12 replies to this topic

[Chris Coffee]

Ok, I have to vent about this as it is something that just chaps my hide. Maybe I am right, maybe I am wrong, but I know I am not happy. I just recently purchased my 2nd Fisher Gold Bug Pro. Now the detector itself is awesome. Have found 4 small nuggets in my last 2 trips out so I am getting my money's worth there. HOWEVER, what upsets me is that for the damn near $700 I paid for the machine, I find out Fisher Lab is no longer sending the units with the 5" coil cover.

Now I know what you're thinking, "Geez, dude. It's only like $5 for a coil cover!". Granted, that is true. But you would think that a company that wants you to pay $700 for one of their machines would be kind enough to throw in a coil cover that probably cost them .75 cents to make. I can see paying for a new one if you wear the first one out, but to make me pay for that as an EXTRA ACCESSORY when purchasing a NEW unit? To me that is just absolute greed!

I mean, come on, Minelab gives you a coil cover with the purchase of a new Eureka Gold and the X-Terra 705 (at least they used to for sure) and those units are not too far from the price of the GB Pro. Oh well, it is what it is. At least I found some gold with it. In fact, I think I may just have $7.00 worth of finds with it to pay for the cover. SWEET!!!

[Crazy Pete]

Totally agree with you here, its a principal thing, we also used to get all the leads and cables with a new TV, not any more
now they're optional accessories, i would be giving em a call just in case the person who packed it forgot to put
the skid plate in the box but somehow i doubt it, Garrett do the same thing, no skid its extra..

Good to hear your finding gold, keep swingin man.

Pete

[Chris Coffee]

Totally agree with you here, its a principal thing, we also used to get all the leads and cables with a new TV, not any more
now they're optional accessories, i would be giving em a call just in case the person who packed it forgot to put
the skid plate in the box but somehow i doubt it, Garrett do the same thing, no skid its extra..

Good to hear your finding gold, keep swingin man.

Pete

Pete, thanks for the reply. You are absolutely right, it is the principle of the whole thing. It's the same as if you were to buy a new car but the factory doesn't install door locks. If you want to protect your $30,000 investment pay some shop an exorbitant price to install what should have been there to begin with.

But, yes! I am finding gold and having fun. Happy Hunting partner.

[dutch john]

Well Chris... just a thought; a search coil is not a golf club, the innards can be shook loose. And also the inside bottom of a skid plate can be dust collector that can give a false signal. If'n I got hot and heavy around the rocks, I used a thick rubber band (available in most hobby shops, or maybe cut from an old bike tube) around the coils circumference.

If'n you remember where we last saw each other ... you were driving down the canyon and I was stopped with Jerry and another friend along the roadside... This was where an ancient (Tertiary- Pliocene) or (Quaternary- Pleistocene), gold bearing channel drains easterly from the Sierras and discontinuously "day-lights" in several parts of the El Pasos, such as this area. The channnel is well known for the multi-ounce nuggets that are still occasionally being being found... js

[Chris Coffee]

Well Chris... just a thought; a search coil is not a golf club, the innards can be shook loose. And also the inside bottom of a skid plate can be dust collector that can give a false signal. If'n I got hot and heavy around the rocks, I used a thick rubber band (available in most hobby shops, or maybe cut from an old bike tube) around the coils circumference.

If'n you remember where we last saw each other ... you were driving down the canyon and I was stopped with Jerry and another friend along the roadside... This was where an ancient (Tertiary- Pliocene) or (Quaternary- Pleistocene), gold bearing channel drains easterly from the Sierras and discontinuously "day-lights" in several parts of the El Pasos, such as this area. The channnel is well known for the multi-ounce nuggets that are still occasionally being being found... js

Oh Jim, I remember the spot as if it was just yesterday, and that is one of the very first spots I plan to hit when I make my 5000 purchase this month (March). I just bought one of your Nuggetshooters Bible books from Rob today, so I will is going through it with a fine tooth comb.

I also want to thank you sincerely for the wealth of knowledge and info you have shared with me.

[FlakMagnet]

Not giving you a coil cover with your new detector is simply laughable.
I hope you paid them with a check without a signature.

