in the spectrum of electric guitar recording, i find myself in the middle between live mic'd cabs and software amp sim. (i suppose really, the very far other side is sampling/midi/etc., but let's not go there.
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i think a lot depends on the genre - any distortion guitar-centric music (particularly what the uninitiated would throw in the wide basket of "metal"), tone is king. in that realm, i think the 80/20 rule applies - you can get 80% of the way without mic'ing a live amp+cab in a decent sounding room, and probably not too many people would notice. but if you want to get to home plate then it's time to step away from the computer. that's just my opinion on it, and i don't do metal so i don't mic live cabs.
if you're doing more "mainstream" rock/pop, you can certainly get away with a direct recording approach*. my opinion on this is get a good hardware amp-sim box - i have a vox tonelab ST and i like it better than the pod 2.0 i used previously. but you can get good tone with either one, or something else that makes the tone you want to capture.
either way, as others have said, you play the instrument. i prefer to track it the way i want it to be, and re-track it if i don't like it. post processing is typically just a delay if i don't feel like double-tracking (which i rarely do
). i think it does two things for me:
1. it forces me to be able to play my own music well. no "omg what if i can't ever get this sound again". that's what practice is for.
2. it forces me to focus on the music, rather than the track. what is this track bringing to the music? does this tone inspire me? if the answer is no, then i pick another tone until i get that feeling.
everything you have to create music is a tool. but with all the modern tools, it's very easy to get lost and forget what it is you are doing in the first place: making music. i stepped away from recording for 3 years to learn that lesson.
*you still have to be good. tone is in the fingers, and a well-tuned, well-intoned, well maintained instrument.