Goldbug-2

[Mezrein503]

Alright guys. So I've acquired one of these expensive little buggers. It was given to me. Question is this. I know that this detector is first and foremost a gold prospector, but I need to know how well it'd work for normal detecting, i.e coins and jewelery. I also need to know what I'll need to do to it in order for it to work for coin and jewelery shooting. I need some heavy details here, so for people who have experience with this detector in the coin/jewelery roll, feel free to go into depth. I've been told this detector won't be as good in the coin role as say a F4, but that's neither here nor there.

[godigit1]

The GB 2 is very sensitive and it might drive you nuts for general detecting. you will hit every piece of a piece of foil or pull tab and miss nothing. But on the other hand you will find small pieces of jewelry like earing's. I would suggest that if it is this type of hunting you want to do you should trade for a different machine. If you still want to prospect as well i would suggest the new gold bug it is good for both worlds. I have one and I still find earing's and it hits coins great. In the Year Ive owned it I have paid for it over twice in finds and most of the valuable finds have been gold of course! This was my last find and it was worth half the purchase price of my GB. Maybe more people will post more info for you but i think it is a very specific detector and not good for multi purpose detecting.
HH

[Sandman]

Godigit1 answered your question well. Granted it is designed mainly for tiny nuggets, but it will also find rings and coins will, but also lots of tiny junk and bird shot unless you "dumb it down." There are other detectors out there that would work better at finding jewelry and coins without the tiny junk. The coins & jewelry being more conductive will be easier to find if you get the coil over it and don't disc out pull tabs.

[Mezrein503]

Thanks for the reply's all. I know the machine is going to be ultra sensitive, and I am planning on getting a F4 here real soon, however this machine is going to be a family machine. It belonged to my Uncle who passed away recently, and my cousin said since I was the only other one in the family who was really into detecting, it only seemed right to give the machine to me. I was tasked with learning it, understanding it, and keeping it in the family in case someone else got an itch to try it out. So with that in mind, I need to know how to dumb it down enough to make it usable in the field. I'm glad to know that its going to be sensitive enough to not miss anything, that's actually really good. But how am I going to want to run it to ensure that a total novice is going to find things with it, without getting too discouraged? I notice it has an Iron Disc mode, I'm assuming I'll want to run it in that so that the constant hum is not there, but while in this mode, what am I going to want to run the sens at? There's a decent chance that the only time this will be pulled out will be for beach hunting on Oregon's coast. We have very little black sand, and the mineralization is quite low compared to other places. I've run a Bounty Hunter Tracker II on the Oregon Coast, both wet and dry sand, and got very little chatter, even at higher sens. Again thanks all for the replies and the willingness to help me figure this bugger (no pun intended) out.

[godigit1]

If you are getting A F4 one option for using the GB that might work for you is to hunt close together and double check targets for the GB user to save from so much trash digging. I know its more work that way but would make for a better time for the GB user.
And if its someone who your teaching that might be good anyway. When I first got my new Gb I took along my eagle spectrum for that reason and it really helped me to figure the capabilities of my new GB now the eagle is a loaner for friends as the gb kicks.
Hope we helped!!
HH

[Mezrein503]

Something I forgot to mention, the GB has the elliptical sniper coil on it. Think I'll be needing to save up for a larger coil. Do I need to buy a coil specifically for the GB-2, or will any fisher coil fit on it?

[Mezrein503]

So I tried an air test today on it. both in normal and iron disc modes. Regardless of what I put in front of it, I got the same sounding tone but could only get the detector about 3 inches from the coil. Is this normal?

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

If it's a small coin no you won't het much depth with it. They are designed to hunt in bight trash or up close to things.Yes you have to get a gold bug 2 specific coil.
Hope I helped!
Bart

[Mezrein503]

Going to do a depth test tonight when I get home and compare it between my Bounty Hunter Tracker II and it. I know the tracker can get to 4 or 5" on a penny / dime. If the GB cant get to that depth then it wont be of any use to me. Unless someone thinks changing the coil will help get greater depth.

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

A bigger coil will get you more depth.

[Mezrein503]

My biggest concern is the largest coil I can get for it is going to cost around 115. Is it going to be worth dropping that much money on a machine that isn't going to grab the coins / jewelry as easily as say an F4?

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Hard to say..... Thats your choice.

An F4 is more coin oriented for sure. I will PM you.

[ronjer]

Maybe can help....Pm'd you.

[Mezrein503]

Ok doing a bump here

I know with good certainty that the 6 1/2" coil on my Goldbug-2 in my soil can get a maximum of 3 to 3 and a 1/2 inches down on a dime, penny, and nickle, and 4 inches with a quarter.

So, anyone out there know the depth rating of the 10 and 14" coils for this detector?

[woof!]

The GB2 is an excellent gold prospecting machine, designed for that one purpose only without the slightest consideration for someone who might decide to use it for some other purpose. In the end however it is a metal detector and will detect metal objects other than gold nuggets. Sort of.

When it comes to general in-the-park-coin-beeping, the GB2 really sucks. I say this not as an undercover Minelab hack, but as the guy who designed the thing in the first place. Almost any good coin beeper on the market, almost regardless of how inexpensive, is going to be better for coin beeping that a GB2. The GB2 is a gold machine, designed to find the smallest nuggets, after all these years there is almost nobody who says that something else does that particular thing better, the results speak for themselves, last year was the GB2's best sales year in history. I hope nobody is buying them for beeping in the park because almost everything we sell at any price will do a better job at park coin beeping than will the GB2.

--Dave J.

[Mezrein503]

I've been told this several times already. But when this is what you have to work with, this is what you have to work with. Personally I have a F5 as my main machine, but the GB2 is a "in the family" item, and as such members of the family are going to use it. Not often, but they will be using it. I've already had my son swinging it a few times, planted some coins in my yard for him to find and he was able to find them without too much difficulty. Awesome to know the designer of the GB2 is on here, pleasure to meet you sir. I know that the machine was intended for gold prospecting, but it wont be used often in this role, nor will it be used often by myself. But when it is used, it will be used for coin shooting, and I wanted to know if the larger 10" or 14" coil will give it some better depth.

Thanks
Shawn

[woof!]

The larger searchcoils will give better depth under most conditions. However the GB2 being what is, and coinshooting being what it is, that extra depth may be a bad thing rather than a good thing especially in the hands of family members who aren't experienced beeperists. For the price of a large GB2 searchcoil you could buy a low-end coinshooting metal detector that would probably suit your needs better, and you'd still have the GB2 for whatever reason it is that you wish to keep it.

--Toto

[05Duramax]

I had one and was so frustrated using it because I'm a coin shooter and was used to covering allot of area quickly, so I used the Gold Bug 2 the same way in several proven mining claims and talked to an old prospector that has one and he told me that the key is to take your time with it.