Do I need or want preamp tone controls

Blub definitely go for the tone controls.
Most equipment used to have tone controls, but a lot of marginally designed equipment had them & was so compromised; those filters just weren't very good.
Better designed equipment still has them available, & they're certainly great to have when you need them (there are still many compromised recordings) & there is typically a tone-bypass button which keeps them out of circuit when unneeded. Just to name a couple that I know of, there are defeatable Eq controls on Cello & Accuphase, & Luxman product which are very good. There are some theoretical phase disadvantages & some frequency overlaps when active in-circuit, but if the control makes a marginal source sound better to you then is it indeed actually worse? Of course not, if it's more pleasurable then it's not worse than nothing. Don't let the purists inexperienced arguments dissuade you. Elimination of Eq is just an excuse in justifying the cheaper way out.

No

KF

Buy a preamp with a processor loop. You can insert whatever type of signal processor ( analogue parametric EQ, analogue graphic EQ, digital room correction / tone control, etc... ) into the circuit as you desire. This is FAR more precise and FAR more versatile than most of the simple tone controls found on even "high end" preamps. This option gives you purity or pleasure at the flip of a switch. Which one you choose is your option. Sean
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Get them if you like, but just be aware that they will always lend somewhat the same signature to any program material you try to use them on, since as Sean says they are not very flexible in their action. And I would skip them altogether if there's no way to take them completely out of the circuit. As my own system improved over time, I found I no longer needed or missed tone controls for the great majority of recordings, FWIW.

I figure the people playing the music and the people in the studio know more about what the reording should sound like than I do. I leave the tone control to them.