Why I Think The Gold Monster 2000 Will Be A Game Changer

[Steve Herschbach]

I was very deep into prototype testing for the Equinox 800, practically from day one. The detector was intended as a coin/relic/jewelry detector, with a gold prospecting mode last on the list anyone cared about. The original Gold Mode was conceived of as primarily being a 40 kHz single frequency mode. Because everyone knows a high single frequency is best for small gold, right?

A funny thing happened in testing. The Gold Mode Multi option consistently outperformed the single frequency options. In fact, in my use I only found the single frequency modes useful in making the E800 less sensitive to hot ground/hot rocks or EMI. I basically never used the single frequency options in the Equinox 800 Gold Mode unless forced to, and that really never happened. Multi is where the magic is.

Long story short ever since that early experience with the Equinox 800 I have been convinced that a SMF dedicated to nugget detecting was where the future lies. It was just a matter of time. Minelab was the best bet but I tried hard to sell Garrett on the concept when Vortex reared it's head. Got the same old tired "single frequency is better" response from them, stuck in the past. Minelab of course knows better, I promise you that.

I got the Manticore once the 5x8 coil came out, something I thought was necessary before it could compete with the Equinox 800 on gold nuggets. I have not been disappointed. The extra power of the Manticore along with the enhanced tuning options and 2D screen easily make it my preferred nugget detector over the Equinox 800, which has been retired.

The caveat? The Equinox 800 and Manticore even more so suffer from heavy hot rock interference in what is more or less the middle of the gold range, around 13 or so on the 800, and mostly 20-21 on the Manticore, though it will of course vary by location and type of hot rock. With the Nox it was basically notch it out if the area was bad enough and kiss off gold in that that read the same. With the Manticore the 2D screen and extra ferrous options/notch strategies help a lot, but the problem still remains. The good news is I am usually hunting areas where all the larger gold has already been cherry picked out by PI detectors. Most gold I find reads in the single digits, 1-6 or really 1-2 most often. Nuggets have to be larger, like gram plus to get up into double digits.

It has been obvious to me ever since the Equinox 800 that the Gold Monster 1000 replacement would be a multi. But with the addition of advanced ground handling capability, derived from the time domain ground processing Minelab has employed in multi going all the way back to the earliest BBS machines. Welcome to Multi-AU with some marketing catch words like "hybrid" and "PI based ground processing" tossed in to snare the unaware. It's not a PI, it's simultaneous multi-frequency, but what a SMF it will be. The SMF ground processing will be tweaked as much as the brightest minds in the industry can tweak it to deal with ground and hot rocks the Equinox and Manticore struggle with. With that in mind going to the next level with words like "hybrid" and "PI Based Ground Processing" is more than just marketing hype - there is a base reality at work here that is the secret sauce Minelab uses to exceed anything the competition comes up with. Nobody knows ground processing like Minelab - air testers need not apply! 

People are questioning whether the Gold Monster 2000 will be better than the Manticore on gold nuggets? Really? It's all about focus, engineers focused on making a detector for finding gold nuggets. Not relics. Not beach detecting. Not coins. Gold nuggets, in mineralized ground, front and center, succeed or find a new job. That's what the Gold Monster 2000 is and anyone that thinks Minelab will put out a gold machine that does not find gold where it's previous models have failed has not been paying very much attention for the last 20 years or more. They know exactly what gold their models miss and each new generation targets what is most likely left out there. Only a fool would expect anything less from them with the Gold Monster 2000. I've been a fool in many things in life but gold nugget detecting has not rated there often.  That's why I think the Gold Monster 2000 will be a game changer for many people who right now are struggling to find gold, any gold at all. Forget the size, just keep the skunk off my back! There are more tiny bits than any other size left out there and taken collectively they add up to a lot of gold still to be found.

Gold prices over $3000 making numerous tiny bits worth a dig plus Gold Monster 2000 = mini gold rush! It's going to work and too many people can afford it, so look out goldfields. If there is any downside here, it's that. Too many people out there again in places that were getting lonely as of late - but I like it lonely.

This is the detector I knew would happen and waited for ever since the Equinox 800 eight long years ago. It’s had plenty of time to cook and that’s why I’m confident it will light up some places currently considered dead ground. The trick will be in targeting places where prolific small gold is likely to be found, a bit different than going after those big nugget locations. Places that were always poor with a PI might be the best places for a GM2000. Places with gold too small for most PI detectors. Trashy areas. And maybe, just maybe, the GM2000 has a side bonus in being a good jewelry detector. 

Detailed Information on Gold Monster 2000

[ChuckScrivener]

Thank you for your well thought out opinion. It's backed up by knowledge and experience so it's worth a lot. 

I for one am excited for it and will be purchasing one as soon as possible. Mainly because I have a lot of patches from my past where I wish I could have run a Gold Bug 2 but the ground conditions wouldn't allow it. One patch in particular I am excited to take it is one where I pulled out 4 ounces of alluvial gold from a hillside with very hot soil. The GPX and GPZ handled it well but the gold bug screamed on it. Yet the GB2 came in after both of them and picked up 8 grams right on the surface even in those nasty conditions. 

I have a lot of spots near my home where I'm sure it will be a blast picking up specks that no other machine can at the moment.

