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I'm just about to buy a whites gmt gold master e series I've done my research but would like to now how well it would do in castlemaine any tips out there
Metal Detector Mods
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steelPHASE
Pat
I personally haven't seen a modded modern detector (ie GPX series) perform any better than a standard one. Older detectors, F1A4 or SD series can benefit from being modified.
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Goldfever1967 said:
Got a GMT myself, haven't had it over enough gold to find any yet (got distracted by coins and relics and haven't come back to gold yet) but it's plenty sensitive to find gold here in central Vic. It's not an expensive pulse induction machine so it's going to carry on like a pork chop wherever there's lots of iron mineralisation in the soil which is basically most areas here. The best place to hunt with the GMT is going to be the old mine dumps - in the white leached material the old timers brought up from the subsurface and fresh rock which clearly has less iron concentration. I've found plenty of really tiny shotgun pellets and pieces of blasting caps in the dumps so it's just a matter of actually getting it over some gold. Definitely get yourself a plastic scoop as well and watch on Youtube how people use it to find the tiny targets while digging - you'll go mad otherwise.
Personally I use manual ground balance, set the gain to something sensible (not too high) and run the VSAT at the maximum of 10, seem to have the most success finding very small targets in mineralised ground this way, might not necessarily be the 'right' settings for most but it's what's clicked with me so far.
DittosteelPHASE said:
A mate paid 2.5k to get his 5000 modded, took forever to get it back, and when he did the workmanship was garbage , and it in m6 eyes works no better
I think it may depend on who does the mods. I had a 4k and was improved.....particularly on sens smooth
Stubbie holder should be the only mod needed , anything greater just means you should upgrade to a better detector imo.
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gef12 said:yes have a gp3500 .. did it myself .. quite a beast i thinks IMHTO
Hey Gef12,
Do you have any information on modding the gp3500?
Cheers
have a chat to Mick aka AuMan, at Detectronics
https://www.detectronicsaustralia.com/what-we-do
can do repairs & upgrades
good honest trustworthy bloke & not a ripoff :Y:
https://www.detectronicsaustralia.com/what-we-do
can do repairs & upgrades
good honest trustworthy bloke & not a ripoff :Y:
I have a modded GP3000 done by Woody. Could not be happier. I also run a 7000 that was a gift from my father in law. The 3000 with a 17x13 evo on it compares very favourably with the 7000.thefitter said:
I do this full time.
He was 99 when decided I should have the best technology available. I was 67! He insisted we go to Townsville Prospecting World one day so I could "show" him the 7000. He got me good. When we walked in I was presented with the 7000. He made it to 100 then contracted myeloma and passed away a couple of weeks ago. It was the highlight of his day when I sent back photos of my finds. Then when I got home I would take the gold around for him to see, his happiness was priceless.Perth Tim said:
I have a modded SD2100 ... verdict, yes good idea.
I have an unmodded GPX4000 .... verdict maybe could, but not as much benefit as on the older machines.
(my 4000 is a sweet machine, so figured leave well enough alone)
general consensus I've read & been told is that with the GPX 4500-5000 there's not much point.
I have an unmodded GPX4000 .... verdict maybe could, but not as much benefit as on the older machines.
(my 4000 is a sweet machine, so figured leave well enough alone)
general consensus I've read & been told is that with the GPX 4500-5000 there's not much point.
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I'm with you Ded, pretty hard to convince me late model tech needs modifying. If it does imo it's come from China .
So if you're thinking of buying one it'd be smart to learn it before modifying :8 is the best approach. If your being told a mod is the smarts on late model technology I'd say someone wants to take you for a ride imo. Or you are talking to people who should be able to drop multiple multi ounce nuggets on the table :zzz: if they can and show you where (by digging more than one in front of you on untouched ground) then go for it
If buying or thinking about it use the search option and find out how good the machines capabilities are this will help you learn from others before taking the advice you mentioned :beer:
Put simply if all or any machine performed better than when it was released particularly later models you would find a plethora of threads telling you how to do it but that won't be the case on this site.
.So if you're thinking of buying one it'd be smart to learn it before modifying :8 is the best approach. If your being told a mod is the smarts on late model technology I'd say someone wants to take you for a ride imo. Or you are talking to people who should be able to drop multiple multi ounce nuggets on the table :zzz: if they can and show you where (by digging more than one in front of you on untouched ground) then go for it
If buying or thinking about it use the search option and find out how good the machines capabilities are this will help you learn from others before taking the advice you mentioned :beer:
Put simply if all or any machine performed better than when it was released particularly later models you would find a plethora of threads telling you how to do it but that won't be the case on this site.
G
Guest
G'day
Some of the mods that are done on the earlier detectors such as the Sd2000 and Sd2100 were beneficial and made the machine more versatile when it came to finding small gold, the later machines and more particularly the gpx4500 and gpx5000 are very good as stock standard and both consistently will find fly chit gold and bigger pieces at depth, so I would not be so sure that the mods that can be done on them would be very significant and would warrant the expense, but that's just my view on the matter, I have seen many modded gpx machines for sale and always ask myself if they were that good after the mods are done why would you sell it, and usually the price the seller is asking reflects the going standard price plus the cost of the mods so I would see that as they are just wanting to recover their costs and move on.
