Hey Joe, yeah please tell me what you think of my mix via PM
I think Joe is right, mic position will change your sound so much, it think it's really a matter of "luck" and time also (even if sometimes the best mic position is the first one lol).
A good mic pre will work better of course, it will add colour in a good way, enhancing some frequencies and harmonics too, but one thing I noticed recently is that a great converter helps a lot ! A friend of me bought a Mytek converter 6 months ago, he was used to his Firepod and the difference was... stellar. Even if guitars do not have the most noticeable transients, their dynamic range is a lot more respected with a great converter : larger, wider, deeper. I just bought a Lavry AD10 so I can do an AB test with some cheap converters as soon as I receive it.