hey, for anyone scoring at home, it looks like i found the answer to the ^above issue and thought i would share.
i found it in the cakewalk forums (
http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/tt.asp?forumid=17). it looks like guitar tracks (2 or pro) do not do real time effects. the users in the forum suggest that in order to hear effects real time, you need to be using either their sonar or home studio products in conjunction with guitar tracks. both of those are more expensive.
if you ask me, that is insanely lame.