Minelab GPX6000 release, general information and questions

[Teemore]

Well guys, I won't be getting a 6000. Just bought Mbasko's 4500 to add to my 4500 / Evo's and ZED / X coils.

The 6000 just doesn't grab me enough to justify the the extra $5K for what is only going to be a spare detector.

If I didn't already have a ZED and X coils, I probably would have bought one.

If I want to do some patch hunting with a lighter machine, the 4500 coupled to my very nice 24x12 Evo will do just nicely ! The 6000 doesn't have a big 24 inch coil, does it ?

This will be the first time in 20 years that I haven't bought the new model !

Rick

If only we all lived in WA ..... I wouldn't waste my time on small gold or a 6000 either ..... unfortunately we have to be content with smaller gold, harder detecting areas etc etc so for some in the eastern states the 6000 may be the new go to machine.

 

[GemQ]

Well guys, I won't be getting a 6000. Just bought Mbasko's 4500 to add to my 4500 / Evo's and ZED / X coils.

The 6000 just doesn't grab me enough to justify the the extra $5K for what is only going to be a spare detector.

If I didn't already have a ZED and X coils, I probably would have bought one.

If I want to do some patch hunting with a lighter machine, the 4500 coupled to my very nice 24x12 Evo will do just nicely ! The 6000 doesn't have a big 24 inch coil, does it ?

This will be the first time in 20 years that I haven't bought the new model !

Rick

Cmon Rick you know you want one. With some of your spots youll have it paid off in a few weeks?

 

[Moneybox]

Well guys, I won't be getting a 6000. Just bought Mbasko's 4500 to add to my 4500 / Evo's and ZED / X coils.

The 6000 just doesn't grab me enough to justify the the extra $5K for what is only going to be a spare detector.

If I didn't already have a ZED and X coils, I probably would have bought one.

If I want to do some patch hunting with a lighter machine, the 4500 coupled to my very nice 24x12 Evo will do just nicely ! The 6000 doesn't have a big 24 inch coil, does it ?

This will be the first time in 20 years that I haven't bought the new model !

Rick

If only we all lived in WA ..... I wouldn't waste my time on small gold or a 6000 either ..... unfortunately we have to be content with smaller gold, harder detecting areas etc etc so for some in the eastern states the 6000 may be the new go to machine.

If you all lived in WA then you'd be hanging out to get to the Victorian goldfields. We proved a point a few years back with a trip to QLD, NSW, VIC and SA. We found gold everywhere we stopped except Nambour and a spot in eastern SA but I can't remember the name of it. If you can't find gold in your home state than you most likely won't find it in WA either.

 

[Araratgold]

Well guys, I won't be getting a 6000. Just bought Mbasko's 4500 to add to my 4500 / Evo's and ZED / X coils.

The 6000 just doesn't grab me enough to justify the the extra $5K for what is only going to be a spare detector.

If I didn't already have a ZED and X coils, I probably would have bought one.

If I want to do some patch hunting with a lighter machine, the 4500 coupled to my very nice 24x12 Evo will do just nicely ! The 6000 doesn't have a big 24 inch coil, does it ?

This will be the first time in 20 years that I haven't bought the new model !

Rick

Cmon Rick you know you want one. With some of your spots youll have it paid off in a few weeks?

That would be the case, but why should I ?

I'm going to have to miss an awful lot of flyshit gold with my ZED and X coils to make up the $8K + outlay !

Rick

 

[JD3]

No mate, only been to Victoria twice in my life, and thats if you count Pukapunyal.Apart from that had an over nighter in Melbourne, lol.
So my experience in your goldfields are zip!
We have ground like that here to though. Boot tacs and small parts of tin as well as shotgun pellets. The zed and 4500 pick them up to though. All in all, if a 6K puts you on ground with small gold, that you might have missed otherwise is a big plus. Whack on the 17 or go another detector and have a good look deep.
P.s We have magpie geese and ducks to!
Maybe time to look outside the square and find some ground that has not been worked so hard......its a big country and Victoria has the best prospecting laws in Australia.

