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Well, I'd like to explain in detail how I usually record, but truth is I don't have one recording method but several according to the situation, so, I recommend you try as much techniques as possible (mic placement, effects, tunings, instruments, amplifiers, etc.) the key word is "Experimentation".
Before I give you the list of the material used in my home studio I will tell you what is the path I usually follow in the production of an instrumental tune, in a situation when I have few time to "investigate", from my guitar to the final product (CD).

The guitar I'd normally use would be the Ibanez John Petrucci model, plugged into the Peavey Bandit 112 for distortion. The reason why I don't use the Rectifier is simply because it is a valve amp, and as you know, to sound good, a valve amp needs to be loud... quite loud (I don't think my neighbours would like it) so after trying several combos the Peavey turned out to be a good solution although it has a little bit of background noise. From there, the signal would go through 2 Shure SM-57 microphones, which are the most used choice in any studio. The mic placement related to the amp it's the most determining factor, and at this point it takes several tries to find the desired position, nevertheless, I would place one centred to the middle of the speaker and close to the protection grid, and the other also against the grid but with an angle of aprox. 45º and off-centre from the speaker, what causes the signal to become stereo due to the different EQ's (at that point I make sure the microphones are not out of phase). The signal is then fed to a valve mic pre-amp (Digitech VTP-1) and after being "warmed", it then goes into the Soundscape (2x). Here I must point out that if the sound is clean I use a SansAmp Pre then feeding it to the Soundscape. The Soundscape is a 12 track Hard Disk recorder, working with the same principles of Cubase or Cakewalk. Talking about Cubase... that's where I program the drums and process their sound, being it usually the first instrument to go inside the Soundscape. If I need more real drums or other sounds with "human touch" I use Acid (Sonic Foundry).

At this point comes the bass, which I normally connect straight to the pre-amp, and if there are keys they go the same way, either played or programmed. In the end, I record the solos. Of course if something is not right, I have to start it all over. I think that is the big problem of doing it all alone, what will considerably delay the work. Of course I'm talking about myself.
The mix and the effects are done inside the Soundscape and I try not to change that much the EQ, rather preferring to record again the instrument if the sound doesn't fit to the song.
After it is mixed I send it to the D-10, which is a DAT deck from Fostex, all in a digital environment... actually, all the instruments are only converted to digital once.
The last step is the mastering, that normally is done in a commercial studio, because it's always good to have a fresh pair of ears and specific gear for the mastering.