What he said. Once it's there, its there. You can record the track "dry" with effects somewhere in line from the output of your recording devise so you'll be able to hear the sound you're looking for without it actually going on the track as such. Then go back and add what you want. I've found that effects like distortion and chorus (and even echo and reverb to a certain extent) work fine in the initial input for the sake of sustain, etc... , but you have to be REALLY happy with the sound or be prepared to lay the track down again.