Gold Bug SE vs Scorpion

[Rebel73153]

Will either of these find gold nuggets the size of #5 or #6 lead bird shot to at least 1"-2" and match head sized to at least 3"? If not how about the Lobo ST? Of the GB and Scorp. which is easier to learn to use right? Any and all helpful comments appreciated.

 

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[Rebel73153]

Ok, thanks for the info. So, how does that Ground Grab work?

 

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[strickman]

that's their name for ground balance . it seems to work pretty good . i have not had mine in the field , but I have a very highly mineralized yard ,added some dredge cons . made a test bed and so far it seems to work . i have a friend with a g.b. 2 , works good but hard to keep balanced . the pro is a lot easier to balance . should be better around hot rocks .

 

[Rebel73153]

Well that would be nice cuz i found we have Lots of Hot Rocks here.

 

[TerryC]

Well that would be nice cuz i found we have Lots of Hot Rocks here.

Yes! A hot rock collection is in your future! Try this when you have the GB2. Balance out on a hot rock. Make sure the balance is nuetral. THEN put a nugget, or lead shot, UNDER the hot rock. AMAIZING isn't it? A good confidence builder. TTC

 

[Rebel73153]

OK, now i am getting More confused. I have one guy saying NEVER ground balance over a Hot Rock and then you tell me Balance over one and then put a lead or gold nugget under it and try it. I think i need to do a LOT more experimentation with this thing. Or hope someone sees my ad and wants to trade me a Gold Bug for my Eldorado and a gold, diamond, and Black Onyx ring so i can play with it.

 

[TerryC]

OK, now i am getting More confused. I have one guy saying NEVER ground balance over a Hot Rock and then you tell me Balance over one and then put a lead or gold nugget under it and try it. I think i need to do a LOT more experimentation with this thing. Or hope someone sees my ad and wants to trade me a Gold Bug for my Eldorado and a gold, diamond, and Black Onyx ring so i can play with it.

So sorry to confuse you, Rebel. My point in balancing ON a hot rock was to show you that gold is recoverable even UNDER hot rocks. You are right. You should not balance on a hot rock. The exercise was just to be more aquainted with the machine and its abilities. A little "show off" if you will with the machine. If you were hunting in a park with a detector "tuned" to coinshooting, the hot rock would "mask" the gold. The GB2 is capable of seeing through the mask. No more showing off. Promise. TTC

 

[Rebel73153]

Re: Gold Bug SE vs Scorpion/Terry

No, go ahead and Show off if it will teach me something. I was doing kinda, sorta, that when i put the nail next to a coin and see if it will detect the coin. It nulled long ways on the nail but i got a good signal going across the nail. Like i sad to John, i just need another 75-100 hours of practice.

 

[Keppy]

I was thinking of the gold bug pro over the GB2 for they say it is easy to ground balance........................And if i nugget hunt i really don't want small gold spects ................... I like a little bigger nugget ...........I don't like the pin head size or smaller...........

 

[Keppy]

Yes but now they have the ............Gold Bug & Gold Bug Pro & the Gold Bug DP ?? what is better than what?? What i am asking is what is the best one ??

 

[Lanny in AB]

Yes but now they have the ............Gold Bug & Gold Bug Pro & the Gold Bug DP ?? what is better than what?? What i am asking is what is the best one ??

This is second-hand information, but from an excellent source:

I have never used the original Gold Bug--had a buddy that did--he found a lot of gold with it. Now, this may be the answer you're looking for--I know a pro that finds all kinds of nuggets (he's an excellent nugget shooter, quite famous in fact) and he swears by the Gold Bug 2--won't touch the newer ones (has tried them, and doesn't like what they've done to them)--says the Bug 2 is the best for his VLF arsenal. (He uses some very high end Pulse machines, but that's a whole different ball game.)

