I have a 1236X2 detector that I bought new and really like it. Now I am interested in buying a Gold Bug to look for nuggets. Dave J says a GB@ is especially good for small nuggets (large too, I suppose); but not good for much else ie: coin shooting. My question is; Would an older Gold Bug (1) be good for both nugget hunting and coin shooting? Thanks, Dug
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Gold Bug and finding coins
- Thread starter Dug1898
- Start date
sgoss66
Well-known member
Dug --
To be clear -- the old Gold Bug 2 is NOT designed for anything but gold -- it excels at finding tiny gold. However, the NEW Gold Bugs -- Pro, and DP, do a very respectable job as coin shooters. From the gold side of things -- while they won't find AS SMALL of a gold flake as the Gold Bug 2, they do a very good job in a gold prospecting role (obviously what they were designed for) -- per all the feedback I have heard.
Steve
To be clear -- the old Gold Bug 2 is NOT designed for anything but gold -- it excels at finding tiny gold. However, the NEW Gold Bugs -- Pro, and DP, do a very respectable job as coin shooters. From the gold side of things -- while they won't find AS SMALL of a gold flake as the Gold Bug 2, they do a very good job in a gold prospecting role (obviously what they were designed for) -- per all the feedback I have heard.
Steve
The old GB (no longer in production) will detect coins, typically in the 11 to 14 inch range air test. However for coinshooting most beeperists want discrimination features and the old GB has no features of that sort. Ya gotta dig everything.
The GB2 is an excellent gold machine but nearly useless for coinshooting.
The new GB/G2's are very good multipurpose machines.
--Dave J.
The GB2 is an excellent gold machine but nearly useless for coinshooting.
The new GB/G2's are very good multipurpose machines.
--Dave J.
The old Gold Bug II can ID iron targets, we want to dig less iron targets when seeking gold, gold machines don't really need discrimination IMO, if discrimination is used not much gold will be found.
Edit:
I can rip coins out of the ground and pass up most trash with the Gold Bug II if that's what I wanted to do, with the right user the GB II can excel at finding flat and round targets like coins. The GB II gives off a distinctive sound when it detects round and flat targets similar to coins. Also the GB II''s manual and the video that it came with states that it is an elecelnt coin and relic machine if you don't mind digging some trash.
Edit:
I can rip coins out of the ground and pass up most trash with the Gold Bug II if that's what I wanted to do, with the right user the GB II can excel at finding flat and round targets like coins. The GB II gives off a distinctive sound when it detects round and flat targets similar to coins. Also the GB II''s manual and the video that it came with states that it is an elecelnt coin and relic machine if you don't mind digging some trash.
Dave J. said:
Thanks Dave J, Ant and sgoss,
I do like using Disc with my 1236X2 while coinshooting and I thought the "ground reject" on the old GBs was for discrimination... What is it for, different ground types? (I'll have to read up on it more)
So for now, if I do get a chance to go to Maine, CA or Arizona, I'll just pick up an older GB and just use it for nuggets. Then if things work out differently, I'll opt for a newer GB so I can do both or maybe a GBII for the smaller nuggets. If I find a good gold spot that is... (I understand it more now, except for the ground reject thing).
I do like using Disc with my 1236X2 while coinshooting and I thought the "ground reject" on the old GBs was for discrimination... What is it for, different ground types? (I'll have to read up on it more)
So for now, if I do get a chance to go to Maine, CA or Arizona, I'll just pick up an older GB and just use it for nuggets. Then if things work out differently, I'll opt for a newer GB so I can do both or maybe a GBII for the smaller nuggets. If I find a good gold spot that is... (I understand it more now, except for the ground reject thing).
Thanks manI was just getting ready to tell you that you're talking to "da man"! 
------That's (one of) the thing I like about Dave--he's willing to get into the trenches & talk to the troops! [
----------Delquote=Dug1898]
I know now you're a Chief Designer and that makes your time & help even more special.