[fredm]

I hate to throw water on the party but detectors have not always come with coil covers...they were bought as an extra at the time of purchase...however, i agree that a unit should be sold fully equiped and ready to go...a while back I was amazed to find that some lower rods were sold without bolts and nuts...made no sense to me...

fred

[Chris Coffee]

I hate to throw water on the party but detectors have not always come with coil covers...they were bought as an extra at the time of purchase...however, i agree that a unit should be sold fully equiped and ready to go...a while back I was amazed to find that some lower rods were sold without bolts and nuts...made no sense to me...

fred

Mornin' Fred,

You're not throwing water at all. Your input is always welcome and respected in my posts. Yes, it is true that not all units are sold with coil covers, however, in this case the Gold Bug Pro used to come with them. I say that because the first GBP I purchased had one with it. It wasn't an extra thrown in from the dealer because the unit was shipped to me and I was the first one to open the box. I know it is nothing to get all bent over. Just one of my pet peeves.

Besides, Chris P. says the nuggies I have found with the machine (in my other post) are worth approx. $5 each! That's (image of me counting on fingers and toes) two coil covers. SWEET! I'm already ahead in the game.

[DesertNuggets]

I agree! When I bought my GB2 it didn't have a coil cover. I had to buy one. Minelab included a coil cover for free when I bought the 705.

Maybe they want you to wreck the coil so you have to buy another. More money for them.

[fredm]

Some of the senior folks may remember when truck bumpers and car heaters were considered extras...things change when enough people demand a product that is fully usable from the start...
fred

[dutch john]

Hey Fred... My first car was a 1925 Chevy which I bought for $35 back in January 1948
while still in High School... . It did have front and back bumpers and windshield wiper
which the orignial owner bought as accessories when the car was sold new...

Coil "skid plates" were once offered as a separate accessory to keep the purchase cost
down. If it came standard with the detector it was part of the purchase price. Back in the
early days coll covers were recommended as was scrubbing the ground with the coil for
more depth. However today, it seems to be best(?) to keep the coil swing steady, smooth,
and level just above the ground surface.

I still have an early Fisher Gold Bug that was originally sold in 1988. It is a mess... looks
horrible. The coils are yellow with age; scratched and battered... I never used a coil cover.
Being an early model, it has the original figure "8" lead wires which are stiff with age...
The control box is well sctatched and battered from use... actually one time the whole
unit slipped away from,me, including the headset and slid down a steep talus slope
below a hillside mine dump I was then detecting.

I have not used it for years and it is as been setting on a shelf in my shed. A few months ago,
out of curiosity I put batteries in it and tried it out. Gosh ...It still worked.

[Crazy Pete]

G'day John

Those old original Gold Bugs are still very popular here in Oz, and yeah they are tuff little critters thats for sure,
i had the GB2 and that was a tuff bugger too, it just kept on hummin away and never missed a beat ever.

Happy Holes
Pete

[dutch john]

Hello Everybody... This is a very great thread full of information.

Old Dutch John here with some thoughts; Hey Chris Coffee, I thank you for buying a
copy of "The Nuggetshooter's Bible." It is becoming recognized as a reference book
as it is full of tidbits of information, especially the various state maps of the principle
gold- producing districts of the United States, such as originally referenced in USGS
Professional Paper 610. The best way to read the Bible could be to go to page 266
and read Appendix E on pages 267-300 which will refer you back to the original text.

If you have access to back issues of the ICNJ, one particular issue: Vol. 70 Number 4
December 2000. (Back issues may still be available by e-mailing info@icmj.com ); it
is still noted for its basic information... "Epithermal Ore Deposits Associated With
Tertiary Volcanism - And the Feasibility of Detecting for Them..."


Also, since you are getting a Minelab- 5000; I highly recommend you join the Chatsworth
chapter of the GPAA. Pat Keene of Keene Engineering, happens to be chapter contact
and the Chatsworh chapter menbers, especially Pat, are knowledgeable regarding the
"ancient channels" in the El Paso range where the big nuggets have been found. Also
some of the members are familiar with the Minelab Pulses. For more information on the
Chatsworth GPAA chapter, contact Pat... pat@keeneeng.com This will help you get up
to speed to beat the skunk when you go to Arizona with your 5000.
.