There seems to be enough interest in getting controllable, genuine cranked tube-amp sound without blasting, to warrant this additional detail. I'm recommending not only an easy, future redesign of a multieffects processor to accomplish this Holy Grail of cranked amp tone on tap, but also practical ways to use existing equipment to get this control, in the interim. Getting the absolute best tube amp tone is not necessarily the best, most practical goal. That would require a wall of amps and 8x12 refrigerator cabinets, and a sturdy recording studio located deep underground, far from fault lines. Rather, this rig design offers a reasonably good cranked amp tone, with programmable input level and eq, a power tube and speaker, and then a final programmable output level and eq stage.
Effects are important.
There's a strong need for programmable control over the overall level of a tone, whether a clean tube amp or a cranked, saturated tube amp. Currently, clean tube amp tones always have to be quieter than saturated tube amp tones. In a studio, the mixer provides a final level control, a final eq, and a final effects loop for echo and reverb. Guitar amps pretend to be complete in themselves, but this is an illusion. A guitar amp is not complete without a loud room to play in, a microphone, and a mixing board.