[/quote]
------That's (one of) the thing I like about Dave--he's willing to get into the trenches & talk to the troops! [----------Delquote=Dug1898]I know now you're a Chief Designer and that makes your time & help even more special.
[/quote]Yes that is true, but he needs the troops in the field to test it. I've found over a pound of gold jewelry, much less in silver and thousands in clad. And I can use my MineLab SE just as good and it hasn't even paid for itself after 4 years or more. I have thousands of hours behind the GBII and I'm going to start posting my finds to prove it.
No disrespect but an engineer may design anything it doesn't mean that it's going to work the way the plans imply. Arter a product is released to the public any feedback from the user should be used to make whatever change is deemed necessary.
The enginee is not the person spending thousands of hours testing equipment and most compaies don't have the resources for that.
No disrespect but an engineer may design anything it doesn't mean that it's going to work the way the plans imply. Arter a product is released to the public any feedback from the user should be used to make whatever change is deemed necessary.
The enginee is not the person spending thousands of hours testing equipment and most compaies don't have the resources for that.
Ant, I'm not disputing that you find stuff including coins, with your GB2. For whatever reason, it clicks with the way you hunt.
The GB2 has been on the market for 17 years now, quite a few thousands sold, still a good seller, and I think I've heard two reports of people using them for coinshooting and being happy with them for that purpose. Both reports may have been yours, so we may be talking about just one customer.
There's stuff we design specifically for coinshooting, stuff that's designed for gold prospecting without any consideration for coinshooting, and stuff that's designed as multipurpose. If you take a look at what other major companies do, there's pretty much the same pattern. The reason that no company pitches a machine designed only for gold prospecting as a coinshooter, is that if customers were to make the mistake of buying such machines for that purpose, the company would rightly catch hell on the forums.
The GB2 is capable of detecting buried coins. No argument there. But for 99 out of 100 customers, they'd have done much better with something else-- heck, even with something from one of our competitors! By that standard, the GB2 is almost worthless for coinshooting, as I said. You just happen to be the exception to that rule.
If someone is asking on a forum if they should get a GB2 for coinshooting, the answer from the factory is no-- even though we sell 'em! "No" may not be the only possible answer, but it's far and away the best answer.
--Dave J.
The GB2 has been on the market for 17 years now, quite a few thousands sold, still a good seller, and I think I've heard two reports of people using them for coinshooting and being happy with them for that purpose. Both reports may have been yours, so we may be talking about just one customer.
There's stuff we design specifically for coinshooting, stuff that's designed for gold prospecting without any consideration for coinshooting, and stuff that's designed as multipurpose. If you take a look at what other major companies do, there's pretty much the same pattern. The reason that no company pitches a machine designed only for gold prospecting as a coinshooter, is that if customers were to make the mistake of buying such machines for that purpose, the company would rightly catch hell on the forums.
The GB2 is capable of detecting buried coins. No argument there. But for 99 out of 100 customers, they'd have done much better with something else-- heck, even with something from one of our competitors! By that standard, the GB2 is almost worthless for coinshooting, as I said. You just happen to be the exception to that rule.
If someone is asking on a forum if they should get a GB2 for coinshooting, the answer from the factory is no-- even though we sell 'em! "No" may not be the only possible answer, but it's far and away the best answer.
--Dave J.
I can understand how a good beeperist like ANT could make good use of the GB2 by knowing his machine and intently listening to any change in sound that would certainly indicate a target. After reading and doing some more research, I'm leaning toward a multipurpose GB rather than an old original GB. I may or may not get to some gold country and if I buy an old GB and don't, I would be stuck here in NY with a gold detector with no disc capabilities and not much gold to find. So, I think a newer GB makes better sense. A GB2 may be good here in NY as I have seen some small pickers found by some prospectors in our GPAA Chapter; but they are small and few and far between. I'd rather have what the man who designs metal detectors for a living recommends as a good all around coinshooting/gold detector and feel comfortable knowing that I can have some degree of discrimination available to me as well as having a machine that is made to find gold.