Sorry didn't mean it to be arrogant. Think I stuffed it up to sound that way.
Meant this, my full apology if it came that way. After that time I know what I want and need. I was given an SDC and in many areas it was insane. Ok, I get it. But it was un useable. I just would like to see Mlab actually listen, not just blurb crap say, and give the true Aussie chasers the real gear.
So sorry if I sounded arrogant, which I probably did. Just am sick of 30 yrs of trying to tell them we are not all the height of the first settlers and for crap sake give us after 30 YRS an option for us big guys.
You know what I did for my 2000 and 2100? Made a shaft from a wooden broom handle!?
Cheers mate.

 

[Goldtalk Leonora]

No mate, only been to Victoria twice in my life, and thats if you count Pukapunyal.Apart from that had an over nighter in Melbourne, lol.
So my experience in your goldfields are zip!
We have ground like that here to though. Boot tacs and small parts of tin as well as shotgun pellets. The zed and 4500 pick them up to though. All in all, if a 6K puts you on ground with small gold, that you might have missed otherwise is a big plus. Whack on the 17 or go another detector and have a good look deep.
P.s We have magpie geese and ducks to!
Maybe time to look outside the square and find some ground that has not been worked so hard......its a big country and Victoria has the best prospecting laws in Australia.

Sorry didn't mean it to be arrogant. Think I stuffed it up to sound that way.
Meant this, my full apology if it came that way. After that time I know what I want and need. I was given an SDC and in many areas it was insane. Ok, I get it. But it was un useable. I just would like to see Mlab actually listen, not just blurb crap say, and give the true Aussie chasers the real gear.
So sorry if I sounded arrogant, which I probably did. Just am sick of 30 yrs of trying to tell them we are not all the height of the first settlers and for crap sake give us after 30 YRS an option for us big guys.
You know what I did for my 2000 and 2100? Made a shaft from a wooden broom handle!?
Cheers mate.

Minelab has been consistant for that 30 odd years.....great electronics and crap everything else...headphones...backpacks..ergonomics....of course I'm generalizing but I think it's a fair point. You know what....I don't buy detectors for anything other than the control box.

Not that many years ago you could buy longer shafts off the shelf at detector stores. Maybe for the 3500 but definately for the GP/GPX detector. Of course getting longer shafts for the newer 'all in one' machines will be a challenge.

 

[JD3]

No mate, only been to Victoria twice in my life, and thats if you count Pukapunyal.Apart from that had an over nighter in Melbourne, lol.
So my experience in your goldfields are zip!
We have ground like that here to though. Boot tacs and small parts of tin as well as shotgun pellets. The zed and 4500 pick them up to though. All in all, if a 6K puts you on ground with small gold, that you might have missed otherwise is a big plus. Whack on the 17 or go another detector and have a good look deep.
P.s We have magpie geese and ducks to!
Maybe time to look outside the square and find some ground that has not been worked so hard......its a big country and Victoria has the best prospecting laws in Australia.

Sorry didn't mean it to be arrogant. Think I stuffed it up to sound that way.
Meant this, my full apology if it came that way. After that time I know what I want and need. I was given an SDC and in many areas it was insane. Ok, I get it. But it was un useable. I just would like to see Mlab actually listen, not just blurb crap say, and give the true Aussie chasers the real gear.
So sorry if I sounded arrogant, which I probably did. Just am sick of 30 yrs of trying to tell them we are not all the height of the first settlers and for crap sake give us after 30 YRS an option for us big guys.
You know what I did for my 2000 and 2100? Made a shaft from a wooden broom handle!?
Cheers mate.

Minelab has been consistant for that 30 odd years.....great electronics and crap everything else...headphones...backpacks..ergonomics....of course I'm generalizing but I think it's a fair point. You know what....I don't buy detectors for anything other than the control box.

Not that many years ago you could buy longer shafts off the shelf at detector stores. Maybe for the 3500 but definately for the GP/GPX detector. Of course getting longer shafts for the newer 'all in one' machines will be a challenge.

