I know what you mean about the folks with all the gear and none of the ability. There's people all over the place with tons of gear (like $20,000 or more worth of junk) that can't even play. However, if you're going to get good it doesn't hurt to go ahead and get some top line stuff and just keep it. the Mesa power amp is killer and the triaxis is obviously a winner. If you could afford it you'd be 'in bidness' so to speak and you could avoid repeated buying year after year. Looking back over 20+ years I can say that I wish I had just bought the best gear I could and then just stuck with it instead of buying and buying to catch up with my abilities.

But, I guess, you never really know what you're going to need. Hummm, I don't know what to say. maybe something like a Boss GT-3 processor/preamp combined and a combo amp with an effects loop? You might already have a good amp with effects loop and you could just bypass the current preamp in your amp with the GT-3 or similar thingy and you'd have a great portable rig. You might not need a rack system yet unless you plan on playing out a lot in the near future.

I guess one of the virtues of buying a good quantity of stuff over the years is that I have multiple rigs for diff. purposes: protable practice units, med size tube amp, DMA for recording, etc.....

I guess the question is this: what do you have right now and what do you want to be doing, in, say one year from now. Is your current equipment not enough for your activity one year from now? If not, what do you need?

Generally, rack stuff is kinda pricey plus you'll still need a cab if you don't already have one and the best bet is to have 2 to take advantage of the stereo capabilities of a rack system.

Say, how about one of those old Carvin Quad preamps? cheap but I hear they sound Okay. you can find them used (I saw one on ebay not too long ago) Or an old ADA preamp -- I think Vernon Reid used to use one. Or the worst of worst, I have a Digitech G 5 something or other on my trade page at http://guitarsoc.homestead.com
which combines a preamp and processor (back in the 80s they attempted the "digitube" stuff too with horrid results But if you like rank distortion you might like it, LOL.

have you given any thought to one of the big digital modeling amps like the line 6 ax2 or the new roland monster? it's like having an amp + effects + floor controller all in one. I currently use an ax2 and i love the thing.