Yes, I am confident the Ace isn't for me. It's not that I don't like the amp; I love it! It's just not what I want for my main sound. I have tried every mode on both channels, and I have found sounds that I like, but I have a bright Strat. Yes, it's the Strat I can't part with. That Strat combined with the Ace just cuts like a knife.
I play multiple instruments and am always writing music, and I like having instruments that inspire me. The Ace has a good clean channel and some great '80s and '90s drive sounds. It's killer. I found that I was always trying to warm the sound up, though. Sure, I could go for a different cab with a different speaker, buy a different guitar, throw an EQ in the loop, and end up with a sound I'm happy with, but I'd rather not fight the inherent nature of the amp. There are lots of people who use the Ace as their main amp and love it, though.
I'm not in a gigging band, and when I do play out, it's at church. My church has a very full sound with drums, bass, acoustics, electrics, synth, and piano. The best guitar sound in that situation needs to be very present in the mids to low-mids.
As I briefly stated above, I don't want to have to fight with an amp. I know Marks take a while to perfect, but the tones I was getting in just a few minutes were outstanding. The Stiletto has a few variations on a unique tone, but it will always basically sound like a Stiletto. The Mark is so versatile that I can see it really growing with me, so that as my musical tastes evolve, I hopefully won't have to buy more gear -- hopefully.
