[fredmason]

Just a thought but according to my memory the 4500 is a relative bargin at todays gold prices...I believe the original Minelab 2000 PI was about $2000 US brand new...I paid 1200 for a used one just after the 2100 came out....gold was stuck at 300-350 so a 2000 cost about 7 oz of gold. Now the price of gold is over $900 and it will only take you 5oz of gold to pay for a 4500. That is a very good deal considering...for those that have traded up over the years it is an even better deal because you have used the machine, presumably found gold and only have to cough up a little cash to get in on what appears to be a very excellent machine.

Of course one should not have to justify toys with what value will be returned but our hobby almost demands that justification, and is often used to presuade the other-half that the money spent will come back to the coffers...

I envy the guys living near the gold fields...what a great time to be a nugget hunter!!!


Fred

[BobinNV]

Nice topic. With the price of food, gas, and everything else going through the roof, gold looks like a good thing to get into. It certainly sounds like the GPX 4500 is a great machine, and well worth the $. I agree, I envy those who live close to the gold, but this summer I will be moving back to Northern California (Perhaps Placerville), and should live closer to some good claims.

[garimpo]

Thanks Fred for the break down of the detector cost....very interesting and eye opening......

guess I had better get back and hit the slave digs.......

[John B.]

Hi Fred and All

I bought my SDturd 2000 when they first came out . They where $3800.00 new and they came with the 11 inch DD coil and the 18 inch garbage can lid coil . I never found a piece of gold with that piece of shit . I was told by the Minelab experts downunder that it was because I wasn't hunting QUALITY gold and there were no gold auras around my test nuggets !! Heck maybe they were right !!! Happy Huntin John B.

[BobinNV]

Hi Fred and All

I bought my SDturd 2000 when they first came out . They where $3800.00 new and they came with the 11 inch DD coil and the 18 inch garbage can lid coil . I never found a piece of gold with that piece of shit . I was told by the Minelab experts downunder that it was because I wasn't hunting QUALITY gold and there were no gold auras around my test nuggets !! Heck maybe they were right !!! Happy Huntin John B.

What are you using now John?

[fredmason]

Mr B...you're alive!!! How is the trip with Mr Roger going?

You know Rob also said he paid $3800 for his 2000 but he never had one, I think youse guys mean you paid $3800 for your 2200-D which was the third in the minelab PI series...

however, I am now completely accepting of the weird concept that I could be wrong..........


I have had the 2000, 2200-d, gp extreme and the 3500 and everyone has found some gold, but not nearly as much as you have found or as much as I would like....

Hope you are finding all kinds of goodies

Fred

[John B.]

Hi Bob and Fred

Bob I have 4 or 5 goldmasters and have paid for them 100xs over each with my finds see my old web page http://www.treasure-...com/GoldMaster/
I have a GP3000 my favorite minelab and have paid for it several times. My GP3500 I guess I've paid for it a couple times since the price of gold has gone up. When I figure in all the extra coils, batteries and misc shit you buy for the minelabs I guess I might be breakin even on them suckers !! I also own 2 DFX coin machines one has paid for itself many times the other is Sweetpeas and don't get much use.
Fred I froze my ass off huntin with Roger the abdominal snowman. I got some nice beautiful finds but Roger was kickin my ass real bad. Heck he had a kilo when I got there and I had teenager problems and had to leave early. So he's still huntin the snot outa it makin sure I won't find squat on my next trip ( the greedy bastard) !! These are some gorgeous pristine looking stones and I really hated to leave !! But Oh well shit I give em away anyways soooooo !! Happy Huntin John B.

[BobinNV]

Wow, thats a LOT of very nice gold JB!! I was looking at buying a goldmaster but wasn't sure if they were any good, but you've just cured any doubt I had. How does the goldmaster compare to the GP3500?

[Nuggethunting]

Hello Fred,

I have no clue where this comment came from -

You know Rob also said he paid $3800 for his 2000 but he never had one, I think youse guys mean you paid $3800 for your 2200-D which was the third in the minelab PI series...

as I did own a SD2000 and used it for several years before purchasing the SD2100. I did pay $3,800 for my SD2000 and I purchased it from Floyd Allen that lived in New River if you need to know.

Fred just for your knowledge, I've been using the Minelab metal detectors way before the SD2000 even came out.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Goldfinger]

Hi Fred and All

I bought my SDturd 2000 when they first came out . They where $3800.00 new and they came with the 11 inch DD coil and the 18 inch garbage can lid coil . I never found a piece of gold with that piece of shit . I was told by the Minelab experts downunder that it was because I wasn't hunting QUALITY gold and there were no gold auras around my test nuggets !! Heck maybe they were right !!! Happy Huntin John B.

Hi John B and All:

I brought my used SD2000 from P.H and never did find anything with it either. Hell- I even did some testing on some small pieces and I still couldn't pick them up. Must have been my hearing or something. Never did have any confidence in it after that and eventually sold it. Nice to know I wasn't the only one who thought it was a piece of s....

