Let’s Bombard Minelab With Suggestions For GPX 6000 Update

[Chase Goldman]

On 8/12/2022 at 10:45 AM, bklein said:

They should take input and act on it. It can’t have a gold mode like the EQ??  If you intend to sell a detector for years - support it and keep the buzz going in the forums.

They can continue to sell it wothout having to invest in updating it, because it still sells as it does one thing better than most (or despite the fact it only does one thing well - depending on your point of view) - i.e., it reliably, accurately ID's high conductors at depth in mild soil. An expensive one trick pony that still brings in revenue to ML.  Their cash cow being the Equinox and their various gold machines.

But count me in as one of those folks who would like to see a CTX update built around the Multi-IQ platform.

[Chase Goldman]

15 hours ago, Ridge Runner said:

When Minelab gives us a update you and Minelab both profit nothing from it . I believe Minelab has come up with improvements that could make a 6000 better than what it is now but why should they .

Chuck, You're looking at it from the perspective of updating sold machines. Some people are holding off buying the rigs until these known issues are addressed.  Now ML might lose those potential buyers to Axiom.  So, it DOES make business sense for ML to keep the 6000 updated and it CAN impact their bottom line.  So there's your answer to your question "why should they[?]"

[phrunt]

At this stage they won't care about the Axiom, it's priced almost the same as the 6000 in the Australian market so it's no threat at all there,  It was always going to be a tough nut to crack in Australia but pricing it so close to the same is certainly no way to do it,  they may get a dip in sales in the US market but I doubt it will change their life at all anywhere else in the world and sales will continue to grow as they forecast. 

It may get a mention that it exists at their meetings but that's about it.   For their next model detector I'm sure because of Garrett they'll put more effort into build quality though, that's one of the benefits of competition, they'll look at everything the competition did better and try and improve on it and even if they just look at photos they'll see the Garrett appears better build quality.  They had a shaft engineer that understood how to design a shaft that won't twist for a start.  Minelab perhaps had staffing issues due to Covid and used the delivery driver in their lunch break to design their shaft.

If they're not going to do any firmware updates, which I genuinely think there must be something they can fix on the thing with firmware at least release a smaller DD coil, their current one seems good and surprising how sensitive it is, never heard of anyone having a faulty one although so few people probably use them much that they wouldn't even know it I guess.  Coiltek hinted they may make one, I hope so.   I see Minelab coils as reference coils, they give the blueprints then the aftermarket come along and build them properly.

Doing a firmware update for the 6000 would reassure customers that Minelab care a little about them, and don't just see them as wallets.  I thought they did quite well with the Equinox, updates came out, even updates that added new features, it was like the wind changed directions, albeit for a short time.

[jasong]

Thing that confuses me is that Garrett coulda been capturing some market share now over here right now, the 6000 has problems. I'm pretty surprised we can't even get an ETA on the Axiom shipping. Been almost 3 weeks since announcement. 

It's cheaper here, and it looks to run a lot quieter. They could take some ML customers away while the 6000 is ailing over here with issues.

I was chomping at the bit to get a working Axiom in my hands and ditch the 6000 finally. But, I had to finally go buy a Coiltek though, so I can keep working this season. And its like - ok, now I just spent another $400 on the 6000, and if it'll actually work now, then do I even have as much reason to buy an Axiom? I guess it depends how much the aftermarket coil helps.

Scratching my head why we couldn't have even gotten an ETA on shipment. Can't sit and wait forever when there is work to get done now and the clock is ticking before snow ends the season. Now it looks like I'll probably stick with big blue if this coil fixes things, seems pointless to sell a working detector, take a $1900 loss, just to get one that is more or less equivalent.

[Luis]

I'm glad there is some competition when it comes to pulse detector.  but I really don't think it will shake a company like Minelab even if its new detector has so many problems.  An easy solution that I would see to take away that niche from Garrett is to put a 5000 in the 6000 package, call it 5000+ and put a price of 3000 dollars.  problem solved.  Minelab has the resources to do that

[jasong]

Problem is in Arizona there isn't as much exploration to do, it's more patch cleaning. 

I use the GPZ far more than the 6000 in Arizona unless I'm trying to quickly cover lots of ground. So I'd also use the GPZ more than Axiom based on the reports I've read regarding performance. 

The strengths of the Axiom and 6000 aren't in places like Gold Basin. Quartzsite, or any old common goldfields if you ask me, it's in a light, quick detector to explore new places efficiently. That's also the future of gold detecting in the US IMO too, and I'm one of the people that is going to demonstrate that.

[phrunt]

I guess you're setting a good example for me Jason, it's what I should be using my 6000 for, exploration, covering ground and exploring then bring in the big guns with the 7000 to find the gold once the first ones been uncovered with the 6000.   I've been a bit lost why I'd use the 6000 over my 7000 and your example there is where it would be very beneficial.  I need to get out there in the hills just roaming hoping to find something with it, some new ground.

[jasong]

Well, there is a time for super slow. And a time for fast and ground coverage.

To learn and start, everyone should go slow in known patches I think. To develop pattern recognition. But as you learn where nuggets are, and where they aren't, you develop more pattern recognition and can speed up to bypass the chaff and concentrate on harvesting the good wheat. And in the end it pays better to spend time finding new patches than trying everything in the book to squeeze another drop of juice from a dry lemon in old patches. Most old goldfields are dry lemons these days.

1 single virgin patch produces more than a lot of people have found detecting in a decade in old beat up patches sometimes. It's a matter of maximizing yield, which is factoring in both production and time spent to make that production.

These new lightweight detectors like the 6000 and Axiom seem custom built for just this kind of exploration to me.

 

[phrunt]

Thanks, I was a bit lost as to why I got the 14x9" too now I have a use for it along with the 6000, exciting ? Bring on summer.