I'll throw in my $0.02....

Over a couple of decades I've learned that less is more....keep the signal path as short as possible....quality in helps get quality out.

In the 80's I did what a lot of other people did....lots of digital stuff in a rack, with a signal path that traversed 8 or 9 different cables....and cheap cables at that. I had ok gear, but was using too damn much of it at a time.

When I first discovered tube amplification I hated it....not enough distortion...I wanted seething, ripping distortion....something along the lines of scraping a razor blade along the low E string with the gain maxed out.

I wanted full-wet signal delays and flanges....effects so think that the original signal from the pickup lead was long gone by the time it got to the cabinet.

Eventually I learned that those fat tones on my favorite records were accomplished with every knob set to 10....it was a delicate balance of gain and equalization....it took tubes....good speakers.....and good playing, preferable through a decent guitar with good natural harmonics and resonance.

Bottom line for me......quality gear....tubes...use enough gain and presence to make the signal punch....but back off on your pick attack and lighten up on how you fret notes....when you want to slam into overdrive just tighten up your pick attack angle and fret harder....that will brighten up the tone.....slack off a bit on fretting and you get a fatter sound.

Use good cables....and keep them short. If you play right in front of the cabinet, dont use a 30' cable....invest in a quality speaker cable (you'll know it because its the one as fat as your thumb)

I have to say...my gear today is no better than the gear I had 10 years ago....but it sounds a LOT better.
Part of it might just be that my ear has changed...I like different things now.
Part of it is that I just got to be a better guitarist....and this, ultimately, is probably the biggest part of my tone.

Try a LOT of gear...and definitely try lots of speakers. My Marhsall heads have been very picky...through some cabs they sound tinny....through others....fat as hell. Only way to know what combinations work is to try them out.

Dont be afraid to experiment with things that arent intuitive....play around with more or less gain than you normally do....try selecting a different pickup, or run it out of phase. A great option is to install a push/pull pot knob and set it up so you can reverse the polarity.....make it a coiltap...solder in a capacitor and make a filter out of it.....just play with the electronics until you have on-board options.....then play with them. Experiment.....make yourself find cool tones within the parameters of what you have. Some of the best discoveries I've made were with sounds that I didnt care for at first.....then after an hour of jamming...found something cool about it....and used that to evolve as a player.

Also....basic guitar contruction makes a HUGE difference in tone....a typical alder wood, bolt-on neck, super-strat from the 80's with a floyd rose and ebony fretboard is going to sound a lot different than a mahogony, neck-through body Les Paul with a rosewood fretboard and solid tail with the strings over-wrapped and tuned to E-flat.........if I set up my amp for one guitar, the tone changes the second I plug in another. know what your guitars limitations are....if you want Les Paul tone, dont search for an amp that will make a Telecaster sound like one....get the right tool for the job


Enough talk....I need to go warm up the EL34's and play

...

I also like insane amounts of gain but I don't use pedals to get it.    My tube amp is custom made and has that level of gain built right into it.



I can't wait to get it back from the guy who's rebuilding it now.    It'll come back as essentially a brand new amp.  



I still say the best tone adjustment tool is the digital 1/3 octave equalizer.    I can always find a good tone with it.





CJ

Speakers all have a frequency response rating that they operate at...some can reproduce tones at lower frequencies better than others (conversely is true with higher frequencies as well)..
Speakers also have different sound based upon how much the cone can move...
..also some cabs are ported, closed, sealed, open back..etc...some are even divided or chambered internally.
Hell you can play on 2 identical cab..made at the same time, with the same hours on them and have them either sound identical or night & day apart...
remember...most of this shit is not  CNC made....you can only get coil windings so close to an acceptable tolerance....whether its a pick up or a speaker coil...NO 2 will be exact.

Best advice I can give on good guitar tone from the 10+ years I have been at it....

- Use as little of gain as possible - even when playing metal,all putting the gain on 10 does is mush up your sound, less gain = clearer sound
- pickinng pressure (dynamics) - learn to control this and you are master of your domain
- Do not, I repeat, DO NOT scoop your mids - in a mix guitars live in the mid range, when you scoop this no one can hear you

These 3 tips are my golden rules for guitar playing/tone.

OK, first of all this is slightly off topic, but since it's tone related, I decided to throw it in here.

If you don't already have the 2010 release of "WORLD GONE CRAZY" BY THE DOOBIE BROTHERS, and listen to cut # 12 titled "LITTLE PRAYER" !!!!!!!

You'll hear mostly what I'm going to describe mainly in the intro.

This recording has the most beautiful acoustic guitar I've ever heard in my whole life !!!!  It has the fattest cleanest tone imaginable, absolutely tone to die for.  I don't have the liner notes, so I have no idea what guitar was used, nor whose playing it.