Steve

[garimpo]

I sure hate it when somebody buys a new detector and never finds gold with it......I had the first two SD2000's that

were shipped to the USA.....don't remember exactly the dealer price back then but I believe it was around $2700.00

or there abouts......so I immediately headed for AU and spent the next several months in WA living in a tent...there

in Leonora, WA I met a Aussie prospector that had been finding gold for the last 18 years and since he had a truck

(Ute) and I had two SD2000's we made a deal....we headed North out of Leonora one morning and for the next three

month beeped many patches until we reached Nullagine, WA.....stayed there 128km out in the bush....each Sunday

morning back to town for a bath...wash the red dirt out of our clothes....buy new food....a couple of beers and then

late in the night got back to camp......the "garbage can lid" coils were having a lot of problems and everybody there

thought it was the cold temps at night and the hot days causing the problems.....so we were wrapping the coils in our

spare blankets and putting them in the tent at night to try to keep them from the cold....come to find out the problem

was the chemical reaction between the epoxy and the glue used inside the coil.....

Did we find gold?....lots of nice big and small AU nuggets but the Aussies had been there first with their SD2000's since

they had them 3-4 months before any were shipped to the USA.....everywhere we went the patches were covered with

chain tracks but slow and easy made the difference.....then after a few months we turned around and beeped our way

back to Leanora.....

One of those SD2000's was also the first one in Brazil....found a lot of good gold and then I put the Coiltek 18" mono

on and really found more gold....in 2004 the detector was 10 years old and a Brazilian prospector wanted it so bad he

offered me $4000.00 for it ......a happy day for both of us.......I saw him in Jan. 08 and he's still finding gold with that

machine.......

[Gold Guru]

The point people miss when buying the latest and greatest is that the new unit has to find gold that gold the other older units (in this case the GPX4000 and older units) would have missed and enough of that missed gold to pay for the unit.

The gold that would have been missed by the other units is the only factor that pays for your new unit, not every nugget you find with it.

So if you take the new unit to your pounded patch that you thought you had cleaned out with your older unit and find a few dinks worth $50.00 then you are $50.00 into paying for the new unit.

If you go new spot hunting and hit a new patch with your new unit and score $700.00 in gold and $650.00 of that gold could have been obviously been found by your old unit then the amount of gold the new unit actually got for you is $50.00 because the other $650.00 could have been found by the older unit.

That is where the rubber meets the road on justifying a new unit purchase.

I've considered buying a GPX4500 but I'm looking for a dealer who is willing to let me take the unit out by myself to a few spots I have cleaned out with my GP Extreme and GP3500 to see for myself if the unit is all it is cracked up to be. I found much more gold with my Extreme than I ever did with my 3500, in fact the gold I found with the Extreme paid for both units several times over. Dealers need to keep demo units on hand of the latestest and greatest, they can easily insure them and just charge $50.00 a day or whatever to let customers take them out and try them. Of course who they let take them out is entirely to their descretion, they would want to make smart decisions in that area. Equipment rental companies rent and insure equiment daily worth not only much less than a new unit but much more.

You can pick up a topic on this here: http://www.arizonago...howtopic=113809

If you spend the majority of your time looking for new spots and not just going back to the same spots over and over expecting different results after 2 dozen trips then you don't need the latest and greatest. Just put those old spots on a map once you've cleaned them out and go back to them after a few good monsoons.

I'll say it again because I firmly believe it:
The gold that would have been missed by the other units is the only factor that pays for your new unit, not every nugget you find with it.

[garimpo]

Good thinking GG......I'll just have to stay with my Extreme and 3000 because of the cost.....much better to go out

and find a new patch of descent sized nuggets......

[Mike C...]

Hi all we are in a recession right now so it is not the same-people are more careful with their money right now and should be-

Rod-I agree with you--ya you can find a few dinks that the others missed with the new technology but it would take alot of old pounded patches with a few dinks here and there to pay for your new beeper--luckly its not about that for me or I would be mighy disapointed --heres a good example--when uncle ron last year invited me to his Joe no shoulder patch after he found the creme of the crop--only 5 additional dinks were recovered after Ron with his old 2100 cleaned up all the big stuff --for those guys who think their going to easily pay for their new deeper beepers by hitting old spots- its going to take alot of scraps to pay for it-your better off finding new areas and that could easily be done with an older SD/GP--also Rod--as you know I had a gp extreme as well and found a good amount of gold with it---but jumping from that to a 4000 is like night and day-the biggest differance was the 4000 is alot smoother and easier on the ears- I can only wonder what the 4500 is like-no matter what beeper your using- in the end its the user-the machine and a little luck that counts because they all have the ability to find gold ---Mike C...

[FlakMagnet]

Hi Mike,

I have no doubt, all these interesting theories aside,
that you will seriously be impressed with the 4500.

I have read your posts and I know you are serious about your detecting skills.
You also seem to be one of those folks who finds gold almost anywhere you decide to go.
I have no sales ax to grind.
You will like this detector, really. It kicks as s.


Flak

[Denny]

Funny /I never was in this to make the machine pay for itself.
As for the 4500.I think people will be surprised at what comes off of some of these over worked patch,s.
You sure do not want to spend all your time on the old patch,s though .It get,s in the way of the new ones
Old patch,s are a great place to learn a new machine.

