Az Hot Rocks

[Skyfired69]

I live in AZ, we have a lot of Hot Rocks and tiny gold.  I've been thinking of getting a Gold Detector.  I have narrowed it down to 3.  Gold Bug 2, Gold Monster 1000, and the XP Deus 2.  I'm a beginner, but would like to advance with the detector I choose.  $1500 is the most I can go, even though a PI detector would be excellent.  Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Knomad]

The Goldbug 2 was always the go to for small shallow gold on moderate ground, but the Monster is newer tech that is a better bet, and as easy to use as it gets.  The XP is more of a general purpose detector.  A Minelab Equinox 800 would be a better general purpose detector, and is as good as any VLF on gold.

[DSMITH]

5 hours ago, Skyfired69 said:

I live in AZ, we have a lot of Hot Rocks and tiny gold.  I've been thinking of getting a Gold Detector.  I have narrowed it down to 3.  Gold Bug 2, Gold Monster 1000, and the XP Deus 2.  I'm a beginner, but would like to advance with the detector I choose.  $1500 is the most I can go, even though a PI detector would be excellent.  Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Personally speaking i would also consider the Garrett GM 24K if I were you, I owned the Gold Monster 1000 and there were things I did not like with the GM1000, it had bad coil knock sensitivity, and a few other things I just did not care for,and do not take what I say as the GM1000 as saying its a bad nugget detector it is not it was very hot on small non ferrous targets, have never owned any of the XP detectors or a gold bug 2 so I will not comment on either of those, I just think there are better nugget detectors out there than the GM1000 and in my opinion the Garrett 24K is one of those that I feel is better

There is a very nice PI for sale in the Classifieds section that is a good buy in my opinion, if I did not have a PI already I would have jumped all over this already, I believe its still available and I think it would make a great first PI for someone

something you need to think about do you want a all around detector or do you want a gold specific detector

 

What part of AZ are you located

 

 

[Lead Detector]

I own the goldbug 2. I also own a nokta gold kruzer.  If I could only keep one, I would choose the nokta gold kruzer. It sees those tiny bits, it's newer tech, fully water proof to 15 ft, and it $200 cheaper. Just my opinion. 

[Jeff McClendon]

If you just want to hunt for gold nuggets you have lots of choices from dedicated VLFs and pulse induction detectors.

If your area has mostly sub gram gold, a VLF like the Fisher Goldbug 2, Minelab Goldmonster 1000, Garrett/Whites Goldmaster 24K, Nokta Gold Kruzer, Nokta NuggetFinder 2000 and the XP ORX with the white HF coils would be good choices. If you want to also hunt for sub gram gold nuggets plus relics, coins and jewelry eventually there are also some great VLF choices for that too that have simultaneous multi frequency operation like the Minelab Equinox 800, Minelab Equinox 900, Minelab Manticore, Nokta Legend and XP Deus 2. Those detectors have excellent dedicated gold prospecting modes that easily rival the sensitivity and mineralized ground handling of the dedicated gold prospecting detectors listed above them. All of the detectors listed in this paragraph are $1600 or less if you shop carefully. If you are current or former US military, Minelab and Garrett offer 15% discounts for many of their new detectors.

There are some used pulse induction detectors that are good for a wide range of gold nugget sizes from 0.1 gram small nuggets and up. They are not cheap even when buying used. If you can find a Minelab SDC 2300, GPX 4000, 4500, 4800 or 5000 for $1500 or less that actually works, buy it. The Whites TDIs are good too but they simply will not hit sub 0.25 gram and smaller nuggets consistently. 

[phrunt]

Although it's about to have an overhaul this answers your question when it comes to dedicated gold detectors and sums them up well.

 

The challenging part is now detectors that are essentially general-purpose machines are starting to take over being equal if not better to many of the gold prospecting VLF's while also having multi frequency which can help with difficult ground over single frequency which the stand-alone prospecting VLF's all currently are.

Worth taking note when it comes to these general-purpose machines are the Equinox 800,900, Manticore, Nokta Legend and Deus 2.  I have all of the dedicated prospecting VLF's I consider to be the best yet I still often reach for a general-purpose machine, namely the Equinox 800 when looking for small gold nuggets.  

The Garrett 24k I personally think is the best of the dedicated single frequency gold nugget machines when it comes to handling hot rocks, far better than the Gold Bug 2 and Gold Monster for example.

The GB2 is so slow at recovering from its "boing" hot rock sound that it easily misses gold in a hot rock area, other more modern faster detectors will find gold nearer to hot rocks better.  

[Gold Catcher]

Go for a used SDC. A PI will serve you much better than any VLF in the area where you are. And it is also a much more serious tech when it comes to gold hunting. If you can't find one for 1.5k, then rather save up a bit longer and buy when you can afford it. It will be a much better investment for the longer run, assuming hunting gold is your focus.

GC

[HardPack]

13 hours ago, Skyfired69 said:

I have narrowed it down to 3

Or a XP Deus with one of the HF coils.  
HF 9 inch round 15, 30 & 50 kHz or the HF Elliptical 15, 30 & 80 kHz.
plus the X35 coils for that ghost town silver.

[DSMITH]

@Skyfired69 For me personally if I wanted to purchase a detector for the purposes you intend to use it for and I set a budget of $1500 I would consider purchasing two detectors one being the Nokta Legend, the Legend is a great all around detector and has a very good dedicated gold mode

and I know there are some on here that are,  thinking why would he suggest a detector that he had issues with well those issues have been resolved now, and I have always felt the Legend was a great all around detector, even though I had some updating issues.

The other detector I would seriously consider is the Whites TDI that is posted up for sale on DP no it is not a Mine Lab or even a Garrett Axiom but the TDI was not that bad of a PI from what I have read about it, its already had the mods done and again would be a great way to get your feet wet in the PI department

Doing what I have suggested above you would have a great all around VLF that has a pretty sensitive gold mode as well as a very good PI and you would most likely be into both for less than the $1500 max budget you have set for yourself

In the end only you can spend your Money the way you see fit to spend it, there have been several great suggestions from people here on DP, and you have many options to consider.