I gotcha, Flash. (I think)
(JF, allow me to translate)
I think that when long-time posters and people with experience refer to "newbie" they mean different things. Most of the time they are talking about people who are new or inept at recording- regardless how high their post count is. If you feel like a newbie that can be somewhat trying, but if you are NOT a newbie don't let it bother you. We don't know each other here so there really is nothing to take personally.
About tracking it as close to how you want it to sound. Think of it this way, if you know you are going to roll off the bass on your rythm guitars why go through all the trouble capture those frequencies? Instead, place your mics so that you capture the frequencies and nuance you know you want to keep. If you have enough experience and you know what you're doing- why not do it during tracking? It will save time fussing with knobs when you are mixing later.
Record plain as far as effects, yes, but get your basic sound as close as you can to your goal during tracking.
Did I understand your dilema correctly?
Chris