Seems to me tone is a personal thing. I don't see how anyone can give you the combination of gear to get the tone you have in mind. If you can give an example of the tone you want like the sound of the guitar in such and such song maybe people can help. As far as having some choice the best bet is one of the higher end modelers like the GT-8, Pod Xt, Tone Lab LE and so on. However these will sound different through different amps and guitar pickups so experimentation will be required on your part. Sorry if this seems a little harsh but there is no easy answer to such a question. Way to many variables in this equation.