Thanks Chris. Verstality is what I'm after, so that sounds good. Also easy set-up/break down.
Ok, the conclusions I've reached so far is that much better guitarists than me think the AxeFX is fantastic. Which tells me it will be more than good enough for me. I should avoid cab sims at this early stage, use my guitar cabs and look at FR speakers further down the track. From what I can tell, I should be able to ditch the Mesa 20/20 and instead use a SS power amp. Next stage after than would be to go FR spkrs. I've been perplexed by the acronym FRFR - I assume that just means stereo fullrange speakers.
In the very short term I'll abandon trying to use the 4-cable method with the GT and just put it in front of the amps. Although time based effects won't be as good as they should be, at least I can bypass the GT for tones where I don't need FX. Also I'll try using some of the GT distortion modes with very little EQ - before a tube pre-amp and power amp, I'm hoping some of them will be usable if I get most of the gain from the tube pre-amp. I should be able to avoid level matching issues that way. My pre-amp clean are pretty dark, but maybe some EQ from the GT will help.
That is the stopgap solution, but I think I'm still going to buy an AxeFX. Especially since the Australian dolla is so strong against the greenback and that could change any time.
I have a couple of further questions. I should probably ask these in another thread but I'll do it here first since I have such kindly respondents
Will any good stereo hi-fi power amplifier do the job? It seems to me that if the tone leaving the AxeFX is the finished article, then they should be. I ask because I might have access to some low priced hi-fi gear. Is there some fundamental difference between gear designed for listening to music and gear for guitar?
If OK, any problem with going from a hi-fi amplifier to guitar cabs? Or should I try to move to FR speakers at the same time?
Why are SS power amp ratings (seemingly) so much higher than tube? Is it for more headroom before nasty SS clipping? I'd never dream of getting a 200W tube amp, or even a 100W. But plenty of AxeFX users are using the 200W power amps. Would these paople have previously used a 200W tube amp? I don't need massive volume, my 20/20 is more than I need. I have a single 30W Celestion V30 in one of my cabs. Does that mean with a SS power amp I'd have to get something no more than 30W per side?