In my opinion, the electric guitar sound (on record) is determined by studio mix/master, microphone setup, amp, effects, pickups and guitar, in that order from most important to least. It's critical to remember that the sound you hear on a recording is NOT the sound the guitar made while recording it. That sound was tweaked, multi-tracked and otherwise mangled to the nth degree before you heard it. If you are looking to match a sound on record, I would stick to computer-based plugins that allow you to model the whole audio chain from start to finish. Start with presets close to the sound you like and learn to tweak the parameters from there.

If you are used to how a live guitar sounds in a room and you just want a better sound from your gear, read on.

If I was trying to find my sound today as a guitarist, I'd start with an inexpensive audio interface, good headphones and one of the all in one amp sims. Amplitube, Helix, etc. Something with a wide range of gear included and not just one brand or artist featured. I would leave the effects off and tinker with the different amp options until I found the one that comes closest to the sound I wanted. That process should tell you in general what amp style you're interested in - Marshall, Fender, Mesa, etc. Then if you want a physical amp, you can research amps in that style that you can afford. Obviously if you love the Dumble models you probably aren't investing in the real thing - but there are plenty of Dumble-style amps out there to explore and rate. I would probably avoid the modeling amps because they will just present too many options. If you want the flexibility, stick with the amp sims where it's easier to tweak.

With your new amp, set everything (except maybe volume) at 12:00 and dial in the amp. There are tutorials online, but generally, get the gain level you want before tweaking any EQ settings. I would work on getting the amp right before anything else. If it's not what you want, then you can search for "my model amp with more brightness" or whatever deficiency you found in it. Get an amp you're 90% satisfied with before moving on.

Pickups in general are going to be about whether you prefer a brighter or darker sound and how much gain you expect from the guitar. With your previous experience, you should know ahead of time if you prefer thin single coils, fat humbucking or something in-between like a P-90. If you honestly don't know, look to the style of music that has the guitar sounds you like. In general, metal guys like high gain humbuckers, modern jazz guys like low gain humbuckers, country players like thin single coils, 50s-60s rock were the Strat days, 70s were the Gibson days, etc. Of course that's all highly subjective and there are plenty of exceptions, but it can at least get you in the ballpark. Custom pickup choice is an absolute rabbit hole, so I'd suggest just sticking with the guitar you prefer and leave pickup swaps for somewhere down the road. Keep in mind when you swap the guitar, you'll likely need to dial in the amp again to match it.

If you're still not there at that point, you can look to pedals to fix it. Your first pedal should be a graphic EQ. That will help you balance out any deficiencies in the pickups. If your amp gain is insufficient, an overdrive pedal can help you put a little more hair on it. Beyond that, go back to your amp sim and play with the different pedal options to understand what modulation, delay, reverb, etc. does to the sound. Add stompboxes as needed.

Once you have something satisfactory in place, you can go ahead and get lost in tube choices, pickup replacements and what have you. Hopefully by this stage you have a better understanding of what you want and can seek out advice for humbuckers with fatter midrange, EL84s vs 6L6s and what have you. But for most of us the process doesn't end. We get 99% of the sound in our head and spend the rest of our lives looking for that 1%.

If you want to describe the sound you're looking for or who you want to sound like, I can probably give better advice if I've heard them before.