Yeah thanks for getting it. Im the same. The control box. After all this time and I know my self and others have asked "please make a longer shaft for us tall guys, please let us shut down the micro sh..."
Hey, i get the micro in areas where you choose it as an option...all good. But quadsquilion shotgun land are you kidding me? Give us the option to shut it out. Why up it?
Minelab have never got it and never will. They cater for the newbies all the time and never give the others the option.
How hard is it to give a turn on turn off?.
We could do that with the 2000 and 2100. Use the sensitive chanel and shut down the other or visa versa. Now it's all in one or nothing. I know and have plenty of places where I do not want ever micro sensitivity! That will drive me insane and have me spend a worth less amount of time there potentially at the expense of better spots.
Rant over

 

[Teemore]

"please make a longer shaft for us tall guys

Pretty sure, based on one of the videos out there that the shaft is extendable .... looks to be a decent length.

 

[davent]

No mate, only been to Victoria twice in my life, and thats if you count Pukapunyal.Apart from that had an over nighter in Melbourne, lol.
So my experience in your goldfields are zip!
We have ground like that here to though. Boot tacs and small parts of tin as well as shotgun pellets. The zed and 4500 pick them up to though. All in all, if a 6K puts you on ground with small gold, that you might have missed otherwise is a big plus. Whack on the 17 or go another detector and have a good look deep.
P.s We have magpie geese and ducks to!
Maybe time to look outside the square and find some ground that has not been worked so hard......its a big country and Victoria has the best prospecting laws in Australia.

Sorry didn't mean it to be arrogant. Think I stuffed it up to sound that way.
Meant this, my full apology if it came that way. After that time I know what I want and need. I was given an SDC and in many areas it was insane. Ok, I get it. But it was un useable. I just would like to see Mlab actually listen, not just blurb crap say, and give the true Aussie chasers the real gear.
So sorry if I sounded arrogant, which I probably did. Just am sick of 30 yrs of trying to tell them we are not all the height of the first settlers and for crap sake give us after 30 YRS an option for us big guys.
You know what I did for my 2000 and 2100? Made a shaft from a wooden broom handle!?
Cheers mate.

All good mate, I was not offended lol.
I agree that they give us great electronics and average to below average everything else!

 

[Muk]

Maybe all you people who keep bagging minelab should try another brand of detector and see how you go cheers Muk.

 

[Goldtalk Leonora]

Maybe all you people who keep bagging minelab should try another brand of detector and see how you go cheers Muk.

Hi Muk.....I can't talk for others but I am not bagging Minelab....only detectors we use. However, the opinion I expressed holds true. Minelab have always produced the best electronics and have always had rubbish 'accessories' ie: harness....headphones etc. There have been exceptions to this but as a general observation is correct.....in my opinion. Thing is, who cares?....many prospectors buy aftermarket harness'....headphones etc etc and that is good for the retailers. Also, how in the hell is a company going to mass produce a detector for many different body types and keep everyone happy? In short, they can't....so, we all start tinkering!

If you look at their design changes over the last 5-6 years or so (prob longer), you can see the move towards the 'all in one' unit. What that does is cut some of the aftermarket competition out of the game and prob make operation easier for the majority of it's users and if I was Minelab I would do the same.

The point that I was making is that I buy a minelab detector for its vastly superior electronics....that is what will find me gold.....the other bits such as my comfort during a detecting day (which is equally important in my opinion) I have to sort out myself.

 

[grubstake]

If you look at their design changes over the last 5-6 years or so (prob longer), you can see the move towards the 'all in one' unit. What that does is cut some of the aftermarket competition out of the game and prob make operation easier for the majority of it's users and if I was Minelab I would do the same.

I think it's also a big part of Minelab's anti-counterfeiting push. The old GPX 'tin boxes' are all too easily and cheaply copied, but a unique injection-moulded, all-in-one unit requires expensive, precision die tooling and considerably raises the barrier for copyists.

At the end of the 70's, I worked for a while in an contract injection-moulding plastics factory and even then the larger, more complex dies were enormously expensive - typically in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

[kingswood]

If you look at their design changes over the last 5-6 years or so (prob longer), you can see the move towards the 'all in one' unit. What that does is cut some of the aftermarket competition out of the game and prob make operation easier for the majority of it's users and if I was Minelab I would do the same.

I think it's also a big part of Minelab's anti-counterfeiting push. The old GPX 'tin boxes' are all too easily and cheaply copied, but a unique injection-moulded, all-in-one unit requires expensive, precision die tooling and considerably raises the barrier for copyists.