This new Gold Monster is something all detectorists yearn for. A detector that makes new gold available that nothing can currently detect. That's a huge deal. 

Another reason I'm excited for it, if I take a 2 or 3 day camping trip to some of my favorite areas, I may get skunked with the Axiom (my current detector). But, I could probably take the GM2 out for a couple hours and get some yellow to show. Maybe even pay for the gas no matter how bad the PI swinging has gone. It sounds like the ultimate skunk buster in all areas. 

My one hope I haven't seen much from JP is that the discrimination is very good on it. I want to be able to run it on old tailings. 

[mn90403]

Focus.  That is the key I think here.  GM2 focus.

After a year of owning a Manticore I'm just starting to discover how many ways there are to change it.  I can't possibly know what I want so I just use a program suggested by someone else.

JP had a post yesterday talking about the joy of being simple with the GM2.  It does (based upon his results) what it is designed to do.  He describes it as fun.

It sounds like a detector I could give to my 7-8 year old and he would have fun and I could give to my wife because she hates to get skunked.  I may even use one if I go on a solo trip!  haha

This indeed may be a game changer and it may also be the last game.  My eyes can't see smaller than this detector hears.

[Aureous]

7 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

The truck will be in targeting places where prolific small gold is likely to be

Steve, You might wanna edit the 'truck' part and insert 'trick'. Took my old morning brain a couple minutes to work out what you were saying. 100% perfect analysis of what the GM2 is offering BTW. 

What hasn't been said recently, is just how nice the audio is. The few videos of it in action sounds like a dream come true to me....a lovely VCO type hum and crisp, obvious target signal. I cant wait!

[Gold Catcher]

Thanks for sharing your perspective, Steve. Given the tentative price and performance, it looks like a solid win for our hobby. Hopefully, it’ll encourage more aspiring prospectors to dive in and discover both the thrill—and misery—that comes with metal detecting. Personally, I doubt the 2000 will find significantly more gold than the 6000, especially considering how incredibly sensitive the 6000 is when dialed into max manual settings with a small coil, leading to virtually microscopic flakes in the scoop. Even if the 2000 edges out the 6000 on detecting tiny fast gold, that advantage may not translate into a meaningful payoff. What I’m really looking forward to is improved target ID—and if discrimination for shallow targets becomes a key factor, I’m hopeful/optimistic the GM will be best-in-class.

GC

[Steve Herschbach]

15 minutes ago, Gold Catcher said:

Thanks for sharing your perspective, Steve. Given the tentative price and performance, it looks like a solid win for our hobby. Hopefully, it’ll encourage more aspiring prospectors to dive in and discover both the thrill—and misery—that comes with metal detecting. Personally, I doubt the 2000 will find significantly more gold than the 6000, especially considering how incredibly sensitive the 6000 is when dialed into max manual settings with a small coil, leading to virtually microscopic flakes in the scoop. Even if the 2000 edges out the 6000 on detecting tiny fast gold, that advantage may not translate into a meaningful payoff. What I’m really looking forward to is improved target ID—and if discrimination for shallow targets becomes a key factor, I’m hopeful/optimistic the GM will be best-in-class.

GC

I'll bet it easily finds gold a 6000 misses all day long.

[phrunt]

Bit puzzled by that Gold Catcher, the 6000 is barely more sensitive than a Gold Bug Pro on small gold. While it excels on depth on much of that smaller gold and obviously ground handling, it's not comparable to a VLF for small gold sensitivity.

The GM1000 towers over the 6000 on small gold sensitivity and the 2000 having even higher frequencies will help bring that sensitivity up to possibly finally dethrone the Gold Bug 2 after 30 years being the most sensitive standard metal detector without going into probe type things.

Remember this marketing chart by Minelab for the 1000? 

Not only did it show why the GM1000 was going to probably pick up on average more gold than existing VLF detectors at the time it also showed where the GM1000 was weaker than other detectors, like the 19kHz models having a slight edge on bigger stuff, and the 71kHz (clearly referencing the GB2 at 71kHz) being more sensitive to the smaller stuff, now the GM2000 is going to have the lot incorporated into one model being a SMF.

Having the 2000 handle hot rocks better sounds great, although it's been said already it doesn't get rid of them all, but does anything? Not that I've found thus far, possibly the SDC being the best at that.

The more I think about the GM2000 and the early reports of it the more exciting it becomes, 

[Gold Catcher]

1 minute ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I'll bet it easily finds gold a 6000 misses all day long.

If so, I would be thrilled! But I also want better ID 😁

GC 

[Gold Catcher]

We’ll see—I'm already on the waiting list, of course. Exciting times ahead, with plenty of reports that will come into DP that I’m eager to read. I still have doubts about whether the performance difference will translate into anything meaningful. I can just picture myself bending over twice as often to recover an extra 0.01g that the 6000 might have missed. That said, I’m viewing this through the lens of a 6000 owner, and that of course is not the case for all. I'm also curious whether Multi-AU truly overcomes the limitations VLFs face in hot ground. In very mild soil, I agree that VLFs have a sensitivity edge—my GB2 has proven that time and again. Unfortunately, mild soil isn’t something I encounter often. Regardless, this will be a fantastic new toy, and I look forward to its release.

GC