Golden Mask 4WD Pro Metal Detector
I've Purchased All My Golden Mask Gear, I'm Not Sponsored By The Company
I've had limited time using the Golden Mask 4WD Pro out in the fields, this comes down to one simple fact, nothing beats my Nexus detectors on inland sites. I've decided to use the GM down on the Thames foreshore and it will be used to hunt that location exclusively along with my Vista X. Now with a number of hunts behind me, both filmed and not filmed I feel I can give a fair assessment on its performance. I wanted to get to the stage in my detecting where I wasn't using any digital machines, thanks to the GM I've now reached that point. So just to get the name out the way first, 4WD stands for 4 wheel drive because the two frequencies 18 & 8 allow you to hunt all terrain.
The Golden Mask is produced in Bulgaria and they're not to be underestimated, their performance is really quite outstanding for the price you pay. I chose to go for the 4WD PRO because I have the option to switch between 18KHZ and 8KHZ and switch between single tone and multi-tone, I also have a manual ground balance control. Basically, out of all the analog machines they produce the 4WD PRO is the most versatile, one thing to note, there's no unnecessary settings and controls present on this unit. It's pretty much a "what you see is what you get", there's no pointless shit to give the illusion of value. These are my favourite kind of machines, simple, effective and straight to the point.
So....
Setting the machine up is both easy and intuitive, you simply raise the power/threshold level to "just audible" and then lift and lower the coil, you're looking for no deviation within the threshold tone. You then set your disc level and you're good to go, with how inconsistent the Thames foreshore can be in regards to changes within ground conditions, the unit runs surprisingly smooth and quiet. It doesn't suffer from false signals and is surprisingly stable on the wet sand and water line. I think the key to this is keeping the power level lower, I'm not going for depth on the foreshore so it doesn't have to be high.
I've been swinging this machine with the 5' DD coil which I found second hand and the 5/7' DD elliptic coil, both these coils make the machine super light to swing and it feels balanced and solid in the hands. The reason I've opted for these coils was the very simple fact that target density on the foreshore is something that needs to be witnessed to be believed. Using the smallest coils I could get my hands on means there's fewer signals under the coil at one time, thus making it easier to hear and isolate the potential good signals. The main element that aids me in this task is the crazy fast recovery speed that all the Golden Mask machines have. They really are super quick and because the audio is so solid and punchy, it makes hitting on the good targets easy.
In regards to separation, I have videos on my YouTube showing me digging coins and other nonferrous targets out the same hole as larger iron, or surrounded by it. The key, like with all analog machines is understanding the audio, nail this down and you're going to find a lot of stuff. Initially it can be a little overwhelming though, firstly, unlike my Legend and Equinox 800, you can't adjust the volume of the tones, you either have a single tone or a multi-tone so this takes a little bit of getting use to. You have an audio frequency control that allows you to change the pitch of the non-ferrous tone but that's about it. So... if you've been using a digital machine that has lots of audio options you're going to have to get use to the way the audio sounds. To be really honest, after a few hunts it's pretty much second nature.
For me personally, the stand out feature, other than speed is the audio, ferrous gives this addictive low grunt whilst non-ferrous gives this sweet analog high tone 'which can be adjusted via the audio frequency dial'. There's so much 'nuance' in the audio, you can hear if the target is potentially a mix of metals because both the high and low tone mesh together. Coke is very easy to distinguish, the tone has this translucent quality about it, good nonferrous targets have a lovely dense, roundness to them. After some use you start to understand what potential masked targets sound like, this is something that occurs on the foreshore loads.
The other element that you need to get right is the swing speed, because the recovery speed is so bloody quick, if you swing too fast you literally can't process what you're hearing 😂. You have to use a moderate swing speed so your brain can keep up. This was something I cottoned onto pretty quick, if this concept goes over your head then you're going to be wasting your time. It was actually really surprising just what I ended up digging, I'm pulling a lot of non-ferrous targets out the iron and it's actually quite crazy just how small these items are. The most impressive being a tiny ball-bearing or pistol shot, this was detected on the water line amongst a lot of ferrous trash. I have the live dig on one of my videos.
In regards to targets found, they've been of all shapes, sizes and conductivities, running it in 18KHZ you're going to hit on the tiniest of things. I haven't run it in the 8KHZ frequency because that just wouldn't work on the foreshore as well as 18KHZ. Along with everything mentioned in this blog, one important point is the wireless option, you can order each unit with or without wireless capabilities. I went for the wireless headphones option, to connect them to the machine you simply switch the switch on the end of the battery compartment, this engages and disengages the wireless headphone. The headphones themselves are good quality and the connection time is super fast.
All in all I believe Golden Mask detectors to be fantastic and for the money they're probably one of the best on the market. The GM 4WD Pro with wireless headphones and the 5/7' DD elliptic coil will cost around 371 euros, add some import duty and you've got a killer machine for a very reasonable price. Does The Golden Mask Have Pointless Gimmicks? No it doesn't, it's an all out metal detector that's easy to use and it really packs a punch, if you want a really good machine for a good price without the pointless bullshit included then it might be worth considering a Golden Mask detector.
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