At the end of the 70's, I worked for a while in an contract injection-moulding plastics factory and even then the larger, more complex dies were enormously expensive - typically in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Judging by Alibaba, the 7000 and the 23 are both already been copied

 

[grubstake]

If you look at their design changes over the last 5-6 years or so (prob longer), you can see the move towards the 'all in one' unit. What that does is cut some of the aftermarket competition out of the game and prob make operation easier for the majority of it's users and if I was Minelab I would do the same.

I think it's also a big part of Minelab's anti-counterfeiting push. The old GPX 'tin boxes' are all too easily and cheaply copied, but a unique injection-moulded, all-in-one unit requires expensive, precision die tooling and considerably raises the barrier for copyists.

At the end of the 70's, I worked for a while in an contract injection-moulding plastics factory and even then the larger, more complex dies were enormously expensive - typically in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Judging by Alibaba, the 7000 and the 23 are both already been copied

I realise that, but I wonder whether the fakes would stand up to close inspection - they might even just be 3D printed replicas.

 

[phrunt]

No, they look exactly the same, certainly not 3d Printed.

 

[mbasko]

No, they look exactly the same, certainly not 3d Printed.

Is that just the pics though or have you seen them in the flesh?
I know they use "lifted" photos for the GPX clones.
Never seen nor heard of any actual SDC or GPZ fakes here as yet. Doesn't mean they don't exist though.
GPX5000 fakes are rife.
Having seen the close up quality & differences of the GPX fakes (even on some where people have said they can't tell the difference - I could) I can't really see them doing a good job on SDC/GPX fakes to be frank. Been wrong before though - once :lol:

 

[kingswood]

No, they look exactly the same, certainly not 3d Printed.

Is that just the pics though or have you seen them in the flesh?
I know they use "lifted" photos for the GPX clones.
Never seen nor heard of any actual SDC or GPZ fakes here as yet. Doesn't mean they don't exist though.
GPX5000 fakes are rife.
Having seen the close up quality & differences of the GPX fakes (even on some where people have said they can't tell the difference - I could) I can't really see them doing a good job on SDC/GPX fakes to be frank. Been wrong before though - once :lol:

I havent held one
But their copies are getting pretty good:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...offerlist.normal_offer.d_title.11ce71bdbRrXKG

You gotta watch the video....Only just groaned on his phone from 8 inches ha ha layful:

 

[mbasko]

Bloody hell!
Looks like they've stepped things up.
Bound to happen I guess when people are paying $10k for detectors there will always be a market for those looking at the easy (cheap) option that ends up costing them more in the long term i.e. wasted time, money, effort
What a POS

 

[Muk]

All good goldtalk I agree about the after market up grades to your detector that is personal choice which usually comes from experience or someone with more experiences help.It happens with a lot of things we buy 4WDs/ motorbikes/ a lot of us like to add to a stock item but thats our choice.The thing Im getting at is you buy a stock standard minelab and you can find gold just as good as one that has been tricked up with after market add ons.if people are only going out a few times a year why have the add ons they will still have a great chance with a minelab as for yourself goldtalk being professional in this caper I dont think any detector manufacture r would be able to produce something stock standard that you wouldnt tinker with unless you had it custom made for yourself as I am sure you know some tricks youve learnt over the years.I myself have had a journey with some detectors before buying a SDC should of just saved up the money and bought it when I could and yes I have tricked it out a bit with sp01 and quest wireless headphones but like you say that is a comfort thing my friend has a stock machine with nothing else and still does extremely well with it. Theres not much info out on the GPX6000 but what is it looks like it will be a great machine and I will be saving my pennies for one cheers Muk.

 

[Goldfreak]

China is the world's factory so pretty much anything we can make they can match and then some. They have all the tooling they need and the brains to do it. Even the Tesla cars sold in Australia will be made in China and not American. Our only chance is to try to stay one step ahead, but that takes constant innovation and ability to quickly turn an idea into a product and get it out there. Mine lab have managed to do this so far. I resent paying 10k for a detector but respect them for there ability to stay ahead of the game with market leading products. I hope the gpx 6000 is something special and not a crude attempt to rehash existing stock to move it. I was hoping they might release an SDC 3100 with interchangeable coils, better depth capabilities and iron out some of the obvious design floors on an otherwise clever and novel user friendly design for a similar price but maybe thats just me.