I'm new to this and still learning and I'm just trying to make the best decision I can without buying something that I'll not be happy with. I could buy a used original GB for a good price on eBay; but would it be a good decision? If I lived in a good gold area, yes it would because I could use it just for nugget hunting; but I live here in NY and will coinshoot more than gold hunt here. So, at least I have a much better understanding of what I need now thanks to you guys. All I need to do now is get someplace where there is some good gold, lol.
I'm new to this and still learning and I'm just trying to make the best decision I can without buying something that I'll not be happy with. I could buy a used original GB for a good price on eBay; but would it be a good decision? If I lived in a good gold area, yes it would because I could use it just for nugget hunting; but I live here in NY and will coinshoot more than gold hunt here. So, at least I have a much better understanding of what I need now thanks to you guys. All I need to do now is get someplace where there is some good gold, lol.
nick hunter
New member
Hi
If this helps : I bought a Goldbug PRO DP with the 11" coil monthe ago. I was a little worried, because I knew the unit would do very good in trash, but the G2 I tested showed a certain amount of issues with bottlecaps.
Anyway, the specs were too impressive for me to pass on an extensive use of the unit before making a final opinion.
All I can say is that I was wrong. Not only practice learns you how to avoid trsh (audio AND TID infos are very accurate), but I have already found 400+ coins with it, at depths up to 9/10 inches.
The BIG bonus for the beach hunter that I am is the ability to have a detector that will excell on BOTH coins AND thin, very small, GOLD !
This is a very important combo !
And a very nice detector (except for the sand that reaches the BACK of the screen, but OK, I can live with that...)
HH
Nick
If this helps : I bought a Goldbug PRO DP with the 11" coil monthe ago. I was a little worried, because I knew the unit would do very good in trash, but the G2 I tested showed a certain amount of issues with bottlecaps.
Anyway, the specs were too impressive for me to pass on an extensive use of the unit before making a final opinion.
All I can say is that I was wrong. Not only practice learns you how to avoid trsh (audio AND TID infos are very accurate), but I have already found 400+ coins with it, at depths up to 9/10 inches.
The BIG bonus for the beach hunter that I am is the ability to have a detector that will excell on BOTH coins AND thin, very small, GOLD !
This is a very important combo !
And a very nice detector (except for the sand that reaches the BACK of the screen, but OK, I can live with that...)
HH
Nick
Thanks that does help Nick. One more thing I like about the new GBs is the display. I've never used one as my 1236X2 doesn't have one. I do Ok with that and really like the detector; but I think the screen would be the way to go when I do buy a new one. If I did get a short vacation to Maine before I bought a new GB, I'd just pick up an old original GB for cheap on eBay and then sell it later when I trade up for a new GB. It sounds easy now, doesn't it? I'm on SS Disability nowadays and good things take time...and money; they're 2 of the biggest words in the English language, other than IF...
One more question. When Fisher says the new GBs...have a slightly lower sensitivity to quarters...does that mean that you will find less of them? My 1236X2 really screams on a quarter and I found 106 of them at one fairground site this past summer and wouldn't want to miss that.
sgoss66
Well-known member
I find plenty of quarters, Dug1898...you may not find them quite as deep as with some of the deepest coin machines (ones that have lower sensitivity and thus better "tuned" to high conductors such as a CZ), but you can expect to find quarters in the 8-10" range with your GB Pro, if you listen to the "fainter," deeper hits. I wouldn't worry too much at all about "not finding quarters..."
Steve
Steve
Just had 1 afternoon out with my Gold Bug DP with really good results. What it seems to do best is hunt quietly in heavy iron trash and it doesn't suffer as bad in heavy EMI as my other machines. Got a 1869 Shield nickel and a 1943 Nickel first time out. In my soil it's as deep or deeper than anything else I've tried in my coin garden. The Gold Bug is probably the easiest to use detector I've tried and you feel confident with it quickly.