Hi everyone, I'm new here and noticed that the old Gold Bug isn't mentioned at any of the MDing sites i've joined.Is it that out dated that no one uses it any more?Just asking because I just bought one and was hoping to get some tip's on best set-up and use...Want to nugget shoot with it, and was told it wasn't good as a coin shooter..Guess it be good for relic's as it finds every thing metal..Anyway,Maybe someone here has used it before the new ones came out and could clue me in some. Great site here! Lot's of good post. Thanks, Doug
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first gold bug
- Thread starter douglasnc
- Start date
Ed in SoDak
Member
The Gold Bug 1 was my second detector, bought in 1992 or thereabouts. My first machine was an ancient First Texas unit bought in 1981, long before they acquired Bounty Hunter. The First Texas worked ok, had a decent discrimination control, but it did not like wet grass or high ground minerals and its best depth was about 5 or 6 inches.
The Gold Bug was to be a big upgrade for my wife and I to use prospecting. Around here, there's darn little detectable gold, but trash aplenty, even way off the beaten paths. It's a very sensitive machine and I did find my first nugget with it, but I quickly tired of digging inch-long bits of wire at 7 or more inches deep. I've since found a few spots that don't have much trash, but those also tend to be areas where there is very little if any mining activity from years past. So that tends to explain why no trash - nobody spent much time there due to no gold!
It's a 20+ year-old design now, and I think most users want at least iron discrimination. Most people put too much weight into having a high operating frequency for finding small gold and the original Bug was lower at 17kHz than its replacement, which also sported iron disc. So when you throw all that into a pile, it more or less faded from popularity.
It will certainly detect coins at decent depths, and we've used ours for that, but the lack of disc or ID has again worked against it.
Try as I might, I could not find where it would have some sort of audio clue to the target's ID, so we eventually gave up and went to a pair of Time Rangers around 2003 and never looked back. I still keep the old GB around, thinking that eventually I'll find a spot that may have gold that isn't so trashy.
It's certainly useful in those less trash-infested areas, and we did use it to check the walls of some mine diggings and tailing piles. Even there, we find target shooter's slugs and discarded tin cans and junk discarded by the old miners.
I don't actually use much disc, even on the machines that have great controls for it, but prefer instead to use the target ID features and choose myself whether to dig a target or not. Of course there's no ID on either the GB1 or GB2.
There's plenty of folks who advocate digging it all regardless of ID, but even so, you don't really hear of many of them using a GB1 as their weapon of choice.
It is a great machine that performs exactly as was intended. It just doesn't fit my style and preferences. I'm using my own experiences here more as an example of why I think it has faded from view than as a damning review of it. I found I'd much rather have target ID, it is as simple as that. You will see posts about it from time time and probably quite a few prospectors have owned one or more, or like me, still own, and keep around for those spots where it shines. I'm actually a bit surprised I'm the first one to reply to your thread. So, Welcome to the forums and don't be a stranger!
So far as tips go, just master the ground balance and choose the motion/no-motion mode you like the tones and action from the best. Threshold control on the rear set so you just barely hear a growl in the modes that use it, set sensitivity on max and start swinging. It will find stuff, no doubt of that.
-Ed
The Gold Bug was to be a big upgrade for my wife and I to use prospecting. Around here, there's darn little detectable gold, but trash aplenty, even way off the beaten paths. It's a very sensitive machine and I did find my first nugget with it, but I quickly tired of digging inch-long bits of wire at 7 or more inches deep. I've since found a few spots that don't have much trash, but those also tend to be areas where there is very little if any mining activity from years past. So that tends to explain why no trash - nobody spent much time there due to no gold!
It's a 20+ year-old design now, and I think most users want at least iron discrimination. Most people put too much weight into having a high operating frequency for finding small gold and the original Bug was lower at 17kHz than its replacement, which also sported iron disc. So when you throw all that into a pile, it more or less faded from popularity.
It will certainly detect coins at decent depths, and we've used ours for that, but the lack of disc or ID has again worked against it.
Try as I might, I could not find where it would have some sort of audio clue to the target's ID, so we eventually gave up and went to a pair of Time Rangers around 2003 and never looked back. I still keep the old GB around, thinking that eventually I'll find a spot that may have gold that isn't so trashy.
It's certainly useful in those less trash-infested areas, and we did use it to check the walls of some mine diggings and tailing piles. Even there, we find target shooter's slugs and discarded tin cans and junk discarded by the old miners.
I don't actually use much disc, even on the machines that have great controls for it, but prefer instead to use the target ID features and choose myself whether to dig a target or not. Of course there's no ID on either the GB1 or GB2.
There's plenty of folks who advocate digging it all regardless of ID, but even so, you don't really hear of many of them using a GB1 as their weapon of choice.
It is a great machine that performs exactly as was intended. It just doesn't fit my style and preferences. I'm using my own experiences here more as an example of why I think it has faded from view than as a damning review of it. I found I'd much rather have target ID, it is as simple as that. You will see posts about it from time time and probably quite a few prospectors have owned one or more, or like me, still own, and keep around for those spots where it shines. I'm actually a bit surprised I'm the first one to reply to your thread. So, Welcome to the forums and don't be a stranger!
So far as tips go, just master the ground balance and choose the motion/no-motion mode you like the tones and action from the best. Threshold control on the rear set so you just barely hear a growl in the modes that use it, set sensitivity on max and start swinging. It will find stuff, no doubt of that.
-Ed
Thanks for you'r reply Ed.You'r thought's on this old Gold Bug were the answer's to most all my question's! Really appreciate you'r taking the time to give my so much of you'r insite.It all makes perfect sense, and I bet I'm not the only person out there that wanted to hear more on this detector. So you've helped alot of us, and we thank you.I live in North Carolina, about fourty miles from the old gold minning area's of Montgomery and Stanley county.Lots of of old mines dot the hills known as the Uwharrie Mountians,and thought i'd gear up to try some prospecting.Detecting is one of my farorite hobbies,but prospecting has a learinng curve I haven't mastered yet.I along with countless other's really appreciate you folk's with more experience sharing it with us.
steve herschbach
New member
Advanced Nugget Hunting With the Fisher Gold Bug Metal Detector by Pieter Heydelaar & David Johnson
http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/davejohnson/Advance%20Nugget%20Hunting.pdf
Steve Herschbach
http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/davejohnson/Advance%20Nugget%20Hunting.pdf
Steve Herschbach
Too bad it's not the gold Bug 2 at 71 kHz many on the gold nugget forums have the highest praise for it and use it alonside their expensive minelab gpx 5000 PI units. I actually just sold my minelab xterra 705 and replaced it with the gold bug 2 as i couldn't afford two machines and wanted to nugget hunt only so this was a big plus for me and doing a test with a .012 gram nugget the GB2 did a remarkable job.don't get me wrong the xterra was great for coins and relics and larger gold and if i could afford it i would have kept both.
If you look at the websites you will see that the GB2 is about $100 more than the GB Pro which has a LED Screen too...... there are so many options out there but for my territory this works out best for me.
Joe
If you look at the websites you will see that the GB2 is about $100 more than the GB Pro which has a LED Screen too...... there are so many options out there but for my territory this works out best for me.
Joe