Pedal help

I'm not too hot when it comes to tech stuff, but it's about time I started figuring things out. Right now, my pedal chain goes as follows: Boss Volume-->Sansamp Tube Emulator-->Smallstone Phase Shifter-->Line 6 DL-4-->Boss RC-2 Loop. There's definitely discernible buzz, so I was looking at buying a MXR noise gate to cut that out. Similarly, I wanted to boost my sound with a BBE Sonic Stomp, but I don't know if that's worth it or not. Until I have more money, I'm playing out of a bullcrap Crate-120 (unless there's something else to be borrowed), and I regularly play in front of 2-4 thousand people a week (the band is growing!). My idealistic tone would be a Warren Hayes/Trey Anastasio love child, but I'm pretty poor...so I'm sure that's not plausible. Anyway, any advice that would give me a punchier, clearer, more potent tone, that'd be great.

Dude, that's a pretty open question. The buzz seems like your first concern. I would check all your cables and make sure one's not faulty. Then I would take each pedal out of the chain one by one and see if you can isolate one that might be adding noise.

For a Hayes type tone, I'd look at trying different pedals out until you can afford a better amp... tubes are it brother! The sansamp might be sapping some of your punch. Try some other OD pedals instead.

Good luck to the band!