All the best,

Lanny

I rounded up a picture of my old Stinger--I did find nuggets with it, but most were larger--didn't find flake gold with it. It was good for following veins in hard-rock tunnels--that actually amazed me. Got into an exploration tunnel in Montana--could see a quartz vein in the tunnel--followed along it with the Stinger chasing the tone to a good section--chiseled out some of the quartz in that section--crushed it up, and panned it, and there was fine gold in it!

The tunnel only went in about twenty feet as the vein pinched out. I never really felt that Stinger was an outstanding detector, but it would find gold. As I stated earlier, I have it from some of the best that the Bug2 is an outstanding VLF.

As well, here's a shot of one the Stinger found.

 

[stryker-one]

I think I would follow Terry and Lanny's guidance. I haven't used any of the GB machines--I own a Stinger and have used it for 14 years. Where I live there are not nuggets to be found so I use my machine for coin shooting. I have found several gold chain links in some very tough ground. Spent a lot of time finding enough #6 shot to load a couple shells--that will get your heart running . My 2 cents and like you I am dated also.

If I was a nugget hunter in a nugget area I would go get a GB2--drive it a lot and go find some stuff.

Stryker

 

[toddles1]

hey rebel,
I own a gold bugSE and a friend tested his whites gmt against it, with his set to factory settings and mine set as sensitive as i could get it his beat my GB SE easily. I'm new to this but it didn't take an expert to see the difference.
I'm buying the GMT. good luck. Toddles

 

[Lanny in AB]

hey rebel,
I own a gold bugSE and a friend tested his whites gmt against it, with his set to factory settings and mine set as sensitive as i could get it his beat my GB SE easily. I'm new to this but it didn't take an expert to see the difference.
I'm buying the GMT. good luck. Toddles

Toddles,

What were the coil types (DD, Mono) and sizes being used? Were they identical? Just curious.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[Reg]

Well, I have the GB 2, two Gold Bug SE's, a Gm4, a LST, and a few more not mentioned. I used to own a Stinger many years ago, but sold it so long ago, I can't tell you much about how well it worked. Personally, I prefer the GB SE's at this point. No, they will not detect quite as small of gold as the GB 2 or the GM4, but close enough for me. The other features make up for the limitations as far as I am concerned.

As for any big difference between the GB SE and the GB Pro, well, I have not tried the Pro but what I have been told by those who should know, there is little to no difference. When time and money permits, I will try the pro and the GMT, although I have used the GMT very briefly.

Responding to another discussion about ground balancing, personally, I find GB'ing over a piece of magnetite to be the best solution in certain areas and over the typical ground in other areas. It all depends upon on the ground and rock conditions. The reason I say this is because it is extremely easy to have a piece of magnetite or a rock containing magnetite to easily cause one to not hear a gold nugget next to it or under that rock. In fact, many years ago I use to give brief seminars on using metal detectors for gold hunting and one of my favorite displays was to show how one could easily ignore a half oz nugget if it was under a small piece of magnetite maybe golf ball in size. This happened regardless of the detector used if the GB is off just a little in adjustment. The exception today is a PI will detect the gold under the hotrock even if the GB is way off.

So, there is a lot more to nugget hunting that meets the eye and there is nothing better than experimenting and trying different tricks and procedures. Don't have any gold to test with? Well many people use lead as a test target, but brass mimics gold very well as does solid aluminum which, by the way, is quite close near pure gold in conductivity. (One can even buy small aluminum ingots on Ebay now.

Personally, I use brass balls of different sizes now for test targets. They are reasonably cheap and work well. I have also used pieces of brazing rod or even used small brass nuts when in a hurry and don't want to worry about losing my test target.

The point is, there are lots of possible test targets that will work. More importantly, gold varies dramatically, meaning no two nuggets are exactly the same and in many cases, gold from different areas is totally different in how it responds. Because of this, trying to use a TID meter to make a decision is useless in my opinion.

The old but standard rule still holds true, when in doubt, dig.


Reg

 

[Lanny in AB]

Reg,

Nice little read--nicely done!!

All the best,

Lanny