GMT or Goldbug pro?

[Guest]

Hi guys,
What way would you go? Got the chance of a GMT and a Gold bug pro.
What's the pro's and con's for both, deepest, smallest nuggets etc etc.

Both seem good but there's plus's and minus's for both.........too much information

Cheers,
Paul

 

[Diggerdude]

If you got to much info I won't add any more. Just my preference, GMT.

DD

 

[Guest]

:lol: ha ha ha, can you please give an honest opinion as to why? I'm looking for something that can handle highly mineralised soil, small nuggets and reasonable depth but without the $$$$$ of a gpx.....am I dreaming?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[Ben78]

GMT will get smaller gold but is not as deep as a GBP
GBP won't get the super tiny stuff the GMT will but will get bigger nuggets deeper.

GBP will handle hot ground better (lower frequency)
The continuous ground phase readout of the GBP is very handy, so is the 'Iron Probability' of the GMT, but the phase readout and Fe3O4 meter of the GBP will tell you that anyway.

The GBP is also an excellent coin hunter especially in nail infested sites - you'll be able to effectively hunt nuggets in the old camp dumps on the goldfields too.

Both machines are Dave Johnson designs, the GBP being the newest.

Both have a great selection of coils for all hunting circumstances.

Personally, I'd get a GBP as I like to coin hunt too. If I was 100% gold focussed I'd be getting a GMT or GBII

Look at the size of the gold in your area, if it is all sub tenth gram stuff then go the GMT/GBII if there is a lot of .5 and larger such as the Victorian fields then the GBP....

Help?

 

[Guest]

GMT because I know it works.

 

[Outback]

Both machines are Dave Johnson designs, the GBP being the newest.

Well said Ben ,

What is worth knowing is Dave Johnson favourite of all the gold detectors he has engineered is his Tesoro Diablo Umax design , was only about 18 months ago that I exchanged posts with him on a US site called Find's Treasure Forums that he confirmed it , he also said that it's the one detector he owns that will never be for sale !!

 

[Ben78]

Tesoro Diablo Umax

Good luck finding one....

BTW They are a 17.8khz machine

 

[Outback]

Yes Ben they are .
I have a mint condition one myself

 

[Goldpick]

It will always be hard to compete depth wise with a VLF detector vs a pulse induction detector like the 5000, hence the price hike up to the 5000. Hence efforts should be concentrated on finding smaller nuggets and specimens near or at surface. As mentioned, I'd be tempted by either the GB2 or GMT simply due to their track record on successful finds, and being especially designed for gold detecting. Considering most areas would have been picked over by PI detectors that can detect sub gram gold these days, it makes sense to acquire a high frequency detector, which will be more capable of finding what has been passed over by the PI detectors.

With so many VLF detectors out there running 15-20khz, you sure don't hear about too many finds from them, but on the other hand, you still hear about finds from the high frequency detectors like the GMT & GB2. There is a reason why, despite being dated design, the GB2 is still being sold, and that is due to it being so succcssful, alongside the GMT, which is yet another incarnation of the old goldmaster series of detectors - reliable, proven and toughly built. If and when I get back into gold detecting, either one of these detectors will most likely find its way into my arsenal again, alongside a decent PI gold machine.

I'd class the GB Pro more of an all-rounder detector, similar to say the Minelab X-Terra 705 or AT Pro/Gold,allwith similar frequencies.

 

[Guest]

I heard on another forum when searching the gold bug pro that its more stable than the gb2, due to the dual processor?

I want a machine that would be good for mount Crawford, Jupiter creek, chapel hill and other places in SA.

GB pro is cheaper, but GMT is more sensitive to smaller stuff?

 

[Outback]

Good post Goldpick ,

I've used PIs since buying a new SD2100 back in 1996 , last was a 4500 .
What did awake me was the types of gold they just were not able to signal on .

 

[Guest]

Good post Goldpick ,

I've used PIs since buying a new SD2100 back in 1996 , last was a 4500 .
What did awake me was the types of gold they just were not able to signal on .

GB pro or GMT?

 

[Goldpick]

I heard on another forum when searching the gold bug pro that its more stable than the gb2, due to the dual processor?

I want a machine that would be good for mount Crawford, Jupiter creek, chapel hill and other places in SA.

GB pro is cheaper, but GMT is more sensitive to smaller stuff?

I've personally seen a GB Pro at work at Chapel Hill, and I think it didn't do a better job of picking out targets like my old high frequency Goldmaster 2 did - in fact the pro seemed to love the hot rocks that littered the area, and had trouble discerning between good and bad targets. Hence why I rely on the old school method of detecting, going by target tones vs relying on a visual display to tell me what it is.

