I find all the previous answers somewhat heavier on the control room side.
I don't know if the recordings have happened, but i will state my opinion concerning the whole process.
First of all let's put some practical things down.
As an engineer/producer you allways avoid some things and you allways tend to promote some others, that applies to the most part of the process, starting from guitar amp choises , to vocal microphones, to drum kits and cymbals etc etc etc.
So Let's break down the process so you can get some weight off your back and see things in a more clear way.
For instance let's say you want nice clean amps, from the first moment you have ruled out a good amount of amps and let's say you've narrowed it down to VOXes and Fenders , From that point on every amp has it's own character as you have your own in producing. So there are some different qualities in those amps but in the end keep in mind that they'll be EQed by you (which as i said before will automatically go through the process of you promoting / avoiding-disliking some things you generally do when talking amps) compressed by you and all. So you have to get something solid sounding and then just let the song work it out for you.
That said i jump to the other side of the room.
Every song has it's own vibe , from the bands drummer changing from drumsticks to brushes or the guitarist stomping on his crunch rather than his overdrive it's a whole world of difference in voicings, The band has her own sound from the drummers sensitivity or heavy foot to the orghanists use of the leslie speed. Those stuff are on the recording room of the studio.
A professional producer is called to imagine the whole thing when he hears a nice voice and automatically builds the context in his mind. BUT when a producer listens to a band that he's intrested in he either wants to make a project with them or not , i mean he has to like the sound and the bands decision to start with which of course as you'd imagine work together to make a song intresting to a producers ears.
After that the producer sometimes points some "errors" or some things he wants to change but most of the time he sees the things he wants to compliment through the producing process, such as , guys i love the songs and the guitar playing is great (he will make the guitars better and more intresting) or guys i love the vibe of your band (he'll compliment the drumkit and the bass)
So you have to find your GOOD STUFF! your intresting stuff otherwise just making nice sounds will make a flat content.You have great vocals the whole sound should hug that big voice, you have a guitarist with all those intresting voicings and stuff, double track him , make him big , give him more space in the arrangement etc etc.
Last i would recommend (at least for the body of the band - drums/bass/guitar) to record live as a band in the same room and start exchanging the groove and express that vibe to the fullest.
The band starts playing the engineer starts making decisions (for a synchronous setup) if you are the engineer and play at the same time, you'll have to judge what the best take was and start working from that point.
To sum up my (not so nicely arranged) thoughts on this matter:
Every small decision on the initial/basic setup makes the bands sound in a specific way, every playing difference adds to the bands sound, you can spank your guitar like crazy and you can caress the strings and be mellow. In your position i wouldn't worry about those things. Find solid sounding equipment with a good palette of sounds that apply to your style and that's it. After that start playing and creating your sound.
After all aside from the tricks or the techniques, a sound engineer must produce a balanced sound and that's a bit narrow to start with.
Go play your music, explain your thoughts to the other members start "mixing" the song in the live room , don't wait for the guitars to fatten when you mix, fatten them before, don't expect the drums to be punchier on the mix, explain the groove to your drummer. DONT FIX IT IN THE MIX and your question will be pretty much answered.