I agree with the just getting a Good sounding amp. I Have the Peavey Joe Satriani, and I love it! It's one step up from the 5150, All tube, sick distortion, great clean channel and it even has a noise gate built in. The price was very decent. I got mine for about 1300 bucks and it sells for about 1600. You really can't beat a good tubed head!
as for pedals, I always liked Digitech floorboards, For my home studio, I have the Digitech GNX3, before I got the tube amp, I would use the GNX3 with a QSC 400 Watt Power Amp, and run that through a Stereo EQ. The sound was pretty awesome still. But again, nothing touches a tubes amp with great distortion!