looking for Blink 182 sound...

Tom Delonge's rig (at least in the old days, not sure what is using now in the reunion tour) was pretty straightforward.

Fender Strat with single Duncan Invader HB in the bridge position (a very high ourput pickup) directly into a Mesa Boogie.

So what you are looking for is a tight, focused high gain sound. Honestly, it is what I would call the "standard" modern pop punk sound. Keep in mind that on the CD, that giutar sound is also squashed to death with compression and a limiter so it basically has no more dynamics and is just "loud".

For a clear example, take a blink tune, and then take an SRV tune. Load them into your computer (say into Audacity) and visualy compare the sound waves. On the SRV tune, I bet you still see "white space", on the blink, no so much.

I would suggest starting with something that is more high gain, (maybe a Metal Zone?), and modding it if you find nessesary. I don't think that something that is more "classic rock" will do it for you. (i.e. keeley DS-1, Plextortion, etc.)

HTH,

-Dan-