By the time the gb pro had it's first decent signal, I had already pocketed quite a few very small pieces of lead shot and .22 casings. Though a lot of it does come down to experience in recognising the tell tale tones of a good solid target over yet another bastard hot rock. A recommendation is to get decent pick, and mount a rare earth magnet on the underside, or on the handle, this will weed out any of those annoying little magnetic hot rocks that are common at both chapel hill and jupiter creek, less so at Mt Crawford. Most of the recent finds found around Chapel Hill have been with either the Goldbug 2 or GMT, around the shaft spoil material (white pipe clay), and we are talking about miniscule pieces of gold that the gb pro would not be able to pick up due to its lower frequency.

Keep in mind that both Chapel Hill and Jupiter Creek have certain areas that are iron infested, and will be near on impossible to detect with a VLF, sometimes to the stage of overloading the detector. You must reduce the detector sensitivity to a point where a stable background threshold is achieved, otherwise it will be simply a waste of time detecting. Sometimes this will mean reducing sensitivity by half or more to gain acceptable threshold, hence why I say that you will mainly be looking at only surface or near surface targets.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the post Goldpick, I'm leaning towards the GMT at the moment, pity I couldn't use them both over a weekend and see which one suits my needs best.........I'll be selling my ace 350 and Fisher F4 to fund the new model.

 

[Outback]

Good post Goldpick ,

I've used PIs since buying a new SD2100 back in 1996 , last was a 4500 .
What did awake me was the types of gold they just were not able to signal on .

GB pro or GMT?

Neither ! My pick - the Tesoro Diablo Umax , has a separate hot rock ground balance that no other detector has , also the best stable threshold ever using normal manual GB on hot ground !! no wonder the guy who designed them all ~ loves his TDU above all others :lol:

 

[Goldpick]

Good post Goldpick ,

I've used PIs since buying a new SD2100 back in 1996 , last was a 4500 .
What did awake me was the types of gold they just were not able to signal on .

GB pro or GMT?

Neither ! My pick - the Tesoro Diablo Umax , has a separate hot rock ground balance that no other detector has , also the best stable threshold ever using normal manual GB on hot ground !! no wonder the guy who designed them all ~ loves his TDU above all others :lol:

Pity it is not sold anymore, so you can quickly discount it. Although I did see one on ebay.us a little while back, would have been a good buy for the price and its rarity, as I am very fond of Tesoros.

For the record, the guys that regularly detect Chapel Hill successfully, used to own a GMT, but upgraded to the GB2 with greater success. Whilst the GMT was a good detector there, the GB2 was better at picking out the flyspeck gold due to its higher frequency, and was bit more stable from memory. Either way, both detectors would be good to own, a lot may come down to preferring either the manual ground balancing of the GB2, or the auto tracking of the GMT.

 

[Guest]

Just did a search for gb2 but nothing came back for sale here, just gb, GB pro and GB dp

 

[Goldpick]

You can buy Fisher detectors directfrom the US throuth places like Kellyco, as there are no manufacturer restrictions as with Whites, Tesoro and Garrett, should also be able to get one a lot cheaper, even with shipping to Oz. The only issues will be with any warranty claims having to send the detector back to the US for repairs vs through Australian dealers, but that doesn't restrict me from buying abroad. Should also improve resale value if you ever want to sell or upgrade, the guys that bought theirs for Chapel Hill also bought from abroad. Plus Kellyco also usually included a lot of extras at no extra charge, something you will likely never see happen in Oz.

Just ensure that the whole package including shipping comes under $1000au so you don't pay any import taxes/custom fees, if it does, it may just be more worth your while looking at the gmt from Goldsearch Australia, plus you will have local warranty.

http://www.kellycodetectors.com/fisher/fishergold_goldbug2_10coil.htm

 

[Outback]

[Pity it is not sold anymore, so you can quickly discount it. Although I did see one on ebay.us a little while back, would have been a good buy for the price and its rarity, as I am very fond of Tesoros.

For the record, the guys that regularly detect Chapel Hill successfully, used to own a GMT, but upgraded to the GB2 with greater success. Whilst the GMT was a good detector there, the GB2 was better at picking out the flyspeck gold due to its higher frequency, and was bit more stable from memory. Either way, both detectors would be good to own, a lot may come down to preferring either the manual ground balancing of the GB2, or the auto tracking of the GMT.

Goldpick makes some good points between the two , manual or auto tracking preference is very important .

Think about this when using auto track !
Example ~ Your swinging your coil over the ground when you get a faint signal ' we all naturally re-swing over that area to check again- but using the auto ground balance setting the detector thinks its ground noise & makes the original signal disappear as the coil moves over it .

Same signal using manual ground balance , each swing over it sounds the same ' so you dig that faint signal & maybe find a big deep nugget !

See the difference ' auto GB you dig less , manual GB you dig more .

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info guys,
Kellyco have the gb2 with 2 different size coils a 6" and a 10" what's the difference in depth and search capabilities?