Gold Bug 2 Metal Detector with 10.5" Waterproof Search Coil – Ultra-High Frequency Detector for Precise Gold Nugget Detection in Mineralized Soils

Outstanding for Gold Country and Dry Riverbeds. Not so much for Beach-Combing, because although it will find small gold and jewelry, it will also find Every other metal on the Beach, right down to the tiniest of Aluminum pieces, cigarette pack foil, barrettes, tent steaks, bottle caps and pull tabs with almost no discrimination. As I said... It finds everything! This is tuned specifically to 71khz for locating sub-gram Gold pickers and also works great for finding concentrated River-Gold deposits. However, because it is so sensitive to the tiniest bits of most metals, you will have to dig every Target on the Beach to be sure. This Item is for serious Gold Prospectors.

I made purchase of the GB2 because of what I researched it can do. It has been stated to be able to find gold as small as a pin head. The GB2's ability to locate gold say 0.02 grams is on or 1 inch near the surface. Reported depth is around 4 to 5 inches with a 1.0 gram nugget. I wanted the 6 1/2 inch search coil that is very small because the larger coil looses the ability to see the smaller gold. I needed a detector that has a smaller search coil and the GB2 is it. The GB2 is not a perfect detector as with any other in comparison. If the decision is the GB2 or the GMT or the LOBO a person can not go wrong choosing any of these detectors. I own a GMT and it can give the GB2 a challenge. As for the LOBO as I have read it will detect deeper by what I assume to be around an inch or so but at the risk of finding no small gold. The GMT will go deep and find small gold too. If there is very high mineralization all detectors will struggle unless it has the ability to ground balance it out. There is a limit to the design of the GB2 as with the others. Taking the GB2 to the beach may not be a good idea but it should work there, but not as well as in a low mineralized area. The GB2 is stated as being able to find invisible gold. This type of gold is spongy or that which is running through quartz that some detectors may or can not find. Whatever the case I had to get a GB2. There is a newer version that I will call GB3 but it is not being well recieved. The operating frequency is lower and the coil is round again. It would be nice of Fisher to make available a small round coil for GB2 but at a low price though. The original GB had the small round coil. The detector is light. It is packed with the two 9 volt batteries already there. Assembly is pulling the composite rod down and joining the upper and lower shafts then unpluging the cable and wrapping it up in place. Nice, it is good to go. The control boxes housing is plastic. The batteries are held in place with little plastic doors held on by a thin plastic line. I don't like plastic and will have to be careful here. Here is where the GMT shines. Construction is much better. You can't go wrong with the GMT, but you will still want a GB2. Update: There is a plastic plug for the headphone jack. It's there to help control debris from getting in. The plug keeps falling out and I'll keep pushing it in till it either stays or breaks. As I said, It's not a perfect detector and I don't like plastic.

As Described

Pros: * Finds smaller pieces of gold than anything else on the market. We're talking pinhead size. * Lightweight for all-day swinging. * Can use rechargeable 9V batteries to save money; I've been using them with good results. * Simple, pick up and go, minimal set-up. Sensitivity to 10 (always), Mineralization typically on Normal, Audio Boost On. Easy manual ground balance as needed. * Gold and lead make a distinct sound that you can learn to identify even without using iron discrimination, although that feature works great as well. * Really stable for a VLF machine and once you're used to it you can pick out targets even in horribly mineralized ground. Cons: * Using regular 9V batteries can add up the expense, expect to use 2 every 16 or so hours of use. * After 2 years my iron discrimination switch has stopped working and I will have to send it for repair (5-yr warranty). * Is not pulse induction or a GPZ so realistic depth for nuggets is limited to under 10-12 inches. * If you forget to periodically check the handscrew that holds on the coil it can come loose in the field and fall off. * 9V batteries seem to barely fit into the battery compartments, the thin plastic battery doors have to be forced closed, it's hard to tell if they're latched, and can pop open without warning. Strange and unwieldy design that can make it difficult to remove batteries, but also leaves the possibility of the compartment popping open and depositing your battery onto the ground. This machine I've been using for the past couple years as a beginner and weekend hobbyist, and it's found enough gold to pay for itself and then some. I am upgrading to a Minelab to find bigger, deeper gold but I am definitely keeping this and using it in certain situations. There are niggling annoyances with some design aspects but there is a reason it is known as the best VLF detector out there. Its ease of use is good for beginners and it's good for trashy areas as the iron discrimination works quite well. And all three coil sizes are good for different uses.

Loving my gold bug 2. Was pretty easy to learn how to use, found gold with it on my first day out!

This is my second Gold Bug II since they first came out. There's an advantage to being able to adjust the settings on the go in the field. There are other more modern detectors with full or nearly full auto settings that do well but the Gold Bug II's many dials allow an experienced user to tweak it for better results in the field. Including 2 plate sizes is a great deal. Use the smaller one for crevising in narrow areas such as tight stream beds, etc. The larger plate for more open ground areas or bank side.

I’ve tried a $200 metal detector and now the Gold Bug 2, its a world of difference. The iron and mineral discrimination really helps discern between hot rocks and real targets. While I haven’t found a gold nugget yet, I’ve found plenty of valid targets and most importantly I have a lot of fun with it and trust it. I did a test and put a < 0.1 gram nugget in a vial in a small pile of dirt in the backyard and my kid was able to find it. So that tells you what it can do.