying to run it at full sensitivity under all conditions is a big mistake. Too much sensitivity will enhance hot rock responses and ground feedback. I like to scrub the coil on the ground in many cases, and simply lower the sensitivity until I can do so with the machine remaining stable. My settings were as low as 7 (range 0 - 10) and as high as 10, with audio boost enabled. See the owners manual for details.

Alaska was doing the cool weather and rainy thing almost every day, so I really appreciated the 24K being very water resistant, and I felt no need to cover or otherwise go out of my way to keep the machine dry. The rechargeable batteries can give up to 45 hours of operating time per charge, making it possible to run for days without worrying about battery charging. Since the 24K uses eight AA batteries, carrying a set of regular alkaline batteries, or another charged set of rechargeable AA batteries, makes for an easy fix if the batteries should die while in use. This is really important in remote locations where charging may not be possible. Another nice feature is the included telescoping rod, which I used daily when I strapped the 24K to my ATV, and for running a shorter rod setup when working steep hillsides. The underarm battery box makes for a well balanced detector which stays upright when placed on the ground. I am not fond of detectors that like to tip over.

The Garrett 24K has a wide range of adjustment options to please people who want lots of control for various ground conditions, but it can be absurdly easy to run the detector with basic all metal settings. I like that all settings are retained when the detector is shut off, so that once it is set for an area, it can be powered off and fired up in seconds, with no adjusting required.

The Garrett 24K performed admirably, giving me 85 nice gold nuggets totaling 11 grams, or about one-third ounce of gold. The smallest bits were quite small, the smallest at 0.06 gram. I am very happy that Garrett brought the 24K back to the market, because it is an excellent and very affordable option, and one that I genuinely like. Thanks Garrett!

Be sure and check out the Garrett 24K at the Garrett website, along with some videos by yours truly.

Using Garrett Goldmaster 24K in a "scrape and detect" location

85 nuggets at 11 grams found by Steve H in Alaska with Garrett 24K

[Steve Herschbach]

Used hard, and put away wet! Click photo for larger version.

[MSC]

The 24K looks like a good choice for those of us that are disappointed in the "revamped " GB2's future.   

[kac]

I like the looks of the machine. Looks comfortable to swing. I had a pair of those stow away headphones and not a fan of the location of the volume switch. Wonder why they don't ship it with the MS-2's?

[Cascade Steven]

Steve:  Thanks for a nice writeup on the Garrett 24k and your experiences.  I am glad to learn that it is a very capable machine and that Whites coils will interchange.  I look forward to more on your experiences with this machine. 🙂

[Cascade Steven]

Steve:  One other question:  did you find all of you gold with the larger default factory supplied coil shown in your picture?

[Monte]

Steve, knowing you headed north to enjoy some of the summer-time I just knew you would be reporting on the 'new' GM 24K .... and I appreciate your post.    I'm also pleased that Garrett didn't sit back and do nothing, instead bringing out one of the better detectors from White's in their waning years.  I do miss the tan color, however.

Congrats of your success.

Monte

[Steve Herschbach]

2 hours ago, Cascade Steven said:

Steve:  One other question:  did you find all of you gold with the larger default factory supplied coil shown in your picture?

Yes, all was found with stock 6x10 DD coil. I’ll add a note to clarify that in the original post.

[Steve Herschbach]

13 hours ago, Monte said:

Steve, knowing you headed north to enjoy some of the summer-time I just knew you would be reporting on the 'new' GM 24K .... and I appreciate your post.    I'm also pleased that Garrett didn't sit back and do nothing, instead bringing out one of the better detectors from White's in their waning years.  I do miss the tan color, however.

Congrats of your success.

Monte

Thanks Monte,

Yeah, the tan hides the dirt better, as my photos prove. 

Coils that work with Garrett 24K, if you can find them....

[Mike C...]

I personally like the  black look better- I sold my whites 24 k but the guy only wanted the stock coil setup so if anyone is interested in a 6 inch concentric with cover and a 4x6 coil with cover both lighty used-Ill let them both go  for $300 shipped in the lower 48 PM me here if interested-Thx  PS- will also trade for a nuggetfinder 17 elliptical evo mono coil or a 15 rnd evo mono coil