Review · By Metal Detector Nerd · August 4, 2026
Falcon MD20 Gold Probe Review
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The Falcon MD20 is a very high frequency probe built for one job: finding tiny gold that ordinary pinpointers walk straight past — flakes in quartz, specks in crevices, and sub-gram pieces in tailings. Short version: the specialist gold prospector's probe, and a poor choice as your only pinpointer.
It runs at a far higher frequency than a standard pinpointer, and high frequency is what makes a detector sensitive to small, low-conductivity targets. Gold is exactly that.
The verdict
Superb at finding tiny gold, bad at everything a general pinpointer does. Buy it as a second probe, not a first.
01Specs that actually matter in the field
Far higher than a standard pinpointer, which is what makes it sensitive to tiny, low-conductivity targets. Gold conducts poorly for its value, so high frequency is how you hear small pieces of it.
The 6-inch probe head is sealed and rides on a 5-foot cable, so the tip can go into a wet crevice. The control box on the other end can't get wet — which still rules it out as a creek-and-surf pinpointer.
Designed to be worked into rock crevices and along quartz seams, which is where prospectors actually use it. A general pinpointer's rounded tip can't do that.
It responds to metal, full stop, and at this sensitivity that includes a lot of things you don't want. In an iron-rich park it's unusable; in clean goldfield rock it's exactly right.
Small and light enough to work one-handed for long periods while you're picking through rock with the other.
02Who it's for (and who it's not)
Buy it if you prospect for gold and you're working material by hand — quartz specimens, crevice cleanouts, tailings piles. It finds pieces that a Garrett Pro-Pointer AT genuinely cannot hear, and for a prospector that's the whole point.
Don't buy it as your only pinpointer. Its control box isn't waterproof and it's far too hot for trashy ground — you want a general probe for recovery and this one for prospecting.
03The honest scorecard
+What's great
- Genuinely finds small gold that standard pinpointers miss — that's not marketing, it's the frequency doing its job.
- The scraping tip works into crevices and along quartz seams where a rounded probe can't reach.
- Very light and comfortable for long sessions working material by hand.
- A well-established tool among prospectors, so there's real community knowledge behind it.
–What's not
- The probe head is sealed but the control box is not, which rules out creeks, wet holes and surf.
- No discrimination and very high sensitivity means it's unusable in iron-heavy or trashy ground.
- It responds enthusiastically to hot rocks and mineralization, so it takes practice to read.
- A poor general-purpose pinpointer — this is strictly a second probe.
04How it stacks up
How the MD20 ranks against the other gold-capable probes.
Best pinpointer for goldThe general-purpose probe you should own alongside it.
Garrett Pro-Pointer AT reviewThe main machine to pair with a gold probe.
Best metal detector for gold
05FAQ
- Is the Falcon MD20 waterproof?
- Partly. The 6-inch probe head is waterproof on its 5-foot cable, but the control box is not — so keep it out of creeks, wet holes, and rain. That is the main reason it cannot serve as your only pinpointer.
- Can the Falcon MD20 find small gold?
- Yes, that's what it's built for. Its very high operating frequency makes it sensitive to small, low-conductivity targets like gold flakes in quartz — pieces a standard pinpointer won't register.
- Is the Falcon MD20 a good general pinpointer?
- No. Its control box isn't waterproof, it has no discrimination, and its sensitivity makes it unusable in trashy ground. Buy a Garrett Pro-Pointer AT for general recovery and keep the MD20 for prospecting.
Bottom line
The Falcon MD20 does one thing exceptionally: it hears gold too small for anything else in its class. For a prospector working quartz and crevices, that's worth the money on its own.
It's a second probe, not a first. Pair it with a waterproof general pinpointer and use each for what it's good at.