Well the approach I have is - isn't it all going to be mixed in stereo for the audience anyways?
I know that there may be phase cancellations going on, I know that there will be sweet spots, and I know that the soundguy is going to throw a hissy fit :lol:
I guess I've been lucky so far, but it hasn't really been an issue so far. But context is important - I treat the L and R as two almost separate fields, and not really as one 'stereo' one. I don't use wide and crazy stereo effects, and nothing is really hard panned. Don't know if this helps at all.
Maybe sc09 might give some insight?
Jon - each to his own, and what works for you works for you - that's cool.
But consider this, yes the audience hears a stereo mix, but with thats a stereo band mix, not just a stereo guitar mix - there's a very big difference.
If you use anything but a smidge of stereo effects on your guitar stereo mix, you wash out the physical center of your guitar sound, and that makes it disappear or wash out in the stereo band mix.
If you only use a smidge of effects there is probably not going to be a problem, but then on the other side it won't hardly make a difference whether you run the effects stereo or mono, so why bother carrying the extra cabinet and having the fuzz of micing it ?
The way you describe using it "as two almost separate fields" is awfully close to the dual mono concept that I proposed the OP for live work. Your version of dual mono might be two slightly different mono paths, but if creating two different mono paths instead of just one mono path is important to your sound, which half of the audience is the lucky half or do both halves of the audience loose out (?), as all but a very very very few in the audience will only hear one of your "two different mono rigs" and thus only one side/half of your effects.
I have toured with very different rigs, anything from just the Axe Fx to a small combo with a pedalboard all the way to elaborate multi amp multi effects rack systems, and I can tell you, that if you go out front during soundcheck and hear the FOH sound the difference between a good mono rig or a w-d-w rig to a stereo rig is huge.
With the stereo rig the guitar more often than not loose it's place in the band mix and gets muddy, whereas with a mono or w-d-w rig, you can (if the FOH tech is competent anyway) clearly tell where the guitars place/position is in the stereo band mix. YMMV of cause.