So as I thought, the only effect I was running through the group was the ampsim.
UNFORTUNATELY, as I was in a hurry the other day (at least, this is the best excuse I can come up with right now)...I think what I did was accidentally leave the ampsim plugin activated IN the group channel (which I should have deleted), as well as the individual guitar channels, which of course pushed the group signal to mono...it seems to be working fine now.
I'm desperately trying to not look too embarrassed, and contribute something productive to this thread at this point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCXhyvUtVzI
thanks guys
