I'm now happily able to record any permutation of electric guitars and stringed 'folk' instruments
combining analog & digital pre-amps & FX,
real valve amps,
and digital speaker emulating software
for convincing recreations of most any 'classic' sound since the dawn of rock 'n' roll...

I found the best method is to add a line out to a valve amp
after the power tubes and transformer
[using an attenuator device like the weber mini mass]
and record direct into a computer audio interface
using Line 6 Pod farm / Gearbox software.

It's the best of all worlds.
High quality recorded tones using easily available & affordable analog/digital gear & resources.

.. and I've never needed to own a single over priced 'big brand name' guitar or amp.
Modern budget priced copies are not far off the real thing in terms of sound & playability
and indistinguishable in tone when mixed in recorded tracks.