Re: amount of distortion
I have been the sole guitarist of my band before as well as there being a second guitarist both in the early days and currently. During the ensemble times, we set a very similar tone so the energy is symmetrical when one amp is either side of the stage and panned left and right out the FOH. However, we set them slightly differently. One guitar has more low-mid prominence and the other guitar more high-mids. It's a subtle difference but makes the harmonies coherent and the unison parts reinforced, but not too thin when each one plays cadenza.
When I was the sole guitarist, I always ran in stereo one of two ways. Sometimes I employed very subtle chorusing set nice and wide through a stereo power amp and two cabinets in and I dialed the tone to fit while the rhythm section played. I set my lead tones quite differently to the bassist using a guitar-like distortion at the same time so as to not lose too much presence during solos. Other times, I would use two rigs like a Dual Rec and a Marshall JVM on either side of the stage. These were set with less gain than one would use while playing through either one individually but made for a huge, filled out sound blended together.
That was my favourite setup and sounded very much like a studio-doubled guitar track and is tighter and more immediate than using modulation effects. In either case, my gain levels are about the same that being "just enough" and usually dialed in the mix with the rhythm section playing. There is a certain sweet spot on palm mutes, single notes, power chords that sounds thick, chunky and menacing which allows for more unorthodox chords to voice clearly. It's more than the AC/DC level of gain but does not wash out, mud up or otherwise obscure the guitar.
Excuse me for the long post, I wanted to go into detail sharing my experiences with this subject. I hope you find my information helpful. Let me know how it goes.
