Gibson Les Pauls are an iconic rock tone. There's a legacy there and there's a lot of history with that particular guitar design. Now, I have more than one guitar because each guitar is a tool for a different purpose. For heavy music, I use my superstrat which is loaded with Juggernauts. My other two instruments I use for rock and lighter music kind of in the vein like what you do but I'm not into that 'contemporary' processed sort of a sound. I rely on my fingers to do the talking and I take a much more hands on approach to my guitar playing.
RE: Gear. To be completely honest, what a guitarist 'needs' to have is whatever works. Whatever allows you to communicate the music you want is what you should play (within reason) but honestly, the magic happens with the fingers. I've heard it over and over, same rig and eq, but different guitarist, and all of them generate surprisingly different tones. It's honestly shocking.
The EVH 5150 50watt is great for metal which is why I figure you'll get on well with it. But it sounds like you need something that can excel at clean tones for your army of pedals that you simply must use. Good luck.
