Even if the old adage “You get what
you pay for” holds a lot of truth in
the guitar world, most working musicians
simply have a difficult time plunking
down a few thousand dollars on a new
amp or guitar—especially in these trying
economic times. And it’s because of our
current harsh economic reality that so
many gear designers, large and small, have
worked hard to offer designs with a boutique
feel at accessible prices.
This philosophy has been the driving
force behind Canada’s own Mack Amps.
Every Mack amp is built by hand at the
company’s Toronto headquarters, with
special attention paid to manufacturing
efficiency and parts costs in order to deliver
great guitar tones on the cheap. Their new,
super-lightweight and tiny Gem 2G—an
overhaul of the company’s original Gem—you might pay for a mass-manufactured
amp of lesser quality.
Like a Rock
The 4-pound Gem 2G is a pretty simple
amp to use. There are just three knobs on
the front panel of the diminutive 5 1/2" x
8", anodized-aluminum cabinet—Volume,
Gain, and Tone—and they felt solid, smooth,
and even as I swept through their ranges. The
Gem also has three pushbutton switches for
Power, Wattage Output, and Preamp Mode.
Because the Gem was designed primarily as
a studio tool, the Wattage Output switch
allows you to move between the amp’s full 4
watts and a micro-powered 0.4-watt mode.
And, wisely, Gem put the switch on the
front of the amp rather than on back, where
designers commonly (and inconveniently)
tend to put their power-scaling controls. Each
of the switches exhibited the same sturdiness
and consistency that’s apparent in the rugged
chassis, cabinet, and potentiometers.
The naming convention of the amp’s
Preamp Mode control is a little confusing,
with two options for Hot and Melt modes.
The company bills the Gem 2G as having a
tremendous amount of clean headroom, yet
the Hot mode is essentially the amp’s clean
channel. While it’s able to achieve a slight
amount of overdrive with the Gain control
cranked, it would have been more appropriate
to name the modes Clean and Hot. On
the 2G, these two channels are now footswitchable
as well, adding another improvement
to the original Gem model.
Apart from excellent build quality, what
really makes the Gem stand out is its tube
complement. While the power section is
loaded with a tried-and-true EL84, a single
new-old-stock (NOS) 6AC10 triple-triode
tube drives the preamp section. Although
this tube is something of an oddity in guitar
circles, the 6AC10 was one of the most commonly
used tubes in early televisions.
Many players will wonder how hard it will
be to find replacements for the 6AC10, but
it’s actually one of the rare NOS tubes that are
isn’t a powerful amp at just 4 watts, but it
puts boutique tones in hand for less than
pretty easy to find. Because they were a general-
purpose tube at a time when most people
owned a tube-powered TV (and, no doubt,
because there are very few uses for them
today), there are literally tons of them out
there—and they’re cheap, to boot. I was able
to locate some online for only $8 apiece—a
considerable bargain given how much good
NOS 12AX7s go for nowadays. Mack’s use
of an overlooked—but affordable and easy-to-acquire—tube from a bygone era is crafty,
thoughtful, and, frankly, a breath of fresh air.
A Gem in the Rough
Mack touts several improvements in the
2G that its predecessor didn’t have—most
notably, additional clean headroom and a
refined overdrive sound. The clean tones are
perceptibly better, too. After plugging the
head into a Marshall 2x12 extension cabinet
with two Celestion Greenback speakers, I
grabbed a 2008 Fender American Telecaster
and laid into some hard, Keith Richards-inspired
riffs using the amp’s Hot mode.
Even with a very heavy-handed pick
attack and the controls at noon, it was
almost impossible to distort the amp in any
significant way—an unqualified improvement
on the original design. In addition, the
amp throws a surprising amount of volume
and punch. Most players wouldn’t consider 4
watts to be usable anywhere but the studio,
but standing in front of the Gem 2G for a
few moments might change their opinion. I
could have easily played a small gig with this
rig, and I’d have no qualms about mic’ing it
for use at a mid-sized or large venue.
Though the Hot channel’s sound was
punchy and full, the higher frequencies
lacked the sparkle you’d find in, say, a
Vox AC15. And its clean tones, with their
rounded-off high end, fast attack, and even
response, sounded better for blues and jazz
than rock or country material. It’s still a great
amp for a variety of genres, but I couldn’t
help thinking it would feel more at home
kicking out some smooth Jim Hall progressions
than a soaring Led Zeppelin lead.
To find out how far I could push the
little tyke in Melt mode, I grabbed a 1978
Les Paul Custom with Tom Anderson humbuckers—
including an especially hot H3 in
the bridge position. If you savor metal-style
gain, the Mack may not be the perfect amp.
But you can still generate plenty of crunch
by overdriving the power tube with aggressive
use of the Volume and Gain controls. It
certainly sounded cool in a Marc Bolan-type
of way, with a vintage fuzziness reminiscent
of early- to mid-’70s guitar tones. Fans of
late-’60s and ’70s rock tones are sure to
embrace the Mack’s capacity for dry, husky
distortion. And if you’re feeling like the
Gain control doesn’t have quite enough on
tap, you can get a little nastier by boosting
the Treble control—which increases high
frequencies by up to 6dB.
The Verdict
The beautifully built, accessibly priced, and
super-compact Mack Amps Gem 2G marks a
fine evolution of great idea. There’s a noticeable
bump in clean headroom, and the full-bodied
clean tones have an immediate attack
and surprising volume.
As far as the overdrive tones go, they’re
not going to be everybody’s cup of tea. If
you’re looking for gain in the range of, say,
the Vox Night Train, you’ll probably need
to add a distortion pedal to your signal
chain. However, this works in the favor of
players who are after a smooth, even clean
sound that sits in the mix well and that’s
never overbearing or harsh. If that’s your
objective, the Mack Gem 2G is well worth
checking out.
Buy if...
you need a small, affordable,
and surprisingly loud head with
brawny clean tones.
Skip if...
you prefer metal-style saturation
and preamp gain.
Rating...
