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→Battling Harshness or Thin-ness
One final thought: a single guitar tone isn't going to sound like a double or quad-tracked stereo guitar tone in a mix. Layering guitars and adding space between them really helps to thicken up the tone. They each fill the gaps between any crackles or buzziness any one track has, as well as getting a 3-D effect from the stereo space that makes them sound fuller and richer. Similarly, bass guitar can make up for low-end (particularly the very low end), cymbals typically cover up guitar high-end, and bass drums add attack that guitars lack. Distorted guitar is primarily a midrange-oriented and low-dynamic-range instrument. Now, that doesn't mean you should settle for a crappy tone just because a lot of it will be covered up or enhanced by other players or studio wizards - just don't build yourself up for expectations that are impossible to meet.
Some other pointers:
* Some amps, typically older ones, can sound downright nasty when fed a large amount of treble. Even modern amps might sound a little nasty when boosted with too much bite. Don't feel like you are compromising backing off the treble on a boost pedal or pre-EQ. This is particularly evident with the ''Tube Screamer'' - 100% Tone might make low E riffing sound good, but chords and leads suffer. A lower Tone setting still emphasizes mids and makes for a boosted tone without high-end harshness. Adding a little pedal distortion can get back the bite to low note riffing without harsh sustained chords or leads.
* Pedals will often distort even at low Drive/Distortion settings. Try backing off of the pedal distortion and using more amp distortion.
* Just because your amp says it has tube-like distortion doesn't mean it actually distorts anything like a tube amp. Tubes are effectively a dead technology for their original pure amplification purposes, but there is a reason they are still very popular for music, particularly guitar amplifiers designed to distort.
* Just because an amp is a tube amp doesn't mean its distortion will be smooth and pleasing. Design matters.
* Even further, the individual tubes matter. Tubes can burn out or become microphonic and lead to all kinds of issues. Consider retubing or seeing a tech to get an inspection.
* A used amp may have been modified by a previous owner. Just because your amp is a popular brand doesn't mean it's going to operate exactly like every other one.
* The same goes for pedals, guitar electronics, and cables. Incorrect tone knob capacitor values can lead to all kinds of issues. Bad solder joints can lead to poor signal transmission. Bad cables or guitar shielding can introduce lots of interference and hiss into the tone, or even fixed frequency squealing.
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