Gold Monster 1000

Hi all,

I have been panning for a few years now and have decided to try my hand at some detecting, I don't have thousands and thousands of $$ to invest at the moment and was looking at the Gold Monster 1000 to start out with. I will mainly be detecting in Victorias golden triangle and was wondering if anyone has used this detector in a similar area and if so how it performed?

Thanks

Hi James,

Not many responses yet so thought I might as well chip in.

I have a Gold Monster and have had an SDC. Personally, if I was only going to have 1 detector for the mineralised ground of the GT it would be an SDC. I have tried the GM over around Bendigo and although it will work you will have to reduce the sensitivity quite a bit to be able to work it without it picking up every mineralised rock in the vicinity. The GM is a very sensitive and (I think) a very good detector for certain situations. Working really mineralised ground is not one of those situations.

Alternatively the SDC just eats up mineralised ground and you can really turn the sensitivity up as long as the EMI permits it.

And of course there are other non-minelab options in both VLF and PI but as I haven't used them I can't really comment.

The Minelab Equinox is the other potential option coming out in the near future that has a gold mode on it and may be a viable option but I'd wait and see some real on-the-ground reports from areas with high mineralisation.

GM - about $1000
Equinox - about $1600
SDC - about $3,500 new or get a decent one for $2,700 second hand with some warranty remaining.

It would be the SDC for me unless the Equinox reports come back REALLY favourable.

And this is well worth a read for different options from a bloke that has USED THEM ALL rather than just guessing

http://www.detectorprospector.com/gold-prospecting-guides/steve-guide-gold-nugget-detectors.htm

Best of luck with your decision :Y:

Something with a black sand meter, as well as probability of iron would be better, especially for someone as yourself. Follow the black sands to judge where to pan, even if no specks are detected.
The Whites Goldmaster (GMT E-series), or the Makro Racer (I think this has this function too.).

Don't be fooled by the one-eyed Minelab disciples. Their consensus that the GMT does not handle hot ground is a fable.
I just searched for an unbiased review of the Gold Monster, and no such review exists. They are all uploaded by dealers.

I took my 1000 to Sunny Corner on the last long weekend
It found lots and lots of hot rocks and rubbish from just a few cm's to up to about 200mm
as the coil is water proof i also done the creek again lots of rubbish
i have no doubt that when i know how to use it properly i will find gold with it
This was at the beach with the GM 1000
i will be going out again tomorrow (2 XTerra 705 against my GM 1000) and do a report when i get home under the same post as below
with me i dont colour things in rose colours if its crap i will say its crap if its good then thats what i will say

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=23751

From this link page on there are some nice gold finds by members here.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=20924&p=7

Tim said:

Don't be fooled by the one-eyed Minelab disciples.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah Tim, that's a good'n.

Tim said:

Something with a black sand meter, as well as probability of iron would be better, especially for someone as yourself. Follow the black sands to judge where to pan, even if no specks are detected.
The Whites Goldmaster (GMT E-series), or the Makro Racer (I think this has this function too.).

Don't be fooled by the one-eyed Minelab disciples. Their consensus that the GMT does not handle hot ground is a fable.
I just searched for an unbiased review of the Gold Monster, and no such review exists. They are all uploaded by dealers.

Click to expand...

Yep, remembering that the main Australian Importer is based slap bang in the middle of the Golden Triangle and the GMT and the MXT were tested there and did find fine and Spongy Gold,

J.

"looking at the Gold Monster 1000 to start out with. I will mainly be detecting in Victorias golden triangle and was wondering if anyone has used this detector in a similar area and if so how it performed"

How about for a change we just let those who have actually used a Gold Monster 1000 give the OP their opinion on it's performance - that is afterall what he wants to know!!
After a few years panning I'd wager he'd pick where the paystreak is quicker than any black sand meter anyway - especially in low or no magnetite areas

Hi there I have the gold monster, qed and gpx4500. And if I was you and had an extra 800 bucks I would get the qed in a heartbeat. I'll state right now I have not found gold with any of these machines I found a loads of junk and very small junk, lead pellets, wire of different sizes and rust flake etc... I just haven't waved them over gold yet obviously the gold monster at shallow depth compared to the qed hand 4500. I believe the qed compares well with the 4500 in most situations.. better in some situations I around power lines the use of manual ground balance to help alleviate digging false Target where the 4500 best the qed in hotter ground probably due to ground tracking. I haven't had this problem but others have. You are close to the maker and I believe both sellers of the of the qed so learning machine should be relatively easy. They are both very good machines and proven goldfinders.
Gold monster $1100 qed $1850 GPX 4500 $3600 ish new prices. If it was me I would buy the qed no questions asked if I had to pick one, but I'm glad I don't have to pick one lol.
I've got all three . Just thought I'd throw another option in there for you. you can also look at the Gold Racer as well for about 1300 bucks which I know nothing about :Y:

Cando said:

Hi there I have the gold monster, qed and gpx4500. And if I was you and had an extra 800 bucks I would get the qed in a heartbeat.

