GARRETT GOLD STINGER VS GOLD BUG 2?

[lookin4treasure]

Hey guys, Theres a Garrett Gold stinger for sale near me. Comes with a sluice box, hand pump, a few other prospection items. All in new condition. $400 obo. I've had my mind set on a Gold bug 2, but is the Gold Stinger any good? Should I buy it or get the GB2?

Thanks

 

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[azblackbird]

GB2

 

[NeoTokyo]

+1 GB2

 

[MXT SNIPER]

GB2, or wait and see how the Makro Racer Gold reviews are when it comes out.

 

[Lanny in AB]

GB 2: The Stinger has its strengths, but if you want a nugget machine for all sizes of gold, the GB 2 is a far better choice.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[TravyLeigh]

If you want a GREAT gold and all around detector... Mxt with the small coil. I have an XLT, MXT and GMT. The GMT is great on small stuff because of the audio boost, but honestly the mxt will almost get all the same stuff the GMT will. The GMT will get the super small stuff a little better, however I've only found gold with my MXT so far, an not the GMT! Got a 0.1 GRAIN piece with the mxt

 

[Hoser John]

GB2 or Tesoro Lobo Super Traq in every way-John

 

[Vance in AK]

I have never messed with the Stinger but I love my GB II. The ground is pretty mild where I hunt & the gold fairly small.
Folks have said the GB II is a tough machine to learn on but I didn't have any issues with it. Watch the YouTube videos you find. If you can find Larry Salle's (sp?) old books Zip-Zip & Zip Zip II grab them no matter what VLF detector you have!!! There are written for the Gold Master series (I also have a GM II) but the principles are great & Larry wrote in a way that a simple guy like me could really understand. I have both. Guy running a prospecting shop in Prescott AZ told me the pair fetch up to $200.00 today! At that price they would still be cheap educational material & worth every penny if a guy is even halfway serious.

 

[Beav]

I have owned both detectors, and guess which one I have kept over the years? The GB2!
No comparison. The GB2 will get the crumbs the others pass over.
And if it's the same deal that is near me as well, if it were me, I would get the other stuff but leave the stinger there.
Beav

 

[Gold Itch]

If you want a GREAT gold and all around detector... Mxt with the small coil. I have an XLT, MXT and GMT. The GMT is great on small stuff because of the audio boost, but honestly the mxt will almost get all the same stuff the GMT will. The GMT will get the super small stuff a little better, however I've only found gold with my MXT so far, an not the GMT! Got a 0.1 GRAIN piece with the mxt

I agree, I am heading for my 3rd MXT and I have just bought my 2nd GMT, The MXTs are Great all rounders and even better exploration Machines, But your serious about gold then the GMT is the Boss,
If Depth is the ultimate goal then the MXT with the 12/300 Coil is A killer combo in good ground or that 15" Dustbin Lid Coil.

 

[Gold Itch]

Hey guys, Theres a Garrett Gold stinger for sale near me. Comes with a sluice box, hand pump, a few other prospection items. All in new condition. $400 obo. I've had my mind set on a Gold bug 2, but is the Gold Stinger any good? Should I buy it or get the GB2?

Thanks

I agree with the with the Guy's Aye, The Gold Bug II is the King of the Specks running at 71khz, But for ease of use and a lot more useful Features, Plus the Configuration/Design the GMT is the Way To Go and it also Runs A Bit Deeper Too,

But seeing as the Stinger comes with all that gear it sounds like a good Deal.

hope this helps,

 

[kazcoro]

if you get the stinger, remember that the ground balancing directions are BACKWARDS. Don't ask me, just remember that. You may be able to attempt to ground balance it when you pick it up, and following the directions, it won't balance and you could get a deal on it? Say, I'll take it, but I have to send it in to get it checked out, so 300 for all is the best I can do?

 

[meMiner]

It is not a bad package for the money if you intend to mostly sluice and pan. If you have your heart set on detecting, there are more recent and effective machines available, so why handcuff yourself? Otherwise, every time you go out and get skunked, you will wonder if it is the location, you or the machine. With a better detector - it just leaves the blame on you and the location. LOL

 

[kazcoro]

It is not a bad package for the money if you intend to mostly sluice and pan. If you have your heart set on detecting, there are more recent and effective machines available, so why handcuff yourself? Otherwise, every time you go out and get skunked, you will wonder if it is the location, you or the machine. With a better detector - it just leaves the blame on you and the location. LOL

From what I understand, the Gold Stinger is a great machine. Correct me if I am wrong?

