I'm with you 99% of the way there, dude. The one exception I'll make is by way of analogy - I REALLY want one of those "Green Bullet" harmonica mics. Why? Because they sound like shit, if you want to talk abotu fidelity.... But that lo-fi vibe they have sounds fucking badass. I could see it working awesome on acoustic slide licks, for instance...
Likewise, a very transparent pre is definitely the way to go, if you're limited to just one. However, in an ideal scenario, I'd love to have pro-quality mic pres for every input I have, but also have a couple odd, funky ones kicking around too for more "effect" sort of tracks. Sure, you can do a lot with plugins, but I've got a little bit of sonic anarchist in me too, you know?
I'd ask to see the schematics, but there's no way in fuck I'd be able to build one, as I have the soldering abilities of a medium-rare steak. I was just kind of curious.
