no offense taken here - i don't like my patches a lot of the time too, and always seek to improve them.  they've changed a lot over the last 2 years.  most of the ones I last uploaded to customtone have 5 stars, but i've only rarely felt that any of them were perfect.

i also shouldn't have so crudely said "try this patch".  guitar woods, scale length, setup, string gauge, pickups, and even playing technique affect the tone in front of the pod.  and whatever you connect to, plus your room, etc also matter.  Other people's patches are more likely a starting point than an ending point.  Any pre-eq and gain levels should be tweaked to compensate for the guitar you use.  Any post-EQ (even getting into cab selection) should take into account the monitors/cab being played through, and the room playing in.

As a case in point, I switched the pickups on my main guitar, and had to change all my patches to compensate.

according to wikipedia, john used the mesa quad pre-amp on Images and Words.  Having owned one myself, and it basically being a Mark IIC+ and a Mark III in one unit, I really feel like the only amp model/distortion tone that will get this tone is the Uber amp model, but it needs some serious pre-EQ to remove any low-end mud and dial in the right midrange peak to get it to djent like a Mark.  Since I like to use "dual cabs", I don't have enough DSP to add many effects.  I find the Line 6 Drive is the most versatile means of pre-EQ'ing the tone.  With more DSP, I would use the Line 6 Drive plus 1-2 EQ effects.  Then you can really tighten up the low end without making the tone become too thin.

If anyone knows a better way to get a Mesa Mark tone, I'm all ears.  Here's a sample of an older version of my Mark II patch: http://soundcloud.com/meambobbo/pod-hd500-dt-mkii-tone

i give more general advice on dialing in tones in my guide: www.foobazaar.com/podhd/toneGuide/  It may help you tweak a patch that gets you close to being perfect.