When I did my Diploma in audio engineering in the mid 80's we spent a lot of time on the 'tricks' used for that killer tone...

The one studio trick that springs to mind is to use two (or more) channels on the mixing desk for that difficult guitar sound. One channel to be set up and used for the verse and chorus section of the tune. The level, Eq and Fx set so it sat nice behind the vocals. The second channel (possibly/most likely on a different guitar amp) is set for the guitar solo to shine, with level, Fx and Eq optimized for those ever so few incredible moments. A Third channel might be used for that surreal guitar intro. Each channel was only used for its part in the song, and blending of any two or three channels was at the discretion of the producer/engineer. Then, repeat the process if you wanted stereo guitars, and repeat again for every other guitar in the mix.... and then the keys, and the bass, and the drums... and anyone else on stage....

With that thinking a 40ch desk fills up quite quick, and Fx racks multiply like rabbits.... Biggest live mix's I encountered back then with this thinking in mind was at Brisbane Qpac theatre which on one show used two 40ch Yamaha PM3000 consoles (each costing similar to a CBD apartment) which had 32 sub groups and controlled by combined/linked 16VCA fade controls, and was accompanied by five 19" racks standing 5' tall chockers full of EFx gear and a few smaller sub-mixers to re-integrate the outboard gear into the main mix....Some channels were only opened for less than a minute during the entire performance... (and for the life of me I can't remember who was playing.. It was a band though (one that I had nil interest in at the time), not a play or orchestra...)
With everything I've just said I will include that I remember there were a lot of noise gates in the racks of Fx, and a few A/B switches on the stage, and more amps than needed for a band that size.

Expo 88 also had big mix's with a 40ch and a 32ch FOH desks both used at once on certain shows though there were far fewer EFx racks. Typically most shows 'got by' on the River stage with only the 40ch and 1/2 a rack of Fx so I suspect most guitars only got one channel in the desk and had to manage their own tone and stompbox Fx.

So it can be done live as it was done in the studio... Ya just need the gear cos trying to do it all via one amp is probably the harder way ... and then also a sound engineer who knows what to do when...