teddancin,
In answer to the first Q, get the uncolored version first. It is far better at first to have a pre that can be used on a variety of sources. A pre like the MP-2MH , has a quick transient response, meaning it reacts quicker to the input source, very important for kick , snare, acoustic guitar , overheads etc. etc., and sources of that nature. It is just a better all around decision for your first high-end pre. Then you should shoot for your colors, Universal 610, Neve 1272(Averill and Vintech), MP-2NV, Vintech 1073 etc etc.. Just like paintin' my friend. In this decision, is where you express your individuality. It is also the harder of the two decisions , and the most subjective ear to ear.

NOW,
May I offer a suggestion: BUZZ Audio MA2.2.
This thing is king. Very much like the MP-2MH with a little color on top. I live in LA, and these things are popping up rapidly with rave reviews. They go for $1799 -street and worth every penny. I will include the link for you to check out and if you live in the LA area, you could probably hear one for sure. I know Coast
Recording(LA) carries both, I am sure you could probably demo them(and no, I don't work for Coast). Check it out at:
http://www.buzzaudio.co.nz/pro/index.htm

Food For Thought
Good Luck,

JT

I have only heard the mic pre in the Avalon 737, which is a really nice pre with a little character. Personally, I'd go with the MP-2MH Great River- it has transformer balanced outputs plus non-transformer unbalanced outputs, so you get a little variation in color. Mostly, though, IMO, you're better off with a pretty transparent mic pre, unless you are buying a few different ones. You could really do great work with *any* of them, but if everything you do is going through one mic pre, I think you want one that's not going to stack up the same color on every track, whether you need it or not.

You *have* to keep in mind, though, that if you sat down any four engineers and laid out ten great mic pre's for them to listen to (and choose only one of), all four would likely pick different ones. All four would be equipped to do great work.

-jetoney
Thanks for the advice. It helps to get as many opinions from as many people as possible when making a buying decision, and yours are very welcome.

As for the Buzz audio stuff. I'll check it out before I order my Great River, just to explore all the options. Do you know where a Coast Recording that's close to me is? I'm around the west L.A./westwood area, but any place in the valley will be close enough too. Thanks.

-Jon Best
I ask you to bail my ass out again, and what happens? You do it. I think that's probably the last piece of equipment I'll purchase for a little while now. Thanks sooo much for helping me out with it all.

I've pretty much decided on the Great River MP-2MH. I just wanna hear a couple more pre's before I buy it. As for the website you pointed me to with the really cheap RME prices; I usually buy my equipment at a store that will match any price (supposedly), so hopefully I'll still get reliability from buying US, but sweet/cheap prices, so that really helped.

I'll let you know how the rest of my equipment pans out (mic/preamp/converter/rmecard) when I get it all in a couple of weeks, just so you know. Plus I'll be posting a song or two that I've recorded with my stuff (probably just classical guitar stuff). Thank you so much again.

teddancin,
here is the link; these guys have'em all. They are right down the street from you and you will be able to check out any pre you desire.
Good Luck,
http://coastrecording.com/

JT

Well, I think you've got a nice signal chain- remember, the uncolored/clean nature of what you're looking at cuts both ways- on the one hand, you're not going to stack up a bunch of one color and make it harder for yourself come mixdown time, pulling things tonally apart. On the other hand, you need to pay a great deal of attention to mics and mic placement, as that's the only stage in tracking where you can make substantial tonal decisions. Don't leave it all up to what you can do on mixdown- do a lot of experimenting with not only your 'good' mic, but a few others as well- SM57, whatever.

Also, since you're in LA, keep yourself open when you go listen to mic preamps. Try to bring/use the mic you've chosen, or something you know, and bring your guitar with you. Record through a number of pre's, and be honest with yourself in terms of what you like- if you fall in love with a Neve, don't *not* buy it because of some BS 'transparency vs. color' theory some asshole(s?) told you on the internet. :)

Good luck from us assholes!