I was playing a PRS Tremonti with MCP Detroiter bridge pickup. I used the FX loop send directly to Apple Logic and ran it through a high pass, low pass, and IR (V30)...
Good stuff. And the fact that there is an Alchemist as part of his tone chain proves that the player is the largest part of the equation by far. Obviously, certain tones rely more on gear than others to acheive (like early EVH or EJ). As much as I dig Cantrell's tone and vibe, I don't hear the complexity in it that would require as specific of hardware that those iconic tones do. In the end though, it's still 90% the player IMO.