Originally Posted by: IzzyPhoreal But changing sounds on the fly was a pain at best to impossible at worst.

That's the norm with that setup. I went through exactly the same dilemma and ended up just running my effects unit into the front of the amp, essentially keeping the amp "clean" and allowing the effects unit to produce the needed extra drive for lead sounds.

Eventually, I sold my Marshall half-stack, but more because I just wasn't using it anymore.

When pro's record with amps, its almost always setup very specifically for optimal sound quality. Effect pedals like overdrive, distortion, fuzz etc, are placed in front of the preamp stage, then time-based effects like delays are placed behind in the effects loop. Further effects can be applied in post-production (reverb being the most common). Because of the tediousness of this, effect units with "amp modelers" have become very popular, and lots of people have done what you have, and just gone with the effects unit only. I know of one band that actually used a Line 6 Pod on a professionally produced album (they were signed to a label) but I'm sure lots of people have done that.

I will say this though... I have had the chance to hear quality amp modelers, and then just a really good amp (I have a Lanely Lionheart). For me, there is a very noticeable difference between the two; the amp sounds significantly better. For that reason, I've gone with both... I practice and record rough tracks with my modeling system. Every now and then though, I fire up the Lionheart and play through that. If I was going to be recording a final track, I would use the Lionheart and effect pedals to get the desired sound, and record that. But keep in mind I only use two sounds for most of my stuff, with a few others for specific songs. If I was looking for a ton of variety, the modeler would be the better option.

You guys might want to check out the Axe FX II... lots of guys just love that thing and does seem to sound really good from what I've heard on-line. Some guy on YouTube did a great little set of videos where he runs through every preset. Its a very impressive unit.