 

[TheHunterGT]

I love mine...so call me biased. The Scorpion is quite popular on other forums and is used nicely as a coin machine on top of it's nugget capabilities. Have not seen it mentioned here as much doing a quick search.

I have read hundreds of user reviews and can say one thing....the Scorpion is usually loved or hated on. There is not much middle ground or grey area with it.

People hate on it for being "last gen" tech...which it is. It is also disliked for the manual ground balance that can be annoying as it needs to be adjusted fairly often in hot ground...which is true as well. I don't find it frustrating...but ymmv.

On the flip side it is still loved today and considered a worthy gold machine because it can find impressively small nuggets for being that "last gen" tech. It also touts a fairly impressive feature set like Motion Disc for coin shooting and TR Disc for ore sampling that makes it a fairly multi-purpose machine. You won't be able to tell pull-tabs from rings as hollow objects bang hard on the Scorpion....but you will dig less trash and foil with a Scorpion compared to a GB2.

Mine finds a freshly buried quarter at 6.5 and air tests at 7.5 on Motion Disc....All Metal pushes that to 7 buried and 8 air. Not bad for a gold marketed machine. It's still VLF just like all the "newer" stuff

Have not tried super small gold but from what the internet tells me it will sound down to .1 grams. Here is a vid of that.

Like I said I am biased and love mine...I am also new to this hobby to take this with a grain of salt.

The fact it comes with the other prospecting items makes it a decent deal IMO. However....if you just want to detect for gold and not really interested in the rest....get the GB2. It is the better machine...but def not by leaps and bounds. It is 15 years old itself...hardly "new" when it comes to this hobby. If you are into the other prospecting items...go for the Scorpion....it def finds very small gold.

 

[Gold Itch]

If you Like it That's all That Matters, I am the same about the TDI SL over the GPX series, my TDI Knows whether an Item is low conductive or High at Full Depth, My GP3500 did not know past 6 inches,

 

[meMiner]

In fairness to the Gold Stinger, it works. It can find gold and many people have been very successful with it.

On the other hand, while there have not been major changes in VLF technology over the past few years, there have been tweaks and improvements (especially to the software), increasing the effectiveness of the machines. I am of the opinion that if you are to acquire a detector, to get one that is more recent or at least consider getting version n-1 (you don't need the absolute latest release). If you have an older detector that works for you, then for sure keep it until some major new thing comes along and probably still keep it as a backup or loaner. This is only my opinion and I did not intend to put down anybody's choices.

 

[TheHunterGT]

Naw man...you weren't putting down anything. We all have our opinions right?

I def think a newer machine would be the wiser choice. If it just GB2 vs Stinger....get the GB2 all day....it is the better machine for super tiny nugs.

I just think its cool to have the other prospecting stuff to go with it. I value my Stinger at about 250-300 by itself. So if the prospecting stuff is well over the other 100 worth....might be a super deal.

Like I said I am biased for sure lol.....if somebody gave me a GB2 I'd have to learn to be biased all over again!

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

The Goldstinger actually performed reasonably well over those surface targets in the video. But it can’t compete with a Goldbug2 on smaller stuff of a few grains down into the sub-grainers that are in the ground, not on the surface.

Evaluating signals produced by different detectors over the same targets is subject to the nuances of each unit, which does tend to muddy the water a bit. For example, modern VLF prospecting-capable models generally produce more distinct, sharper signals compared to the Goldstinger which generates fairly ‘mellow’ signals. Compared to my F75 for example, the Goldbug2’s signal is rather mellow too. But its signal is much more distinct or discrete on small stuff than the Stinger, and it will signal over small stuff that the Stinger will not see. So the Goldstinger falls short in that area, and it also falls short of the mark on deeper larger signals that my other mid-range frequency models do respond to. The Goldbug2 in more mineralized magnetic substrates also falls short of the mark on deeper stuff even compared to the GMT.

The most frequent or commonplace criticism of the Stinger, aside from sensitivity / depth considerations, has historically been the battery arrangement that necessitates opening up the control box to insert fresh batteries… and it is a battery hog compared to more current prospecting VLF units. The other obvious consideration is that the Stinger doesn't offer audio target ID tones or visual target ID, ground phase and Fe3O4 monitoring. These features are not necessary but can be quite useful at times.

