"Got about 30 hours on my Gem (it's rekindled my desire to play). Best little amp EVER."
- Rob, Saskatchewan (see his full review below)
"My Gem is one sexy little box and overflows with juicy tube tone.
I like to dime the Gem and practice feedback; it's great for that. At lower volumes it still has a sweet, singing sustain with sparkle and clarity.
The Gem is "tone on the run" for those last minute studio sessions. Just grab a small cabinet, throw them both in the car, and you're there! Engineers will love the Gem; it's so simple, yet so versatile.
The Gem is more than just a practice amp. You can get many small amps that are cheaper, but they won't sound like this!"
- Steve Gunner, Creedence Clearwater Revisited - Mack Endorsing Artist
"I just got my GEM and a 10" cab [1x10 OB]. That combination is awesome... but, when I connected the GEM to my "Mack Stack" [2 - 1x12 CB speaker cabs] and ran it at 4 watts, full volume... I orga*#med... spectacular crunch... and when I opened up my sub-woofer also... holy sh*t!! You got a winner here dude!"
- Mike, Alberta
"With 4 watts and the pre set on series, I was shocked at how loud it is. Miles of headroom and the tone is pure EL84: chimey and harmonically rich. This is where solid state practice amps and amp sims come up short IMHO. They can cop decent high gain tones, but can't do tube clean like this. Awesome. Riviera Paradise and the intro to Wind Cries Mary were spectacular and comparable to my Heatseeker HS-18.
.4 watts/series. Cleans were still nice. Cranking the gain pushed my Tele into that blues tone sweet spot where you're right on the edge and can really control your sound with your pick attack. Love that.
4 watts/parallel. The cleans were still nice, with lots of space. Cranking the gain would still put me nicely into bluesland.
.4 watts/parallel. I was surprised by how much headroom I still had. I could get more tubey OD than on the other settings (especially when I switched the Tele for a Les Paul). I like the way I can manipulate the sound with pick attack and little changes with the guitar's volume.
I hit the Gem with a couple of pedals (Blues Driver and DS) and loved the result. I could get really nice tube OD tone at conversational volumes. This is the other area where solid state amps suck. When you hit 'em with pedals the results tend to be brittle and ugly. Not so with the Gem. The ability to get those sweet tube tones at low volumes is the Gem's forte.
Some other observations. The Gem is small, but it doesn't sound that way. It sounds and reacts differently thru different cabs. Thru a 12" Weber alnico Silver Bell, it was chimey and open sounding. Very Rock and Roll thru a Celestion Greenback. Big and loud thru a Marshall 4x12 (and one of the funniest-looking setups I've seen). Used it mostly thru the first Mack cab [1x12 CB] I got from you as it's one of my favs.
The Gem also sounds different depending on the guitars you play. I was surprised that I liked the Gem best with my 52RI Tele. I usually like Strats the most, but the Tele with the Gem had this amazing, primal pure tone. You can hear every nuance (which is not a good thing with players of my calibre). Talk about a responsive amp."
- Rob, Saskatchewan
"The amp showed up today! Plugged it in and started playing. Sounds really sweet! Just what I wanted. I'm very proud to own this Mack Gem."
- Joel, Guam
"This amp does not need an introduction. Just listen to the damn thing(!) and you will understand why I play it, in the studio and on stage." Check out Doron's sound clip...
- Doron Zor, Mack Endorsing Artist
"I just picked up my Gem today. I haven't had a chance to plug it in yet, but it looks fantastic! While at Avenue Guitars, I decided to get the cab for it as well. I also bought a Heatseeker 18. I've got one of each of your models now. Anyway, thanks for all your help. Your amps are the best."
- Akil, Alberta
"I plugged my Gem in briefly yesterday and again today for a longer session and I am very happy to have it. It's got a personality much bigger than its size! I love the tones I'm hearing. The clean tone is very full and warm with great sensitivity. The crunch sound is happening, too, and I plan on using pedals to augment all of the useful tones already coming from the amp. I think you really hit your goal in designing an easy-to-use, great-sounding small amp."
- Gary, California
"Just to let you know that I received the Gem today and it is awsome. It was delivered at my workplace and we tested it right there (after work of course). It is a great sounding amp and just what I was looking for. Congratulations for offering such a great product and friendly service."
- Antonio, Puerto Rico