ENGL chain?

When I played live with my Savage I used a Pod XT in the effect loop. Bypassed all amp- and speakersims and just used the effects.

On smaller gigs I used a Boss NS-7 noisegate infront of the amp and a Ibanez pan delay in the loop. No noise at all.
 
Guitar->Wah->Powerball->GSP1101 in the loop.

The GSP1101 can do 4CM which is like:

Guitar->GSP1101->Powerball Pre->GSP1101->Powerball FX return/Poweramp

But I found it too noisy. I used the nosie gate on the Powerball itself. But the GSP1101 works great also.

In the loop, I bypass all the models and just run reverb, delay, chorus, harmonizing, special FX, etc.

I LOVE rack systems, but the problem is the extra bulk and you need a MIDI setup to switch them. But they are a bit cheaper if you were to buy pedals for all that they do, and you don't have to tap dance.