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I agree with this. The QED is a killer machine for the price.

$1850 gets you a complete unit set up with Detech Ultra Sensing Coil and a set of batteries.

Other VLF machines the OP may want to consider are the Makro Gold Racer which is under $1000, the Nokta FORS Gold+ which is under $1200 and the Whites GMT GoldMaster for $1399.

mbasko said:

"looking at the Gold Monster 1000 to start out with. I will mainly be detecting in Victorias golden triangle and was wondering if anyone has used this detector in a similar area and if so how it performed"

How about for a change we just let those who have actually used a Gold Monster 1000 give the OP their opinion on it's performance - that is afterall what he wants to know!!
After a few years panning I'd wager he'd pick where the paystreak is quicker than any black sand meter anyway - especially in low or no magnetite areas

Click to expand...

My intention was to suggest that the Gold Monster should NOT be the first port of call for an LF gold detector.

I disagree that it is not advantageous to have a black sand meter. Why cut a log with an axe when you have a chainsaw??

My 2 cents
Lets not forget that the question was asked about the Gold monster 1000
Not all brands

As Dam it suggested, back on topic please.

Tim said:

mbasko said:

"looking at the Gold Monster 1000 to start out with. I will mainly be detecting in Victorias golden triangle and was wondering if anyone has used this detector in a similar area and if so how it performed"

How about for a change we just let those who have actually used a Gold Monster 1000 give the OP their opinion on it's performance - that is afterall what he wants to know!!
After a few years panning I'd wager he'd pick where the paystreak is quicker than any black sand meter anyway - especially in low or no magnetite areas

Click to expand...

My intention was to suggest that the Gold Monster should NOT be the first port of call for an LF gold detector.

I disagree that it is not advantageous to have a black sand meter. Why cut a log with an axe when you have a chainsaw??

Click to expand...

Tim - start a GMT topic & explain to us how you use the "Follow Black Sand" meter to locate & exploit paystreaks of gold with the black sand here in Australia :Y:

The GM is a very nice machine but the last I heard was ML were working on fixing it signalling on blades of grass and being bumped, Some have had no issues some have but some are doing very well with their GM's, At present I would hold of and see how it pans out, There are many other machines that can do the same job that have had the wrinkles Ironed out.

Took Khaleesi (gm1000) out for a walk today with two other pm members (reefer and pete165 both using xterra 705) on the beach again
On the first one it picked up everything including what i belive was the reinforced concrete about 2 foot under the sand it was screaming
Moving further away from that area it settled down and started picking up very very small bits of junk
The two xterra 705 picked up nothing even when i got a reading and called them over to run theirs over the same area
Now a few times i happened to bump a stick or rock it would sound off but quiten down straight away
Moving onto the park area there was so much junk that i just gave up
In the long grass i never had a problem until i bumped into a solid object but again it quitened down almost straight away
I still have to work out about wet sand she hates it with a passion so i still have some experimenting to do in that area
As i said before in the bush she is very quite and does pick up bullets wire nails and hot rocks i just need to teach her to only go for gold ] ]
Some say that if you swing it left it will read left and swing it right it will read to the right i havent come across this problem yet testing with gold it goes right and so on
The battery seems to last a fair while i have used it for 6 hours all up so far without charging (it is on charge now i dont want to push it to far )
I have not used the head phones yet as the volume is plenty high enough to hear in high winds that have been at the beach the last few times i have been out
I have not used the aa battery pack yet so i cant comment on how long the batteries last in that
It is light enough not to cause any problems with my elbo that i had operated on about a year ago and to me seems a well balanced unit
To me and this is only my opinion i have purchased a good detector
All that i have written is what i see when i am out and about
I have no affiliations at all with minelab or anyone that sells them

jamesrww said:

Hi all,

I have been panning for a few years now and have decided to try my hand at some detecting, I don't have thousands and thousands of $$ to invest at the moment and was looking at the Gold Monster 1000 to start out with. I will mainly be detecting in Victorias golden triangle and was wondering if anyone has used this detector in a similar area and if so how it performed?

Thanks

Click to expand...

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=23810

When are you coming over Joao?

I still think the GM is the best LF/VLF made in the last couple of years, some have had the odd teething trouble but on the whole it is a real Gold Getter, Kiwijw has had some blinding results with his, at present it is the only VLF that I would buy.

John.