This is just my opinion.
Let’s be specific. I’m talking about that classic rock “Back In Black” guitar crunch that so many of us older guys love. When I was 17 and got my first electric, there were no good distortion pedals on the market. The MXR Distortion Plus was the closest, and IMHO that sounds like a box of bees. Nope, you had to crank up a tube amp. That was the only way to get it. I did buy a Rockman Soloist, which had a decent-ish tone but didn’t really get me there.
The first time I got something great sounding was when I took a 20 watt Guyatone tube amp with one twelve, used a MXR Micro Amp pedal, and stuck a big volume knob between the amp and the speaker. Radio Shack (now gone) sold a big knob for home stereo use that you could use for such a purpose. Of course, I didn’t know what I was doing, and it eventually blew up some parts of the amp, but it did sound amazing.
The next time I got close was when I got a Pod 2. Purists hold their nose at the Pod 2, but it sounded amazing in it’s day, and it’d be usable in a track now. But of course I eventually got an HX Stomp, and it’s definitely better.
On to the topic. In my opinion, you simply cannot beat a cranked tube amp. But that’s rarely practical, so to my ears the next best thing is modeling. Line 6, Boss, Kemper, whatever… they all do a great job. As for pedals… I went through a lot of them and many sound very good. But I have yet to hear a pedal into a cranked clean amp that sounded as good as “amp distortion.” I’ve always been amused that players will mock a solid state amp, but then use a solid state pedal to get their distortion. It’s the same concept!
Modeling into an amp, to my ears, achieves a similar result as a pedal into an amp. At low volumes it’s fine. Crank it up, and something’s not right. At that point you’re better off using a PA speaker or a powered speaker designed for modelers.
That leads me to my setup. I have a Fender Bassbreaker 15 tube amp. I also have an HX Stomp and a decent small EV PA system. The tube amp rarely gets used these days. I really can get everything I need out of the HX Stomp.
Modeling is the present and the future, but some of us will always like keeping. tube amp around. I have no need for dirt pedals, though.
