Garrett GTA 1000 the good, the bad and...

ebaybuyer

if youve ever owned one, what did you like or dislike about it ?

ricko

Never owned a Garrett MD, other than my Garrett wall detector. I am a major White's fan (not to say some other brands are not great). The wall detector is super for old houses though. Cheers, RickO

kevinstang

I used one for quite a few years a GTAX1000 power master I think it was, it was good for most sites except for sandy beaches it worked but not the best. The little Garrett ACE250 I replaced it with does basically all the same stuff and is alot lighter- 1/2 the batteries as well. I broke several of the plastic battery holders over the years as well- Garrett was happy to replace them.

johnny9434

i used garrett up until 5 or 6 years ago. i use the whites now. both are good detectors

ebaybuyer

yeah my battery holders broke about five years ago, i contacted garrett and they sent out a new pair... i never received them but they supposedly sent out a pair. so mine are still rubber banded and duct taped together. i still enjoy my GTA, even though it is now nearly 19 years old. has to be one of the easiest detectors to use and mine paid for itself within three years. had i stayed with my whites DI series detector, i probably would have given up the hobby years ago. i could never figure out how to work that mechanical headache.

lordmarcovan

I owned one. It was a secondary machine that I bought because it was super cheap. Despite being a used machine, it was in like-new condition and I couldn't pass it up at the price. It was a good purchase and I made money when I resold it.

I didn't use it much because I had already upgraded to the GTI-2500 by that time. I used the old GTA-500 and GTAx-550 for more than a decade, though, so the 1000 falls right between the models I found most of my stuff with and the model I use today.

Good machine.

As mentioned, the Garretts leave something to be desired on salt water beaches. My 2500 has a salt elimination setting, but even with that, its performance is erratic. I used to use a Fisher 1280-X Aquanaut underwater machine on the beaches. That and my old Troy Shadow X2 performed flawlessly there. I've never understood what the problem is with Garrett VLFs on the beach.

Yes, the battery clips breaking is also a problem I've had with Garretts, both with my old 500, 550, and now still with my 2500. The first time that happened I ordered a replacement from the factory, but later I was able to find that type of clip at Radio Shack, and bought two sets quite cheaply. This way I can load both sets with batteries, for quick changing in the field, and if one set breaks, I've got a spare set.