Reading through this thread made me think of a video I saw recently that seems particularly on topic. I don't know if any of y'all have seen this yet, but I was pretty blown away by it.
It shows one studio's attempt to recreate the tones on the Beatles' "Come Together." And it does by far the best job of it that I've ever heard.
Here's the video:
YouTube
I understand this isn't exactly what the OP is talking about, because he's made it clear that he's not wanting to recreate a song exactly, but what I really like about this video is that they talk about most all of the facets involved, including outboard gear, instruments, mics (and mic technique), rooms, etc. Granted, they do probably spend the majority of time talking about the outboard gear, but I think that's most likely because this studio has authentic recreations of the some of the same preamps and compressors that the Beatles actually used on the track. So I think they wanted to show them off a little bit, which is understandable.
But it's still a very enjoyable and educational viewing, IMO --- and even more so if you're a Beatles fan (as I am).
What stuck out to me the most, however, was that, although they used all this period-correct gear (or expensive modern recreations of it) for the instruments and outboard gear, they still recorded it digitally and used Wave plug-ins to emulate the tape machine sound. I mean ... call me crazy, but I would think that most people, when asked what the number one difference between recording nowadays versus recording in the Beatles' day, would say "tape." So it's odd to me that they wouldn't try to secure a quality 4-track or 8-track tape machine, especially being the gearheads that they obviously are.
Nevertheless, it sounds awesome, IMO, and it was quite fun to watch.