I've been in, and /or around music for the past 50 years.  Ben to probably a few hundred recording sessions in Nashville in the 70's -the early 80's.  Almost all the players were what we nicknamed "THE A TEAM", i.e. the best session players in town at that time.  The studios weren't garage, or basement studios either.  We mostly used the best studios at the time, Columbia, RCA Studio B a lot, and Brent Maher had a very good studio down in Berry Hill named IIRC "Creative Workshop", but I may be wrong on the name of the studio, as my memory isn't so good anymore.

The point of the above paragraph, is I know superb tone when I hear it !!!!!!!  This Doobie Bros. cut I mentioned absolutely took my breath away when I heard it for the first time.

Give it a listen, and see if you don't agree.  I don't think you'll be dis-appointed.  Again most noticeable during the intro.

Happy listening.

Bang-Flop  

Rocktron Hush for guitar.
The noise gates in the multi-effects racks or floor based ones are no-where near as good or transparent.

Tone starts with your guitar.


Be sure that your electric is setup with the correct action level in order to produce clear fretted intonation.

Truss rod adjustments can also make a difference in how a string rings when plucked or picked.

Pickup height on electrics is also important. I've lost count of how many "shitty sounding" guitars I fixed for people when the proper adjustments were made for pickup height.

Experiment with different picks and string gauges to develop your sound of choice.

If you play acoustic the absolute minimum you can get by with is a solid top only guitar. Avoid all plywood. Invest in brass or bone bridge pins as well as bone nuts and saddles for maximum sustain and clarity.


Then start going about your amp or pedal settings..........

I have been playing in bands for many years....have a few tidbits to offer...most have been covered here but here is my 2 cents

1.  Buy quality....Buy Once - Polishing turds is a messy job.  

2.  Become friends with a great amp / guitar tech.  They can make your life and sound much better than you ever imagined.  

3.  Don't buy into the latest HYPE advertising about music gear.  Many times...older gear works and sounds better.  My two Marshall 50 watt heads were built in 1969 and 1972.  My favorite Marshall cabinet was built in 1974-75 with Celestion blackback 25 watt speakers.  The sound is to die for.  I used to be kidded quite often by Lord knows how many about the age of my gear...until they heard it.  After that the same people were trying to buy my gear.  

4.  Cables - For some reason people LOVE to go cheap on cables.  I buy the best.  Period.  This includes patch cables for effects, guitar cables, and speaker cabinet cables.  They do wear out over time.  

5.  Strings - Cheaper is NOT better.  I use Curt Mangan strings.  Yeah they are a buck or two more a set....but the sound.....is fucking incredible.  

6.  Don't scoop your mids.  If you want to cut through over a loud drummer...BOOST your mids and not your volume.  What sounds great in your bedroom or basement will not necessarily work on stage.  Have others listen to your sound and let them tell you what you need.  Your ears are biased towards what you THINK is good.  

7.  Pay attention to the others in your band and their sound.  If you are competing on the same frequency...it will sound like mush.  See note 6.  

8.  More effects are NOT better.  This includes RACK MOUNTS.  Unless you have Bob Bradshaw building your rig...and unless you understand impedance matching of all the units....less is better.  I use 3 floor units...a Boss DD-7 digital delay, a Boss CE-1 Super Chorus, and a Boss NS-2 noise supressor that is set as a mute switch.  Also included is a Boss tuner.  I can tune when the stage is dead silent by simply hitting my mute switch with the tuner in the loop.  

9.  USE YOUR PICKUP SELECTOR, VOLUME AND TONE KNOBS on your guitar!  People do not understand dynamics...changing tones, volumes, etc on your guitar is quick, and very effective

10.  High gain does not sound as cool as you think. Many of the players that people look up to use lower than expected rigs gain wise.  Led Zep, Queen, Schenker, etc do not have as high a gain as many think.  The guitars came across more fluid...more natural sounding by backing off the gain.  High gain monsters typically cover up sloppy playing.  Back it off...your audience will thank you.

11.  Practice at low gains....this will make you a more accurate player....and will reveal areas you need to work on.  If you can nail it at lower gains...you will nail it at higher gains...it doesn't work the other way around.

12.  Pickups - Listen to your ear and don't read the label.  I have two Epiphones that have the best sounding pickups I have ever heard.  I have been using custom made Duncans since the early 80's....MJ or Seymour wound my PUPS.   I love the sounds...they are incredible..but as I mentioned...two of my Epi's have pickups that blow the Duncans away tone wise.  Instead of immediately ripping out pickups in a guitar I buy....I listen to them and let me ear be the judge.  Don't fall into the name brand trap.  

PS....ACTIVE pickups SUCK.  They lose more tone than you ever dreamed of.  If you are an active pickup guy....most likely you have never experienced great tones.  

13.  Tubes versus solid state amps - Tubes are where it is at.  The depth of sound in a well set up tube amp are incredible.  Experiment with different tubes.....different brands...and let your ear be the judge.  There is a reason why guitarists such as Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Jimmy Page, Schenker, Lynch, Macalpine, etc all use tube amps.  

hope these help...  ;)