Results:
A: Axe-Fx with lowshelf filter before amp block.
B: Axe-Fx
C: Real amp
A ended up louder after normalization probably because the lowshelf reduced the dynamic range a bit.
IOW, most people were wrong. Let's see how the poll changes now that I've released the results. Historically the poll statistics will change with people claiming "oh, I didn't read the answer but I could tell. There's something more organic, blah, blah...".
At the time of this posting the results were 29, 22, 20. Of course now that I've said this those "a posteriori" people will be disinclined to post.