Minelab Gold Monster 1000 - should I?

[BrettCo124]

I’m a huge minelab fan. I know there are other great machines out there, but I decided to stick with strictly minelab. Here Is my question:

I own the safari. I love it. I want a second machine. Why? I have not a damn clue. But i wouldn’t mind a second machine to go along with the safari.

Do I A, buy the gold monster and use it primarily for relic hunting? Or B, just keep using the Safari because the safari is amazing and it won’t miss anything the gold monster would pick up?

I would like to avoid purchasing a cheap feeling detector. I know that’s weird, but I’m spending a lot of money, so I don’t want a flimsy feeling detector that I feel will break if I lightly tap it on a rock by accident. My safari feels solid. Does the gold monster?

Here are Answers to what I project will be asked, and rightfully so:

I live on the east coast in Pennsylvania. Nowhere near gold bearing areas. I wouldn’t be nugget hunting for this reason.

My budget is strictly $700 dollars max, which falls in line with GM.

I desire to use it mainly for relic hunting, UNLESS my safari is all I will ever need and the gold monster wouldn’t be of any help.

Yes, I am aware of the equinox. But again, I want to steer away from buying another safari. I want something that operates mainly for relics, and not exactly like the safari.

My last question would be, can I purchase a shaft just like the safari has, so the Gold Monster coil wire can be hidden inside of the shaft instead of wrapped around it?

Thanks all!

 

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[cudamark]

If you want to stay in the Minelab family and your $700 limit, I'd look at the Xterra 705. If you can live with a non-Minelab product, the Fisher F75 is a good relic machine too. Unless you plan on looking for gold nuggets, I'd forget the GM1000. With it's high operating frequency, it's not going to get the depth that the others I mentioned will.

 

[BrettCo124]

Thank you! Oddly, I’ve been told that the gold monster has insane depth and because of its discrimination, it makes for an excellent relic machine. But I only heard that from one person. That’s why I posted this question.

Also, does anyone know if you can replace the shaft of the gold monster with one that hides the coil wire inside? Like the ctx or safari does?

 

[Peyton Manning]

define your goal, then pick the machine that fills it

 

[BrettCo124]

Solid minelab relic machine that has depth, but wouldn’t be equivalent to the safari! If the safari is all I need, then I won’t buy anything. But if the gold monster is a great for relics, I’d use it as a dedicated relic machine.

 

[Just_curious]

I think you would go crazy with the GM1000. I bought one for gold, but wanted to fill that void between trips to gold bearing areas with coin/relic shooting. For starters, my Minelab can't handle mineralized soil AT ALL. On the machines where you could adjust the ground balance and thresholds, you could adjust to that mineralized soil...not with the Minelab. Want to get down into the river beds? Don't even worry about it, the detector goes nuts! (At least for me in Georgia). Also, you will get hits on the TINIEST pieces of foil, and you'll dig it up to find foil instead of coins/relics. Another thing I have noticed is the ferrous/non-ferrous is never accurate. There could be a gold nugget in a drop Out with black sand, and the black sand will mask the gold. Even when I take it to the gold areas, I can't use it. I regret my decision to buy it, and wish I would have went with a gold bug 2 or something. Something that isn't a silent searcher, and something that I can adjust. It is super sensitive, which is great for that small gold, but with no possibility of tracking/adjusting ground balance, etc. It just isn't a good fit for me (in GA/AL) Maybe you will have more luck where you're at?

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[Just_curious]

So moral of the story? Don't buy a gold detector for anything but gold, and if you do buy one for gold, make sure you can fine tune it to your soil lol. I picked up 2 whites Spectrum XLTs recently from 2 different people. It's a super old machine, but you can't even tell. You can adjust it to almost anything you're searching, and any area you would be searching. Mineralization, trash, iron, pull tabs, etc. The programs allow you to turn it into a bunch of machines

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[BrettCo124]

This is great advice. Thanks so much for your help. I will not be purchasing this detector, mainly because I have zero gold bearing places to hunt in my area.

Thanks!!

 

[Just_curious]

Yeah, like I said I tried using it for other purposes besides gold and it was just an epic failure. Maybe you could get something like a White's treasure Pro or a Garrett AT Pro or Garrett AT Max, AT gold, etc. One thing that I've been considering, is to build my own metal detector. I can't speak too much of it because I've never done it before, but I know that there's Parts kits to build a pulse induction metal detector for $300 and make yourself instead of spending 2 to $3,000 on a name-brand pi. The same can be said for vlf machines. It really all just depends on what you want to do. I can't speak too much on the subject because I'm just now getting into detecting, but something about building my own metal detector just sounds like it would feel satisfying. And the lower-cost is always a plus. Another thing that I would consider if I were you is to buy a used metal detector. One that's not old but not brand new so the price point is decent, one whose manufacturer has a long history of good customer service, and hopefully if you're lucky one that has time left on the warranty still. See I was going to spend my budget and get a new metal detector when I came across these Spectrum XLT s. I knew absolutely nothing about them so I did my research on them and I didn't find one person that said a bad thing about them. The majority of the people that upgraded from owning and XLT said that either they missed their XLT or they still use it as their go-to, so that really made the decision for me. There's going to be pros and cons for every detector, brand snobs, people that get paid to sway the reviews one way or another, people that get paid to bash other metal detectors and recommend another one. In my opinion metal detectors are just like cell phones. You can buy a brand new one and pay way too much for what it is, and then six months down the road a newer model comes out and everybody is talking about that so you have to have that.. just don't rush into a decision like I did when I bought the gold monster. I'm sure some people have great success with it and it works for their environment, but I wish I would have done more research first because that's essentially $800 down the drain. And selling a metal detector is kind of a tough task because it's definitely a more closed off Hobby

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[BrettCo124]

That sounds like a great idea building your own. I guarantee you will feel satisfied knowing your finds come from something you’ve built. I typically do buy used from a local shop, but there aren’t any used gold monsters there. Sorry to hear you haven’t had any luck with it. You could probably sell it on eBay quite easily.

 

[Just_curious]

I was thinking about posting it up on here...but something about charter members only or something like that?

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[BrettCo124]

Yeah I believe you need to be a charter member to put things up for sale if I remember correctly.

 

[Sourdough moe]

Is stick with white gmt sounds better than the gm1000

 

[Just_curious]

I actually just bought a whites goldmaster 2 for $130, and I bought a White's GMC for $100 LOL. The GMC is in Immaculate condition looks like it was never used, and the whites goldmaster to has had some use and is missing the battery cover and a couple scratches on the shaft but I'm just going to send it into whites and have them repair and tune it up and still walk away better than spending for a new one

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[Just_curious]

I think I'm probably going to post up the gold Monster 1000. The only reason why I'm debating on keeping it is because I'm trying to take a trip out to Arizona or New Mexico or maybe Nevada and Utah this December during my Christmas block leave. I'm not sure if it would work out any better out there, or how the mineralization in those State compares to the East Coast

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[Sourdough moe]

If you post it keep me in mind my wife could use that next to me since it's running 45khz and I'm running 48khz

 

[Just_curious]

I can't post it because I'm not a charter member.

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