On tone - You could play through any of the above mentioned muso's gear, and you won't sound like them. A fair amount of tone is generated by the player's fingers. There's a cool vid of an in-store promo clinic thing from Mattias Eklundh while he was out promoting "Move". It's his Caparison guitar through a Gorilla amp, and a "Fatal Tube" Russian made distortion pedal. It sounds JUST like IA. At Prog Power, he had 2 Laney half stacks (his preferred amp) and it sounded JUST like IA. Some of the best advice given to me was from IA, and it was "grow your own mustache, not someone elses" I have a friend who adores the Tri-Axis tones from MJR, he fought for over a year to get CLOSE to that tone, and has since given up.
On amps - Don't knock modeling amps. If you want a variety of tones, and everything in one unit, they're not THAT bad! I'm a dyed in the wool tube guy, and would I rather be playing through my departed Marshall, and Mesa Boogie MK IV? You bet I would, but instead of doing without an amp, I picked up a Line 6 Flextone II, and for my current needs, it fits me quite well. It offers excellent recording abilities as well, plus, my neighbors like me a lot better now too!
I guess what I'm trying to say here is don't blow wads of cash trying to sound just like (insert favorite guitar player here), Find something that is in your price range, and more importantly, what sounds goof to YOU.
J-Dubya