I have an earlier version gpx4500 which is about 9-10 years old now, it has found literally kilo's of gold over the years and will still find gold if it is there, so I would be more afraid that having it modded would possibly make it a different machine and maybe in some ways make it not as good as it is now, wouldn't want to take the chance on that being the case.
There are always modded gpx machines for sale so maybe it might be a case of suck and see, buy one and see how you get on with it, if you already own a gpx machine and are familiar with its workings then it will be the only way that you will be able to find out for sure if the mods will be worthwhile.
cheers
stayyerAU
Some of the mods that are done on the earlier detectors such as the Sd2000 and Sd2100 were beneficial and made the machine more versatile when it came to finding small gold, the later machines and more particularly the gpx4500 and gpx5000 are very good as stock standard and both consistently will find fly chit gold and bigger pieces at depth, so I would not be so sure that the mods that can be done on them would be very significant and would warrant the expense, but that's just my view on the matter, I have seen many modded gpx machines for sale and always ask myself if they were that good after the mods are done why would you sell it, and usually the price the seller is asking reflects the going standard price plus the cost of the mods so I would see that as they are just wanting to recover their costs and move on.
I have an earlier version gpx4500 which is about 9-10 years old now, it has found literally kilo's of gold over the years and will still find gold if it is there, so I would be more afraid that having it modded would possibly make it a different machine and maybe in some ways make it not as good as it is now, wouldn't want to take the chance on that being the case.
There are always modded gpx machines for sale so maybe it might be a case of suck and see, buy one and see how you get on with it, if you already own a gpx machine and are familiar with its workings then it will be the only way that you will be able to find out for sure if the mods will be worthwhile.
cheers
stayyerAU
No harm in giving a modded machine a go if you're interested.
Couple of things I would take into consideration though - make sure:
- if buying the seller knows who did the modification work,
- they are contactable + open to giving advice/assistance if required,
- they can carry out any repairs if need be. Minelab won't touch it.
I personally wouldn't pay overs for a modded machine either i.e. if a particular model/year of detector was selling unmodded for say $2500 then I wouldn't go paying much (if anything) above that just because it's modded. While the mods may have positives there are also negatives with modded detectors too, mainly around OEM serviceability & resale.
IMO a GPX4500-5000 needs only minor non-invasive mods. Things like using aftermarket coils (in particular the new spiral wound coils like Evo, Elite, Detech Ultra), wireless set ups, lightweight batteries etc.
Couple of things I would take into consideration though - make sure:
- if buying the seller knows who did the modification work,
- they are contactable + open to giving advice/assistance if required,
- they can carry out any repairs if need be. Minelab won't touch it.
I personally wouldn't pay overs for a modded machine either i.e. if a particular model/year of detector was selling unmodded for say $2500 then I wouldn't go paying much (if anything) above that just because it's modded. While the mods may have positives there are also negatives with modded detectors too, mainly around OEM serviceability & resale.
IMO a GPX4500-5000 needs only minor non-invasive mods. Things like using aftermarket coils (in particular the new spiral wound coils like Evo, Elite, Detech Ultra), wireless set ups, lightweight batteries etc.
madtuna
Only owns one toaster
Have never owned one but have used a few and know a few who have them.
Yep the earlier SD series benefited with a few mods as stated above and the early GP series with things like adding the ground balance button and after market batteries etc.
As for the GPX series I found negligible benefit, no benefit and some worse than before.
With the owners of modified GPX's there are usually a few types.
Those who have found a healthy amount of gold with a standard machine and are looking for every type of edge. They will readily admit they are pretty sure their original detector would have found that nugget and can't see any advantage, or they think they are now missing nuggets, their machine is now worse and they've done their money and don't bother.
Those who have found small amounts of gold, who swear black and blue their machine now runs smoother and deeper and is finding stuff their original standard machine was missing.
Those who found no gold with their standard machine, are still finding no gold with their modified machine but will also swear black and blue it runs smoother and deeper as it's now finding bird shot and blasting caps at a measured 24inches.
Then you have that bloke who does the mod who swears his mods will make your 4500 kill a 5000 or GPZ and posts dozens of testimonials, dodgy yootoobs and pictures of hoards of gold found.
Keep your GPX standard....my humble opinion.
Yep the earlier SD series benefited with a few mods as stated above and the early GP series with things like adding the ground balance button and after market batteries etc.
As for the GPX series I found negligible benefit, no benefit and some worse than before.
With the owners of modified GPX's there are usually a few types.
Those who have found a healthy amount of gold with a standard machine and are looking for every type of edge. They will readily admit they are pretty sure their original detector would have found that nugget and can't see any advantage, or they think they are now missing nuggets, their machine is now worse and they've done their money and don't bother.
Those who have found small amounts of gold, who swear black and blue their machine now runs smoother and deeper and is finding stuff their original standard machine was missing.
Those who found no gold with their standard machine, are still finding no gold with their modified machine but will also swear black and blue it runs smoother and deeper as it's now finding bird shot and blasting caps at a measured 24inches.
Then you have that bloke who does the mod who swears his mods will make your 4500 kill a 5000 or GPZ and posts dozens of testimonials, dodgy yootoobs and pictures of hoards of gold found.
Keep your GPX standard....my humble opinion.
I have an Sp01 Enhancer & its probably the one real value for money improvement you can make to a GPX , & the SD/GP.