I had used the Goldstinger to hunt silver for over 20 years before updating my equipment awhile back. I frequently used a 12” round concentric coil that was discontinued many years ago… and did very well with that configuration. I happened to buy one of the latest Goldstinger models just before it was discontinued. I found it to generate a slightly deeper, more discrete signal than did my older model, but I considered that it still fell short of the mark for everyday goldhunting where small gold generally rules. For larger silver up here, I think it is a very good detector… with a powerful all-metal mode… still useful searching for large, deep ores, or floats in the bush.

Here’s a short story that casts a slightly different perspective on the Stinger. Years ago I was invited by the late Lucille Bowen to accompany a party of electronic prospectors to participate at a pay-to-mine operation in Alaska. I asked Lucille what detector model seemed most effective for that area. Without hesitation she replied that the Goldstinger had found the most gold. It turns out that while others were chasing tiny stuff that the Stinger couldn’t hear, the Stinger operators were covering more ground and tended to get their coils over larger gold more often.

Jim.

 

[Gold Itch]

The Goldstinger actually performed reasonably well over those surface targets in the video. But it can’t compete with a Goldbug2 on smaller stuff of a few grains down into the sub-grainers that are in the ground, not on the surface.

Evaluating signals produced by different detectors over the same targets is subject to the nuances of each unit, which does tend to muddy the water a bit. For example, modern VLF prospecting-capable models generally produce more distinct, sharper signals compared to the Goldstinger which generates fairly ‘mellow’ signals. Compared to my F75 for example, the Goldbug2’s signal is rather mellow too. But its signal is much more distinct or discrete on small stuff than the Stinger, and it will signal over small stuff that the Stinger will not see. So the Goldstinger falls short in that area, and it also falls short of the mark on deeper larger signals that my other mid-range frequency models do respond to. The Goldbug2 in more mineralized magnetic substrates also falls short of the mark on deeper stuff even compared to the GMT.

The most frequent or commonplace criticism of the Stinger, aside from sensitivity / depth considerations, has historically been the battery arrangement that necessitates opening up the control box to insert fresh batteries… and it is a battery hog compared to more current prospecting VLF units. The other obvious consideration is that the Stinger doesn't offer audio target ID tones or visual target ID, ground phase and Fe3O4 monitoring. These features are not necessary but can be quite useful at times.

I had used the Goldstinger to hunt silver for over 20 years before updating my equipment awhile back. I frequently used a 12” round concentric coil that was discontinued many years ago… and did very well with that configuration. I happened to buy one of the latest Goldstinger models just before it was discontinued. I found it to generate a slightly deeper, more discrete signal than did my older model, but I considered that it still fell short of the mark for everyday goldhunting where small gold generally rules. For larger silver up here, I think it is a very good detector… with a powerful all-metal mode… still useful searching for large, deep ores, or floats in the bush.

Here’s a short story that casts a slightly different perspective on the Stinger. Years ago I was invited by the late Lucille Bowen to accompany a party of electronic prospectors to participate at a pay-to-mine operation in Alaska. I asked Lucille what detector model seemed most effective for that area. Without hesitation she replied that the Goldstinger had found the most gold. It turns out that while others were chasing tiny stuff that the Stinger couldn’t hear, the Stinger operators were covering more ground and tended to get their coils over larger gold more often.

Jim.

G'day Jim, I seem to remember us having this same conversation a few years back and all those issue you have pointed out came up then Too, mostly about the Battery system, having to remove the PCB from the housing to replace the batteries put the fear of our creator in me with just the thought of dropping or damaging the PCB,
I watched the Video where A person is comparing the Stinger and the AT Gold, But The person doing the testing referred to the Stingers signal as being weaker, when in fact it was exactly as you said (softer Tone) The Stinger Saw Every Target that the AT Gold Saw, One Thing I was shocked with Is what A Nice signal response the Stinger Has compared to the Harsh sound of the AT, It is a pity that Garrett did not RE House the Stinger and Address its Hunger for Batteries,

Just A thought?? I wonder how the Stinger would go depth wise using the AT's Coils??

Jim, Thinks for Jump Starting my memory Banks