I’m not much of a metal guy, myself. Occasionally I’ll venture into the more progressive rock with a bit of a crunch tone. Though nothing really high gain. I much prefer a nice clean tone. I enjoy some Chon and Polyphia as well as Covet. TTNG is probably my most favourite however. That and Icarus The Owl.
Regarding equipment; I have weird amalgamations of instruments. I used a couple Warmoth builds. Stratocaster bodies with Telecaster necks, all 25.5in scale, hardtail bridges, single volume/tone controls. All in open tunings. These are my preferred guitars. Right now they’re all equipped with a Pegasus bridge pickup and an STK-4B in the neck. While I like this combination, I feel that the mini-humbucker better suits my needs and I absolutely adore the clean tone of a Telecaster Neck Pickup.
My main amplifier is a Fender Deluxe Reverb. I will occasionally use a Vox AC30. But the Deluxe has a nice roundness that I prefer.