I'll chime in here as well and agree with some comments that have been posted.
less is more!! In all aspects ... less gain, less (preferably NO) effects, less EQ.
Another thing to consider is where in the audio spectrum your track will sit. Most times this means you need a LOT of midrange. Most guitarists just learning this stuff tend to pump up bass and treble on their tracks as it makes it sound more "full". In reality this is the exact opposite of what you need once you sit the guitar into a mix of other intruments.
As a soundman over the years a lot of guitar players have asked me to tweak up their tone, or to help them do so. The first thing I typically do is turn down the bass and treble and turn up the mids. At first it might sound a bit odd to have a really midrangy sound, but also consider that it's pretty simple to add bass and treble after the fact, but adding midrange (cleanly) is another thing alltogether. You want maximum calrity and articulation of the sound at the source, whether it be from an amp, a pedal, an amp sim, or a plugin.
A good rule of thumb to learn what you need 9and don't) for this type of stuff, is don't EQ a guitar sound by itself, always fiddle with it whie playing with a mix with a lot of other sounds going on. It might help you to educate your ear as to what you want/need to get the end result. Then go back and listen to the guitar track by itself. It ay not sound killer by itself, in fact some of the best guitar tracks I've had just sit in the mix sounded kinda of aweful by themselves, but when added to all the other stuff the magic happened.
Lastly, the tone you get from a guitar, playing by itself is mostly useless to tweak up .. unless it's a part that is meant to be by itself with no accompaniment. it's all about context.
Food for thought
Mark
