When you actually think about it, the Axe II plus a cheap midi controller is actually very easy to justify, even for the amateur or even beginner guitar player.
Stompboxes nowadays have gotten ridicolously expensive (in europe, at least). And so did cables and amplifiers (if you want tube, that is).
When I purchased the Axe, I did some pre-calculations about what I would need to buy instead to break even. And that was much less than you would initially think.
Just two quality budget amps (one for distortion, one for crunch/clean) alone sum up to 1500€ easily (I selected a Marshall 50 Watt head and a nice and sweet ENGL head combined with a budget 4x12 cab). Add in the tremendous cost for at least one delay and reverb pedal, and you hover somewhere around 2000€ already.
Add in an EQ, a drive, a fuzz, a chorus and a phaser/flanger, such as cables to patch everything up (2 quality long cables, a bunch of patch cables) and you easily touch the 2500€ mark already - and that only considering mid-quality pedals, avoiding the overpriced BOSS stomps.
That's still a gap of like 800€ if we take the MFC and expression pedals instead of using a budget midi controller. But I think that is a reasonable investment for the reduced luggage, no more issues with faulty cables and no more volume issues because your amp sounds shit at low master volume.
The Axe II is a damn good deal, even for those that only need one or two amp sounds and just basic effects. Even affordable starter gear at decent quality is expensive nowadays.
