Experimenting with multi tracking guitars. I'm not a novice at this but wanted to streamline the productivity and get a punchier, thick tone without turning to mush.Say you want three main 'crunch' parts. Instead of tracking six tracks (that typically looses definition) I would Arm track one and two, record simultaneously. Then Arm tracks three and four with slightly different tone (different amp, or guitar) and double again, simultaneously . Last Arm tracks five and six and again record simultaneously for a 'counter rhythm' part. So far it's pretty BIG but I in fact only have three tracks (even through there are six in the Guitars track folder) All guitars goes to a dedicated BUS and mixing levels and panning seems much cleaner. Am I on the right track here? Suggestions? Thanks everyone!
 

The most common mistake is thinking that more distortion=bigger sound. There is a point of diminishing returns. I often have my clients double their driven guitar tracks with a LESS distorted tone. They usually balk at first, but in the end they live the result. Less driven means less compressed. More attack. More balls- can I say balls? I don't mean clean, mind you, just less than fully driven.

Also, when you record a take into 2 tracks, you may want to experiment with nudging one a little later. Watch for phasing, but it can really thicken the sound compared to 2 tracks perfectly in sync.

All that being said, if you are loving the results, you ARE doing it right :)

You can also use the channel tools plugin to experiment with a slight delay without moving the clip.

You may find this a very interesting read (if you can get past the bad language - but hey, that's Slipperman for you!)
 
http://www.badmuckingfast.../sound/slipperman.html

A trick from my 4 track days was to take that one guitar track you where given, and run it out to an amp in a big room. ( they call this re-amping now) Then put 3 or 4  mikes all over the place and back to the mixing desk.  so the 1 track now had 4 or 5 channels.. These could be panned etc. It was certainly way bigger than having one track. 
So you could emulate this ITB sending one track to 5 buses and then using channel tools to delay, pan, eq and mess with the soundscape. 
I do like the sound you get from playing the same part twice better. But not 3x,, that never seems to go anywhere. 

That Slipperman article made my day, thanks.

markminer
Instead of tracking six tracks (that typically looses definition) I would Arm track one and two, record simultaneously.

There is no point recording the same audio source onto 2 tracks. You've basically just got 1 track at twice the volume but with double the disk resources used. The reason people record guitar multitracks is because the tiny differences between the performances layer upon each other to create a thicker sound. That's also why a section of 11 cellos can't be replaced by 1 cello with the volume turned up, and why a choir turned down doesn't sound like a solo singer.
 
For heavy rhythm guitar tracks, I will usually record at least 2 tracks of (one panned hard left, one panned hard right) with the same settings. Sometimes I'll record 4 tracks (2 left, 2 right) but I have been finding that the downsides outweigh the benefits there so I may not do that in future.

My recipe is this :

Record one good track.

Clone it 3 times, so you get a total of 4 tracks.

Pan 2 of them hard left then nudge one of those tracks by a couple of milliseconds.

Do the same fot the other 2 tracks, only panning them hard right this time.

Add reverb (to taste) to one track to one of the left tracks and to one of the right tracks.

My two euro cents !

Cheers,
Jerry

Doing that with just two tracks should have the same effect. Anything that you straight up double left and right is basically the same as a louder centered version.

Cloning tracks will only give you the SAME gtr in the SAME amp. What works for me and the gtr albums I listen to is this formula. To achieve that Wall Of Sound gtr sound you hear on Queen, Def Leppard, or any of the metal bands out there is really a combination of DIFFERENT gtrs thru DIFFERENT amps. Try laying the first track with your primary sound. Then overdub from there with different amps or sims with different cabs and different pedals and preferably different guitars and different mics. Pay close attention to the mix and panning of the tracks. Hard left for a couple and hard right for a couple. Mix them up! Don't put all your dirt tracks on one side and all your slightly overdriven tracks on the other. Mix and match until you get a good blend for both sides. I prefer to assign all those tracks minus the solos to a GTR WALL BUSS. That way when you get your mix sounding right, you can turn all those tracks up and down with the buss volume.
BEWARE! You want to cut these tracks with no chorusing, delay, or reverbs. Chorusing is usually not used at all because you achieve that sound by mixing all of these basic tracks already. I prefer dry as possible and add reverb at the buss. Nothing sounds worse than 4-10 gtr tracks that sound like they were recorded in completely different rooms! It sounds much more authentic to add a nice room reverb on the buss!
Again, this advice is aimed at getting those power chord sounds. Solos are a little different.
I hope this helps you and is not too confusing. It is a little more trouble and takes a little more time but it is well worth the extra effort. I promise you.