[bigrex]

Frank assessment of the sd2000 John B.

On another note, heh, heh, don't plan on making the detector pay for itself, it's possible I suppose but probably shouldn't be your main goal, instead finding gold should be. Even with the record high gold prices it's still 2008 not 1998.

[Johnno]

Just a thought but according to my memory the 4500 is a relative bargin at todays gold prices...I believe the original Minelab 2000 PI was about $2000 US brand new...I paid 1200 for a used one just after the 2100 came out....gold was stuck at 300-350 so a 2000 cost about 7 oz of gold. Now the price of gold is over $900 and it will only take you 5oz of gold to pay for a 4500. That is a very good deal considering...for those that have traded up over the years it is an even better deal because you have used the machine, presumably found gold and only have to cough up a little cash to get in on what appears to be a very excellent machine.

Of course one should not have to justify toys with what value will be returned but our hobby almost demands that justification, and is often used to presuade the other-half that the money spent will come back to the coffers...

I envy the guys living near the gold fields...what a great time to be a nugget hunter!!!
Fred

G'Day Fred
I was hoping this year to move up the ladder but the tax guy snuffed out all those chances this year.

Cheers
Johnno

[FlakMagnet]

One other thing about buying detectors I don't see much about;

How come we don't factor in some cost savings if we sell our old detector and apply that
money to buying a new one?
Just wondering.


Flak

[Mike C...]

Funny /I never was in this to make the machine pay for itself.

Hi Denny Ya but more than a few people are and you know what cracks me up is the people who say they've paid for thier machines a couple of three times-ya maybe in 5 years -some people have- -but I'll bet thats a very small percentage -Mike C...

[Mike C...]

One other thing about buying detectors I don't see much about;

How come we don't factor in some cost savings if we sell our old detector and apply that
money to buying a new one?
Just wondering.


Flak

Hi Flak yes no one has factored that in--but I don't see that many 4000's up for sale and the ones I do see are just sitting sign of the times -Mike C... PS-Reguarding your previous post-I will eventually have to try a 4500 out-but right now I'm watching the new whites-I know it won't be no minelab killer but if it can come close and still use all the SD/GP after market coils and accessories and not have a battery cord hangin down--who knows

[Nuggethunting]

Hey Mike C.,

Well I'm really impressed with the GPX-4500. Today was really my first time out with it over some old patches that I've pounded since the SD2000 (ya, I owned one ). Found three gold nuggets, 5.05 Dwts, 2.6 Dwt's & 1.0 Dwt's for almost 9 Dwt's of weight. All these nuggets were flat out missed with the GPX-4000 and prior machines that I owned and scanned over this spot. Funny, I can still see some of my old nugget digs on this patch from almost 10 years ago.

My forum is down right now, so can't post the pictures. I was using the new Goldstalker Searchcoil and GPX-4500 with some setting JP told me about for pure depth shooting! I would say they worked, so I'm excited to hit a few more spots with the same settings and detector/coil combo.

Will keep you updated,

Rob Allison

[fredmason]

Sorry Rob, no offense intended..as I said in the beginning I have grown accoustomed to the concept and reality of being wrong...still, I think someone was really putting the squeeze on to charge 3800 dollars 'cause I am certain they didn't cost that from Minelab...nonetheless that sure makes a 4500 a bargin....

Mr B there is no doubt you have found pounds of gold and space rocks...I yield to your greatness in all things.

Flak...I did mention those that have traded up...meaning those that have sold their previous unit to get the next model...that diffenently takes the sting out of the newest model...

Jonno, the Man gets his cut first,last and always...just like property taxes...a perpetual lien against private property...but that is another discussion.

Garimpo...you have seen the elephant, there ain't no doubt about that!!!
Happy Monday boys and girls

fred

[Nuggethunting]

Hello Fred,

No biggie. I believe the exact price I paid was like $3,795.00 or $3,895.00. This was the first big PI from Minelab, so they really socked it to us. I paid half hard earned cash and half credit card to just get one of the first ones. The SD2000 was super quiet and great on larger gold, but a real dud on smaller gold without any type of modification. I soon realized I needed to be hunting places where the larger gold was more common, so I headed towards Quartzsite and Rich Hill and paid for the SD2000 many times over.

Hope everything is well on your end,

Rob Allison

[Mike C...]

Hi Rob nice gold Are you sure you were using the right settings on the 4000 for deeper targets--I know you and alot of other guys were mostly using the smooth settings on the 4000- -which I never use I sure am thinking of ways to get the new deeper beeper as there are a few more features to give the operator even more control -Mike C...

[Nuggethunting]

Hey Mike,

I did spent a good amount of time using the Sensitive/Smooth mode with good success. I also liked the Sensitive/Extra mode for smaller gold at depth. However, I did spent some time in deeper areas using the Normal/Deep Audio mode and found 3-4 quarter ouncers and 4 solid nuggets from 8-9 Dwt's in weight. Didn't find any ounce or ounce pieces with the GPX-4000 though.

I'm considering selling my GPX-4000 since I've seen what the GPX-4500 can do, but the market right now is flooded with 4000's for sale.

Take care,

Rob Allison